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Data

Tree survival, diameter, growth, recruitment and climatic data, Northern Queensland, Australia 

Ver: 1.0
Status of Data: completed
Update Frequency: asNeeded
Security Classification: unclassified
Record Last Modified: 2025-12-02
Viewed 694 times
Accessed 292 times
Dataset Created: 2022-01-31
Dataset Published: 2022-02-24
Data can be accessed from the following links:
HTTPPoint-of-truth metadata URLHTTPBauman_et_al_2022_Nature_1984_2019_climatology_data.csvHTTPBauman_et_al_2022_Nature_81sp_Survival_data.csvHTTPBauman_et_al_2022_Nature_monthly_climate_data.csvHTTPBauman_et_al_2022_Nature_supplementary_methods_S2.RHTTPro-crate-metadata.json
How to cite this collection:
Bauman, D., Cernusak, L. & Bradford, M. (2022). Tree survival, diameter, growth, recruitment and climatic data, Northern Queensland, Australia. Version 1.0. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. https://dx.doi.org/10.25901/rxtc-th28 
This dataset presents the demographic monitoring (growth and survival) of 81 tree species based on repeated stem measurement data from 20, 0.5 ha (100 m x 50 m) permanent moist forest plots in northern Queensland, Australia from 1971 to 2019, as well as four additional plots of 0.1 to 1 ha whose monitoring began in the 2000s. The plots have a rainfall range of 1200 to over 6000 mm, represent eleven vegetation types, six parent materials, and range from 15 m to 1500 m above sea level. Except for minor disturbances associated with selective logging on two plots, the plots were established in old growth forest and all plots have thereafter been protected. Plots were regularly censused and at each census the diameter at breast height (DBH) of all stems ≥10 cm DBH were recorded. We only report the data for the 81 species studied in Bauman et al. 2022 (Nature), here. We also provide the climatology of these plots as well as the temperature, vapour pressure deficit, and maximum climatological water deficit of all intervals separating consecutive censuses, as used in the analyses of Bauman et al. 2022. 
Credit
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. The data related to the 20 0.5-ha plots were established, maintained and censused by CSIRO (see https://doi.org/10.4225/08/59475c67be7a4 for initial link and data). We thank the Australian Supersite Network, part of the Australian Government’s Terrestrial Ecosystem Network for having provided the data for the Daintree Rainforest, Cow Bay, and Robson Creek Supersites. David Bauman was supported by the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF) and the Philippe Wiener - Maurice Anspach Foundation. 
Purpose
The data collected from the 20 plots provides an insight into the floristics, structure and long term forest dynamics of Australian tropical rainforests and allows direct comparisons to be made with long-term monitoring plots at a global scale. 
Lineage
Data not provided. 
Method DocumentationData not provided.
Procedure Steps

1. 

Site and species data: The dataset encompasses 49 years of inventory data from 24 unlogged tropical rainforest plots distributed along an elevation gradient ranging between 15 and 1500 m above sea level in northern Queensland Australia. Twenty plots (0.5-ha, 100 × 50 m) were established between 1971 and 1980 to provide long-term ecological and demographic data, while four plots were established more recently (2001 – 2012) along the same elevation gradient. The elevation gradient covers a wide range of mean annual temperatures (19°C to 26.1°C), precipitation (1213 to 3563 mm), and mean vapour pressure deficit (6.5 to 11.8 hPa). All trees above 10 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) were mapped, identified to species level and measured for diameter at beast height. Tree recruitment and mortality were also recorded. Sampling was conducted every two years for ten years, then at three-to-four-year intervals in the older twenty plots, while the more recent plots were sampled one to three times. 

2. 

Climatic data: Plot-level mean vapour pressure deficit (VPD), and maximum temperature (Tmax) were collected from ANUClimate v.2.0 between 1971 and 2019 and maximum climatological water deficit (MCWD) was calculated using precipitation data from ANUClimate v.2.0 and evapotranspiration data from TerraClimate. Climatic variable mean values were defined as a 35-year local average per climatic variable (1984-2019). 

The tropical moist forest plots have a rainfall range of 1200 to 3500 mm, represent eleven vegetation types, six parent materials, and range from 15 m to 1200 m above sea level.
Temporal Coverage
From 1971-01-03 to 2019-12-09 
Spatial Resolution

Data not provided.

Vertical Extent

Data not provided.

ANZSRC - FOR
Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology)
Forest biodiversity
Forestry biomass and bioproducts
Population ecology
Tree nutrition and physiology
GCMD Sciences
AGRICULTURE - FOREST CONSERVATION
ATMOSPHERE - ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE
ATMOSPHERE - VAPOR PRESSURE
BIOSPHERE - FOREST COMPOSITION/VEGETATION STRUCTURE
BIOSPHERE - FORESTS
CLIMATE INDICATORS - SOIL MOISTURE
Horizontal Resolution
30 meters - < 100 meters
Parameters
absolute diameter growth rate
diameter at breast height
elevation
maximum climatological water deficit
maximum temperature
plant mortality
plant recruitment
vapour pressure deficit
Temporal Resolution
biannual
Topic
biota
climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
User Defined
Demography
Tropical moist forests
Wet Tropics
Author
Bauman, David
Co-Author
Cernusak, Lucas
Bradford, Matt
Contact Point
Bauman, David
Publisher
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
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Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
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Contact Us
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The data collection is described in Bauman et al. 2022 (the study should be cited in works using the data). Bauman D, Fortunel C, Delhaye G, Malhi Y, Cernusak LA, Bentley LP, Rifai SW, Aguirre-Gutiérrez J, Oliveras I, Phillips OL, McNellis BE, Bradford M, Laurance SLW, Hutchinson MF, Dempsey R, Santos-Andrade P, Ninantay-Rivera HR, Chambi Paucar JR, McMahon SM (2022) Long-term tropical tree mortality increases associated with rising atmospheric water stress. Nature (accepted). 
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Please cite this dataset as {Author} ({PublicationYear}). {Title}. {Version, as appropriate}. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. {Identifier}.