Tree damage and mortality measurements across seven ForestGEO plots in the tropics between Oct 2016 and Mar 2023

Author(s): Zuleta D; Arellano G; Aguilar S; Bunyavejchewin S; Castaño N; Chang-Yang C; Duque A; Mitre D; Nasardin M; Pérez R; Sun I; Yao T; Valencia R; McMahon S; Davies S

Site ID: CO-ANP; EC-YNP; MY-PSO; PA-BCI; TH-HKK; TH-KCF; TW-FEF

Site Name: Amacayacu National Natural Park; Yasuní National Park; Pasoh Forest Reserve; Barro Colorado Island (BCI); Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary (HKK); Khao Chong Forest Reserve; Fushan Experimental Forest

Variables: Demography; Other

Date Range: Oct. 10, 2016 - March 12, 2022

Description: This dataset contains annual records (raw data) on tree survival and structural completeness of 36,524 trees (2,467 species) collected across 29 censuses in seven tropical forests distributed across the Neotropics (Amacayacu, Colombia; Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panamá; Yasuní, Ecuador) and Asia (Fushan, Taiwan; Huai Kha Khaeng (HKK), Thailand; Khao Chong (KC), Thailand; Pasoh, Malaysia). This dataset was used to compare aboveground biomass loss via damage to living trees relative to total AGB loss (mortality + damage). Data is contained within a single CSV file. Variable definitions: site: name of the ForestGEO plot; stemID.ams: Unique ID for the stem in the annual mortality surveys (ams); treeID.ams: Unique ID for the tree in the ams; date.full.census: date of the previous full census of the plot, format: YYYY-MM-DD; dbh.full.census: diameter at the breast height (dbh in mm) measured during the previous full census of the plot; home: height of measurement of dbh (in m); meanWD: species-level wood density (g cm-3); date.ams: date of the ams, format: YYYY-MM-DD; status: survival status of the tree (A: alive; D: dead; NF: not found; "?": unknown); H_considering_damage: living length of the main axis in meters; provides an estimate of the amount of remaining living tissues along the main axis of the stem (e.g., the height of breakage or the height discounting wood decay); b: the remaining proportion of branch volume within the living length (b∈[0,1]). ; weights.ind: frequency of the [size class x species] bins within the forest plot relative to their frequency in the sample. It is necessary to extrapolate estimates to the whole plot.

QA/QC: Full QA-QC

Methods Description: Please see the associated publication for methods details. We evaluated the survival status and structural completeness of the trees following the ForestGEO Tree Mortality and Damage protocol. Depending on the site, each tree was visited annually from two to six times between 2016 and 2022, making a total of 151,208 tree × census (154,227 at the tree level) observations in 22 census intervals (Table S1). The first census was used to establish the initial aboveground structural completeness of the trees, and subsequent censuses were used to assess tree survival (dead/alive) and the structural completeness of surviving trees. Tree diameter was obtained during the previous full census in each plot.

Access Level: Public

Originating Institution(s): Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, Panama; Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia; Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand; Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi, Bogotá, Colombia; National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Selangor, Malaysia; National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

Sponsor Organization(s): Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Contact: Zuleta, Daniel - (dfzuleta@gmail.com)

Version: 1.0

Dataset Citation: Zuleta D; Arellano G; Aguilar S; Bunyavejchewin S; Castaño N; Chang-Yang C; Duque A; Mitre D; Nasardin M; Pérez R; Sun I; Yao T; Valencia R; McMahon S; Davies S (2023): Tree damage and mortality measurements across seven ForestGEO plots in the tropics between Oct 2016 and Mar 2023. 1.0. NGEE Tropics Data Collection. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.15486/ngt/1961178

