Samford Peri-Urban Stem Diameter, Height and Aboveground Woody Biomass Data 

This data contains stem diameter, height measurement and above ground living biomass calculations for an open Eucalypt and notophyll vine forest. Diameter and height measurements for stems ≥10cm diameter at breast height were sampled within a 1 ha plot within the Samford Peri-Urban site. 

We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. This work was funded by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), an Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) project. 

This dataset records tree diameter and height data used to calculate above-ground biomass across vegetation types in Australia. This data is important for mapping and monitoring changes in plant growth, carbon storage and terrestrial energy fluxes. 

Tree survey:
All individual stems ≥ 10 cm diameter at breast height (1.3 m) were mapped within each 20 x 20 m subplot to an accuracy of 0.5 m. Heights are recorded to the nearest 1 metre for each measured stem and are recorded as the length of the stem from ground to highest leaf, not height above ground level. Heights for easily visible and larger stems are measured using a Nikon laser range finder.
Biomass calculation:
Above-ground biomass was calculated for each stem >10 cm diameter at breast height using the allometric equation from Chave et al 2014: Chave, J., Réjou-Méchain, M., Búrquez, A., Chidumayo, E., Colgan, M.S., Delitti, W.B., Duque, A., Eid, T., Fearnside, P.M., Goodman, R.C., Henry, M., Martínez-Yrízar, A., Mugasha, W.A., Muller-Landau, H.C., Mencuccini, M., Nelson, B.W., Ngomanda, A., Nogueira, E.M., Ortiz-Malavassi, E., Pélissier, R., Ploton, P., Ryan, C.M., Saldarriaga, J.G. and Vieilledent, G. (2014), Improved allometric models to estimate the aboveground biomass of tropical trees. Glob Change Biol, 20: 3177-3190. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12629. Biomass of dead stems was calculated using a reduction factor of 85% of alive biomass (Bennett et al., 2013) Note: both alive and dead stems are included in the site level calculation of above ground woody biomass.