DATA SET IDENTIFIER: BCI seedling dynamics – 50 ha plot
PROJECT TITLE: Seedling dynamics recruitment, growth and mortality
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The recruitment, growth and mortality of seedlings are crucial
components of plant community dynamics. We are monitoring all woody seedlings in 800 onesquare-meter plots in a tropical moist forest. There is no lower size threshold.
RESEARCH LOCATION: The 50-ha Forest Dynamics Plot on Barro Colorado Island,
Panama. The southwest corner of the FDP is located at 625773 easting and 1011774 northing in
UTM Zone 17.
DATA SET CREATOR: S. Joseph Wright
DATA SET CONTACT: S. Joseph Wright (email: [email protected])
DATA SET ABSTRACT: These data are being used to evaluate (1) hypothesized mechanisms
of plant species coexistence including the tolerance-fecundity, competition-colonization and
storage hypotheses, (2) effects of the identity and size of neighboring plants on seedling
recruitment, growth and mortality, (3) relationships between seedling recruitment, growth and
mortality and variation in abiotic conditions including light levels and interannual variation in
rainfall and other climate variables, and (4) relationships between successful seedling
recruitment and interannual variation in seed production.
DATA SET METHODS: We census seedlings of all woody species including lianas in 800
one-square-meter plots located in the 50-ha forest dynamics plot on Barro Colorado Island,
Panama. All woody plants larger than 1 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH) including lianas
are identified and measured (DBH) at 5-yr intervals in the 50-ha plot.
The seedling census takes place between January and March each year. Seedlings are
tagged, identified and measured (height and number of leaves). Height is measured from the
ground along the main stem to the apical meristem. Any branches are gently gathered together,
and height is then measured to the apical meristem on the longest branch. The number of leaves
is not recorded for plants with more than 50 leaves.
The 800 one-square-meter plots occur in sets of three or four associated with a central
seed rain trap (the variable „trap‟ below). The first 600 one-square-meter plots (PLOT numbers
3301-3900) were associated with seed rain traps located at 13.5-m intervals on alternating sides
and 4 to 10 m distant from 2.7 km of trails in the 50-ha forest dynamics plot. These first 600
seedling plots are 2 m from the central trap, with two traps on a line that parallels the nearby trail
and the third trap perpendicular to this line in the direction away from the trail. The final 200
one-square-meter plots were located in natural tree fall gaps within the 50-ha plot between 2002
and 2004. These final 200 seedling plots are also 2 m from a central seed trap along the four
cardinal directions (unless debris from the recent tree fall dictated a different orientation).
At the initial census, we measured every woody seedling less than 50 cm tall. The initial
census occurred in 1994 for PLOT numbers 3301-3900, in 2002 for PLOT numbers 3901-3936,
in 2003 for PLOT numbers 3937- 4008, and in 2004 for PLOT numbers 4009-4100. In
subsequent censuses, new recruits are tagged, identified and measured; survivors are re-
measured; and deaths are recorded. There is no lower size threshold. We continue to follow
seedlings that grow taller than 50 cm.
Seedling identifications have been made by Eduardo Sierra (1994-1997 deceased) or
Andres Hernandez (1998-present). This study and FDP are described in greater detail at
http://www.ctfs.si.edu/floss and http://www.ctfs.si.edu/, respectively.
DATA FILE NAME: BCISeedlingDynamics.txt (Tables 1 and 2 describe the variables).
DATA FILE TYPE: Tab delimited ASCII
NUMBER OF RECORDS: 221,408
DATA SET MOST RECENTLY UPDATED ON 20110105.
METADATA MOST RECENTLY UPDATED ON 20110105.
Table 1. Description of variables in the BCI seedling dynamics Data Set.
Name (as it
appears in
the data file)
Description
Units
Preci
sion
Range
Data
Type
Missing
data
codes
sp
Four-letter code to represent
species
NA
NA
See species list*
Character
NA
fecha
Date in YYYYMMDD format
NA
NA
19940111- 20100331
Integer
NA
trap
Integer to identify each trap
NA
NA
1-200 and 300-349
Integer
NA
plot
Integer to identify each 1-m2
plot
NA
NA
3301-4100
Integer
NA
tag
Unique character value to
identify each seedling
NA
NA
>50,000 values
Character
NA
length
Length of seedling from crown
to tip of apical meristem
cm
mm
0-482
Number
NA
leaves
Number of leaves
NA
NA
0-900
Integer
NA
note
Observations of the condition of
the seedling
NA
NA
Table 2 provides a
key to the notes.
Character
NA
* The species list can be downloaded at http://www.ctfs.si.edu/floss.
