High forb diversity prairie reconstruction at Neal Smith NWR 2005-2015

This data set consists of data collected during 2005-2007, 2010, and 2015 at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa, USA that were used in the analysis in support of the article titled "Toward improving pollinator habitat: Reconstructing prairies with high forb diversity," which has been submitted to Natural Areas Journal. We compared pollinator habitat, in terms of planted forb richness, cover, and phenology, cover of planted grasses, and persistence of exotic species 10-years post-planting of reconstructions with 58 species (extra-high), 34 species (high), 20 species (medium) and 10 species (low) planted at the same time using the same fields, methods, and overall seeding rate. Twelve replicates of three planting methods (dormant-season broadcast, growing-season broadcast, and growing-season drill) and four seed mix richness levels, fully crossed in a completely randomized design were planted in 2005 on three former agricultural fields.