The permanent chart quadrat project at the Jornada Experimental Range was established in 1915. Chart quadrat sampling is done using a pantograph, wherein technicians use a stylus attached to an arm to trace the perimeter of plants within the quadrat, and a pencil at the other end of the arm maps the information onto the data sheet. The Jornada quadrat monitoring effort collected yearly data from 1915 to 1979 and resumed at 5- year intervals beginning in 1995. Quadrat data have been used to understand patterns and mechanisms of long- term vegetation change, plant demography, species interactions, and community transitions.