Table 2. Key to the variable ‘note’ in the BCI seedling dynamics Data Set
CODIGOS DE DAÑOS POR ROTURAS DEL TALLO PRINCIPAL
AC
APICE CORTADO POR ANIMAL O INSECTO
AQ
APICE QUEBRADO POR CUALQUIERA CIRCUNSTANCIA
AP
APICE DEL TRONCO PODRIDO, SECO O MUERTO
R
FR
RETOÑO. PLANTULA CON UN TALLO DAÑADO HASTA LA BASE Y A SALIDO UN
NUEVO TALLO
FRAGMENTO
CODIGO DE MORTALIDAD
DE
MUERTA (DEAD) Y PLACA COLECTADA
DS
PLANTA MUERTA Y NO SE ENCONTRO LA PLACA O ESTA DESAPARECIDA
CODIGOS DE SEPULTADAS
DR
DEBAJO DE RAMAS CAIDAS
DH
DEBAJO DE HOJARASCA
CODIGOS DE ERRORES
O
PLANTULA GERMINADA EL AÑO ANTERIOR Y NO FUE MARCADA
FF
TIENE PLACA Y NO ESTA EN LA LISTA NI EN MAPA
FM
CON PLACA Y NO MAPEADA
FL
CON PLACA Y NO ESTA EN LISTA PARO SI EN MAPA
S/M
SIN MARCA O PLACA
DAÑOS DE ORGANISMOS
GS
HoP
GU
GATO SOLO O SAINO SACO LA PLANTUL DE SU BASE
HONGOS O PATOGENOS
DAÑOS POR GUSANO Y EL GUSANO SE OBSERVA DIRECTAMENTE EN LA HOJA
OTROS
T1 - Tn…
Plantulas con tallos multiples
1994 solamente
COT
Cotelydon
GUS
Gusano
HON
Hongo
RET
RETOÑO
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Values of the variable „sp‟ include several four-letter codes that represent identification to
levels above species. Examples include “UNK?” for complete unknowns, “BIGN” for the
family Bignoniaceae and “PPSP” for the genus Piper. A key to these codes is included in the
species file that can be downloaded at http://www.ctfs.si.edu/floss.
The variable „tag‟ is not always unique because the smallest seedlings are too small to hold a
numbered band. The smallest seedlings are marked with colored plastic toothpicks stuck into
the ground near their base. There are just six colors available. Pasting the variables „plot‟ and
„tag‟ together almost always avoids the problem of replicate „tag‟ numbers. All toothpicks
were replaced by numbered bands for seedlings that survived their first year. The few cases
where the pasted variable „plot-tag‟ was not unique only create a problem when some
individuals survived others died and their sizes were not identical in their first census.
Starting in 2011, we will place a numbered band on the toothpick to avoid this problem.
Publications based on the BCI seedling dynamics data set
Metz, MR, LS Comita, YY Chen, N Norden, R Condit, SP Hubbell, IF Sun, N Supardi Bin Md.
Noor, SJ Wright. 2008. Temporal and spatial variability in seedling dynamics: a crosssite comparison in four lowland tropical forests. Journal of Tropical Ecology 24: 9-18.
Gilbert, B, SJ Wright, K Kitajima, HC Muller-Landau and A Hernandéz. 2006. Life history
trade-offs in tropical trees and lianas. Ecology 87: 1281-1288.
King, DA, SJ Wright and JH Connell. 2006. The distribution of maximum tree heights in
tropical vs. temperate forests: cause or consequence of tropical diversity? Journal of
Tropical Ecology 22: 11-24.Reported in Science (volume 311, page X) as an “Editors'
Choice: Highlights of the recent literature”.
Svenning, J.-C. and SJ Wright. 2005. Seed limitation in a Panamanian forest. Journal of Ecology
93: 853-862.
Wright, SJ, H. C. Muller-Landau, O. Calderón and A. Hernandéz. 2005. Annual and spatial
variation in seedfall and seedling recruitment in a Neotropical forest. Ecology 86: 848860.
Muller-Landau, H. C., J. W. Dalling, K. E. Harms, SJ Wright, R. Condit, S. P. Hubbell and R. B.
Foster. 2004. Seed dispersal and density-dependent seed and seeding mortality in Trichilia
tuberculata and Miconia argentea. Pages 340-362 in E.C. Losos and E. G. Leigh, Jr.,
editors. Tropical forest diversity and dynamism: Findings from a large-scale plot network.
645 pp. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Wright, SJ, O. Calderón, A. Hernandéz and S. Paton. 2004. Are lianas increasing in importance
in tropical forests? A 17-year record from Panamá. Ecology 85: 484-489.
Wright, SJ, H. C. Muller-Landau, R. Condit and S. P. Hubbell. 2003. Gap-dependent recruitment,
realized vital rates, and size distributions of tropical trees. Ecology 84: 3174-3185.
DeSteven, D. and SJ Wright. 2002. Consequences of variable reproduction for seedling recruitment
in three neotropical tree species. Ecology 83: 2315-2327.
Dalling, J. W., H. C. Muller-Landau, SJ Wright and S. P. Hubbell. 2002. Role of dispersal in the
recruitment limitation of neotropical pioneer species. Journal of Ecology 90: 714-727.
Wright, SJ 2002. Plant diversity in tropical forests: a review of mechanisms of species
coexistence. Oecologia 130: 1-14.
Muller-Landau, H. C., SJ Wright, O. Calderón, S. P. Hubbell and R. B. Foster. 2002. Assessing
recruitment limitation: Concepts, methods, and case studies from a tropical forest. Pages
35-53 in D. J. Levey, W. R. Silva and M. Galetti, editors. Seed dispersal and frugivory:
ecology, evolution and conservation. CAB International, Oxfordshire, UK.
Harms, K.E., S.J. Wright, O. Calderón, A. Hernandéz and E. A. Herre. 2000. Pervasive densitydependent recruitment enhances seedling diversity in a tropical forest. Nature 404: 493-495.
Research focus in TREE: Howe, H. F. and M. Miriti. 2000. No question: seed dispersal
matters. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15: 434-436.