Acknowledgement: Site-specific acknowledgments Amacayacu. The 25-ha Long-Term Ecological Research Project of Amacayacu is a collaborative project of the Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, in partnership with the Unidad de Manejo Especial de Parques Naturales Nacionales and the Forest Global Earth Observatory of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (ForestGEO). Special acknowledgment to Dr. Dairon Cardenas (1957-2022), one of the two ecologists that envisioned and designed this project and whose legacy remains among Colombian forest ecologists. This project is possible thanks to the commitment of S. Sua, A. Barona, and the administrative crew at Sinchi. We also thank A.F. Jimenez, L. Gómez, and hundreds of technicians and students of forest engineering at Universidad Nacional de Colombia that have worked on data collection and cleaning. We acknowledge the Director and staff of the Amacayacu National Park for supporting and maintaining the project in this National Park, as well as coworkers from the Palmeras Indigenous Community for their assistance in fieldwork. Barro Colorado Island (BCI). The BCI forest dynamics research project was made possible by National Science Foundation grants to Stephen P. Hubbell: DEB-0640386, DEB-0425651, DEB0346488, DEB-0129874, DEB-00753102, DEB-9909347, DEB-9615226, DEB-9615226, DEB9405933, DEB-9221033, DEB-9100058, DEB-8906869, DEB-8605042, DEB-8206992, DEB7922197, support from the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO), the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Small World Institute Fund, numerous private individuals, and through the hard work of over 100 people from 10 countries over the past two decades. Fushan. The Fushan Forest Dynamics plot (FDP) is supported by the Taiwan Forestry Bureau, the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan. We would like to express our gratitude to all field technicians and students who helped with the implementation and recensus of the Fushan FDP. We also thank the Fushan Research Center staff for providing logistic support. Huai Kha Khaeng (HKK). We thank the many people who helped to create the permanent research plot in Huai Kha Khaeng. The administrative staff of Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary helped with logistical problems of the plots on many occasions. The Huai Kha Khaeng 50-hectare plot project has been financially and administratively supported by many institutions and agencies. Direct financial support for the plot has been provided by the Royal Thai Forest Department and the National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University (under NSF award #DEB-0075334, and grants from USAID and the Rockefeller Foundation), the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan. We acknowledge the Royal Thai Forest Department and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation for supporting and maintaining the project in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. Khao Chong (KC). We thank the many people who helped to create the permanent research plot in Khao Chong. The administrative staff of Khao Chong Botanical Garden helped with logistical problems of the plots on many occasions. Direct financial support for the plot has been provided by the people of Thailand through the Royal Forest Department (1991-2003) and the National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department since 2003, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan, as well as grants from the US National Science Foundation (grant #DEB-0075334 to P.S. Ashton and S.J. Davies), US-AID (with the administrative assistance of WWF-USA), and the Rockefeller Foundation. Administrative support has been provided by the Arnold Arboretum, the Harvard Institute for International Development, the Royal Forest Department, and the National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department. In addition, general support for the ForestGEO program has come from the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Conservation, Food and Health, Inc., and the Merck Foundation. All of these organizations are gratefully acknowledged for their support. Pasoh. The 50-ha forest plot at Pasoh FR is an ongoing project of the Malaysian Government, directed by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia through its Director-General, Dr Ismail bin Parlan. The plot is located in Pasoh Research Forest under the conservation of Negeri Sembilan State Forestry Department. The project was initiated under the leadership of Drs. N. Manokaran, P. S. Ashton and S. P. Hubbell. The project is now a collaboration of the Forest Research Institute Malaysia and ForestGEO of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The late Dr. K. M. Kochummen, while on a fellowship at STRI, supervised the species identification and personally examined all trees over 100 mm dbh. Funds for the project are gratefully acknowledged from: the National Science Foundation, USA (BSR Grant No. INT-84-12201 to Harvard University through Drs. P. S. Ashton and S. Hubbell), Conservation, Food and Health Foundation, Inc., USA, the United Nations, through the Man and the Biosphere program (UNESCO-MAB grant Nos. 217.651.5, 217.652.5, 243.027.6, 213.164.4, and also UNESCO-ROSTSEA grant No. 243.170.6), the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Arnold Arboretum Asia Program at Harvard University, USA, and the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan. Yasuní. We gratefully acknowledge the professional help of numerous biologists and field collaborators of the Yasuní forest dynamics plot, particularly Álvaro Pérez, Pablo Alvia and Milton Zambrano, who provided invaluable expertise on plant taxonomy. Consuelo Hernández organized the data and improved its quality. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE) and STRI co-financed the first two censuses of the plot. The third census was financed with funds of the Government of Ecuador and PUCE. Seed traps and seedling plots are monitored for over 10 years thanks to STRI and two awards from the NSF program LTREB (DBI 0614525 and 1122634). STRI also sponsored the Carbon Dynamics Initiative. This study was endorsed by the Ministerio de Ambiente del Ecuador permits MAE: No 004-2012-IC-FLO-MAE-DPO, 09-FLOMA-DPO-PNY and 06-2011-FAU-DPAP.

Data Link: Download Dataset

Zuleta, D., Arellano, G., McMahon, S. M., Aguilar, S., Bunyavejchewin, S., Castaño, N., Chang-Yang, C., Duque, A., Mitre, D., Nasardin, M., Pérez, R., Sun, I., Yao, T. L., Valencia, R., Krishna Moorthy, S. M., Verbeeck, H. Davies, S. J. Damage on living trees contributes to almost half of the biomass losses in tropical forests. Accepted/in press. Global Change Biology.