Find research datasets worth reusing

Harrison Experimental Forest site, station North plantation, Harrison Experimental Forest, study of diameter at breast height of Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) in units of centimeter on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from Harrison Experimental Forest (HAR) contains diameter at breast height of Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) measurements in centimeter units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

Harrison Experimental Forest site, station North plantation, Harrison Experimental Forest, study of height of Pinus palustris in units of meter on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from Harrison Experimental Forest (HAR) contains height of Pinus palustris measurements in meter units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

Harrison Experimental Forest site, station South plantation, Harrison Experimental Forest, study of diameter at breast height of Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) in units of centimeter on a yearly timescale

Harrison Experimental Forest site, station South plantation, Harrison Experimental Forest, study of height of Pinus palustris in units of meter on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from Harrison Experimental Forest (HAR) contains height of Pinus palustris measurements in meter units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2020View details →

zenodo32/100

The invasive pathogenic fungus of ash trees alters arthropod predator – prey food webs in forest plantations

The data set contains data on: 1] Prey type and size (sheet1: prey type and size). In the cells, prey length in mm is provided for each prey item. NA is stated for a prey item that could not be measured. In this sheet, the plot ids and the spider ids are also stated, which enables connection with other sheets. Note: more prey items caught by an individual are stated in one row if they are of different type. Prey items of a same type caught by an individual are itemized in more rows. 2] Information about spider individuals (sheet2: spiders). For each spider individual, it is provided its id, so it can be connected with sheet 1, plot id where it was collected, when it was collected (month), web type, and prosoma length (mm).  3] Characteristics of sampling plots (sheet3: environmental data). It is provided plot id, age, infestation degree by Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, canopy openness, shrub coverage, and herb coverage. 4] Potential prey of spiders (sheet 4: potential prey). Standardized no. of prey per trap (20 x 15 cm, both sides were sticky) in each plot.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Simplifying understory complexity in oil palm plantations is associated with a reduction in the density of a cleptoparasitic spider, Argyrodes miniaceus (Araneae: Theridiidae), in host (Araneae: Nephilinae) webs

Expansion of oil palm agriculture is currently one of the main drivers of habitat modification in Southeast Asia. Habitat modification can have significant effects on biodiversity, ecosystem function, and interactions between species by altering species abundances or the available resources in an ecosystem. Increasing complexity within modified habitats has the potential to maintain biodiversity and preserve species interactions. We investigated trophic interactions between Argyrodes miniaceus, a cleptoparasitic spider, and its Nephila spp. spider hosts in mature oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia. A. miniaceus co-occupy the webs of Nephila spp. females and survive by stealing prey items caught in the web. We examined the effects of experimentally manipulated understory vegetation complexity on the density and abundance of A. miniaceus in Nephila spp. webs. Experimental understory treatments included enhanced complexity, standard complexity, and reduced complexity understory vegetation, which had been established as part of the ongoing Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) Project. A. miniaceus density ranged from 14.4 to 31.4 spiders per square meter of web, with significantly lower densities found in reduced vegetation complexity treatments compared with both enhanced and standard treatment plots. A. miniaceus abundance per plot was also significantly lower in reduced complexity than in standard and enhanced complexity plots. Synthesis and applications: Maintenance of understory vegetation complexity contributes to the preservation of spider host–cleptoparasite relationships in oil palm plantations. Understory structural complexity in these simplified agroecosystems therefore helps to support abundant spider populations, a functionally important taxon in agricultural landscapes. In addition, management for more structurally complex agricultural habitats can support more complex trophic interactions in tropical agroecosystems.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: A comparison of clearfelling and gradual thinning of plantations for the restoration of insect herbivores and woodland plants

