This ongoing data set contains basal cover of perennial grasses and canopy cover of shrubs in 122 1m x 1m quadrats on the Jornada Experimental Range in the northern extent of the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico, USA. These quadrats were established to investigate livestock grazing effects on plant community dynamics as well as responses to variable climatic conditions over time. Vegetation monitoring is carried out by charting the basal areas of perennial grasses and canopy areas of shrubs within each quadrat. Quadrats were established at different times, with start dates from 1915 to 1932. Specific quadrat locations were selected for a variety of reasons, but the overall intent was to represent varying plant community conditions across the Jornada Experimental Range. From 1915 to 1924 charting was done by dividing the quadrat frame into a decimeter grid using straps and reproducing locations of plants on grid paper. From 1925 to 2016 charting was done using a pantograph. With few exceptions, quadrats were charted until 1947, and a portion of the quadrats were charted intermittently between 1947 and 1979. Sampling resumed again in 1995 and continues every 5-6 years. Charts are digitally scanned, georeferenced, and chart features are digitally reproduced by hand. This data set is not yet complete; charts are actively being processed by Jornada Experimental Range staff and will be updated to this data package as they become available. A companion data package of counts of perennial forbs and subshrubs for each quadrat is also available for this project (data package knb-lter-jrn.210351002). Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: Website Pointer to html file. File Name: Web Page, url: https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-jrn&identifier=210351001 Webpage with information and links to data files for download