ReadMe file associated with: Blackwood, C.B., K.A. Smemo, M.W. Kershner, L.M. Feinstein, O.J. Valverde-Barrantes. 2013. Decay of ecosystem differences and decoupling of tree community-soil environment relationships at ecotones. Ecological Monographs, in press. Contact: cblackwo@kent.edu List of all files (detailed descriptions are below) soil_data.csv Contains soil data for each small plot, as well as ecosystem information and spatially decomposed soil variables output from factorial kriging r_code_soil.txt Contains example R code that allows one to reconstruct the statistical analyses of soil properties described in our manuscript. tree_basal_area_rel_abundance.csv Contains relative abundance of total basal area by tree species in each tree plot, as well as ecosystem information and spatially decomposed soil data for each tree plot. tree_stem_counts.csv Contains stem counts by tree species in each tree plot, as well as ecosystem information. r_code_trees.txt Contains example R code that allows one to reconstruct the statistical analyses of tree community composition described in our manuscript. ********************************************** File Name: soil_data.csv Description: This file contains soil data for each small plot, as well as ecosystem information and spatially decomposed soil variables output from factorial kriging. Rows represent individual plots; columns represent soil variables and other variables. Column headings: Plot: The plot identification title. alt: Elevation in meters above sealevel. ecosys: Ecosystem (or landform) that plot is in. Transition plots that are between two ecosystems are given multiple labels. Abbreviations; U upland, B bottomland, R riparian, D disturbed Transect: Plots that were laid out in a transect are given the same letter in this column. Plots that are not in a transect but that form a grid are given the value "Grid". EP: Ecosystem position, indicating whether the plot was designated as in the core of an ecosystem ("Core"), at the transition between two ecosystems ("Trans"), or within one ecosystem but near an ecotone ("Edge"). TerrType: More detailed ecosystem designation. Plots in the core of an ecosystem have an individual letter indicating the ecosystem. Edge plots begin with a letter indicating which ecosystem the plot is in, and then additional letters indicating which ecosystem is close by (for example, "UB" for a plot in the Upland but close to an edge with the Bottomland). Transition plots have a value that starts with "T-" and is followed by two or three letters indicating exactly which ecosystems the transition is between (order not important for transition plots). Abbreviations; U upland, B bottomland, R riparian, D disturbed easting: Longitudinal position of plot, in meters east of an arbitrary 0,0 point in the study area. northing: Latitudinal position of plot, in meters north of an arbitrary 0,0 point in the study area. Perc_C: Percent soil carbon. Perc_N: Percent soil nitrogen. Perc_Moisture: Percent soil moisture (weight of moisture/wet weight of soil). pH: Soil pH measured in 1:1 mixture with DI H2O. Perc_POM_C: Percent of soil mass that is particulate organic matter carbon. Perc_POM_N: Percent of soil mass that is particulate organic matter nitrogen. Prop_POM_C: Proportion of soil carbon that is particulate organic matter carbon. Prop_POM_N: Proportion of soil nitrogen that is particulate organic matter nitrogen. Ptot: Total extractable ephosphorus, mg P/kg soil. Pi: Inorganic extractable phosphorus, mg P/kg soil. Po: Organic extractable phosphorus, mg P/kg soil. Perc_clay: Percent of mineral soil mass that is clay. Perc_silt: Percent of mineral soil mass that is silt. Perc_sand: Percent of mineral soil mass that is sand. PartSizePC1: "Clay+silt axis" First principal component of complete soil texture data indicating clay+silt versus sand content. PartSizePC2: "Fine sand axis" Second principal component of complete soil texture data indicating fine sand versus coarse sand content. Ptot_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Ptot associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. Po_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Po associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. pH_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of pH associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. moist_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_Moisture associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. ps1_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of PartSizePC1 associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. ps2_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of PartSizePC2 associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. percc_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_C associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. pomc_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Prop_POM_C associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. cton_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of C:N associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. Ptot_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Ptot associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). Po_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Po associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). pH_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of pH associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). moist_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_moisture associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). ps1_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of PartSizePC1 associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). percc_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_C associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). pomc_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Prop_POM_C associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). cton_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of C:N associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). Ptot_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Ptot associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). Po_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Po associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). pH_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of pH associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). moist_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_Moisture associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). ps1_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of PartSizePC1 associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). ps2_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of PartSizePC2 associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). percc_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_C associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). cton_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of C:N associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). Missing values are indicated by value "NA". ********************************************** File Name: r_code_soil.txt Description: Contains example R code that allows one to reconstruct the statistical analyses of soil properties described in our manuscript. ********************************************** File Name: tree_basal_area_rel_abundance.csv Description: This file contains tree basal area relative abundance data for each tree plot, as well as ecosystem information and spatially decomposed soil variables output from factorial kriging. Rows represent individual plots; columns represent variables. Column headings: Plot: The plot identification title. ecosys: Ecosystem (or landform) that plot is in. Transition plots that are between two ecosystems are given multiple labels. Abbreviations; U upland, B bottomland, R riparian, D disturbed Transect: Plots that were laid out in a transect are given the same letter in this column. Plots that are not in a transect but that form a grid are given the value "Grid". EP: Ecosystem position, indicating whether the plot was designated as in the core of an ecosystem ("Core"), at the transition between two ecosystems ("Trans"), or within one ecosystem but near an ecotone ("Edge"). TerrType: More detailed ecosystem designation. Plots in the core of an ecosystem have an individual letter indicating the ecosystem. Edge plots begin with a letter indicating which ecosystem the plot is in, and then additional letters indicating which ecosystem is close by (for example, "UB" for a plot in the Upland but close to an edge with the Bottomland). Transition plots have a value that starts with "T-" and is followed by two or three letters indicating exactly which ecosystems the transition is between (order not important for transition plots). Abbreviations; U upland, B bottomland, R riparian, D disturbed alt: Elevation in meters above sealevel. easting: Longitudinal position of plot, in meters east of an arbitrary 0,0 point in the study area. northing: Latitudinal position of plot, in meters north of an arbitrary 0,0 point in the study area. The next 33 columns indicate relative abundance calculated from basal area for different species at each plot. The column heading species codes are given below. ACERUB Acer rubrum ACESAC Acer saccharum BETALL Betula alleghaniansis CARCAR Carpinus caroliniana CARCOR Carya cordiformis CAROVA Carya ovata CARTOM Carya tomentosa CORFLO Cornus florida CRAPUN Crataegus punctata FAGAME Fagus grandifolia FRAAME Fraxinus americana FRANIG Fraxinus nigra HAMVIR Hamamelis virginiana LIRTUP Liriodendron tulipifera MAGACU Magnolia acuminate MALCOR Malus coronaria NYSSYL Nyssa sylvatica OSTVIR Ostrya virginiana PLAOCC Platanus occidentalis POPDEL Populus deltoides POPGRA Populus grandidentata PRUSER Prunus serotina QUEALB Quercus alba QUEBIC Quercus bicolor QUEPAL Quercus palustris QUERUB Quercus rubra SALNIG Salix nigra SASALB Sassafras albidum TILAME Tilia americana TOXVER Toxicodendron vernix ULMSP Ulmus sp. VIBLEN Viburnum lentago The next 25 columns include spatially decomposed soil variables associated with each tree plot. Ptot_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Ptot associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). Po_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Po associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). pH_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of pH associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). moist_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_Moisture associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). ps1_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of PartSizePC1 associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). ps2_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of PartSizePC2 associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). percc_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_C associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). cton_long: Output of FKA analysis. Values of C:N associated with second exponential structure with range 100m (effective range 300m). Ptot_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Ptot associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. Po_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Po associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. pH_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of pH associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. moist_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_Moisture associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. ps1_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of PartSizePC1 associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. ps2_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of PartSizePC2 associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. percc_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_C associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. pomc_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Prop_POM_C associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. cton_nug: Output of FKA analysis. Values of C:N associated with "nugget" structure, which is not spatially structured. Ptot_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Ptot associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). Po_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Po associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). pH_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of pH associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). moist_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_moisture associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). ps1_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of PartSizePC1 associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). percc_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Perc_C associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). pomc_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of Prop_POM_C associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). cton_short: Output of FKA analysis. Values of C:N associated with first exponential structure with range 10m (effective range 30m). Missing values are indicated by value "NA". ********************************************** File Name: tree_stem_counts.csv Description: This file contains tree stem counts for each tree plot, as well as ecosystem information. Rows represent individual plots; columns represent variables. Column headings are as described above for the file tree_basal_area_rel_abundance.csv ********************************************** File Name: r_code_trees.txt Description: Contains example R code that allows one to reconstruct the statistical analyses of tree community composition described in our manuscript.