1. Testing restoration methods is essential for the development of restoration ecology as a science. It is also important to monitor a range of taxa, not just plants which have been the traditional focus of restoration ecology. Here we compare the effects on ground flora and leaf-miners, of two restoration practices used when restoring conifer plantations. 2. Two methods of restoration were investigated: clearfelling of plantations and the gradual thinning of conifers over time. Unrestored plantations and native broad-leaved woodlands were also surveyed, these representing the starting point of restoration and the reference community respectively. The study sites consist of two forest types (acidic Quercus woodland and mesotrophic Fraxinus woodland) enabling us to compare the two restoration methods in different habitat types. We use a well-replicated, large-scale study system consisting of 32 woodland plots, each 2 ha in size. 3. There were 179 plant species identified in the plots. Clearfelled plots had greater overall ground flora species richness than other management regimes (thinned, unrestored plantation and native woodland), but the richness of woodland plant species did not differ between clearfelled, thinned, native woodland and unrestored plantation plots. 4. More than 10 000 leaf-miners comprising 122 species were collected. Increased plant species richness was associated with increased leaf-miner species richness under all management regimes except clearfelled plots. 5. Forest type did not affect the response to restoration method, i.e. there was no interaction between management regime and forest type for any of the variables measured. 6. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that both the clearfelling and gradual thinning approaches to plantation restoration maintain woodland ground flora species. Either method can be used without detriment to woodland ground flora species richness. However, these methods differed in their effects on the leaf-miner–plant species richness relationship. If increasing invertebrate herbivore species richness is a concern the gradual thinning approach is more appropriate.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Overyielding in young tree plantations is driven by local complementarity and selection effects related to shade tolerance

1. Overyielding in mixed-species forests has been demonstrated in a vast body of literature, and the focus of functional biodiversity research is now shifting towards a mechanistic understanding of these observations. 2. We explored diversity-productivity relationships (DPRs) at two sites of a large-scale tree diversity experiment, with benign (Zed) and harsh (Ged) environmental conditions for plantation establishment. Additive partitioning methodologies were adopted to detect phenomenological patterns in the productivity data, and the trait structure of mixed communities was used to advance insights into compositional effects. 3. After six years of plantation development, biomass productivity was significantly higher in mixtures compared to the monocultures of component species. We observed that processes operated through direct tree-tree interactions, since the diversity signal disappeared where trees in mixed stands were surrounded by conspecific neighbors only. This result is particularly relevant for mixed-species planation systems, as trees are commonly planted in monospecific patches to simplify the management. Partitioning unveiled strong selection effects at both plantation sites. However, at the Ged-site this was caused by competitive dominance of species with fast young growth whereas at the Zed-site, species with slow young growth improved their performances but not at the expense of others (i.e. trait-dependent complementarity). Species tolerance to shading is an influential trait to predict biodiversity effects, with community-weighted means in shade tolerance mediating dominance effects (Ged) and functional diversity in shade tolerance mediating (trait-dependent) complementarity effects (Zed). 4. Synthesis. This study highlights that biodiversity effects in young tree plantations could be explained by the functional composition of mixed communities, with a key role for species levels of shade tolerance. As contrasting results between plantation sites were observed, future research should target the context-dependency of DPRs.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Spatial patterns of the frog Oophaga pumilio in a plantation system are consistent with conspecific attraction

The conspecific attraction hypothesis predicts that individuals are attracted to conspecifics because conspecifics may be cues to quality habitat and/or colonists may benefit from living in aggregations. Poison frogs (Dendrobatidae) are aposematic, territorial, and visually oriented – three characteristics which make dendrobatids an appropriate model to test for conspecific attraction. In this study, we tested this hypothesis using an extensive mark-recapture dataset of the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) from La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. Data were collected from replicate populations in a relatively homogenous Theobroma cacao plantation, which provided a unique opportunity to test how conspecifics influence spatial ecology of migrants in a controlled habitat with homogeneous structure. We predicted that (1) individuals entering a population would aggregate with resident adults, (2) migrants would share sites with residents at greater frequency than expected by chance, and (3) migrant home-ranges would have shorter nearest-neighbor distances (NND) to residents than expected by chance. The results were consistent with these three predictions: relative to random simulations, we observed significant aggregation, home-range overlap, and NND distribution functions in four, five, and six, respectively, of the six migrant-resident groups analyzed. Conspecific attraction may benefit migrant O. pumilio by providing cues to suitable home sites and/or increasing potential for social interactions with conspecifics; if true, these benefits should outweigh the negative effects of other factors associated with aggregation. The observed aggregation between migrant and resident O. pumilio is consistent with conspecific attraction in dendrobatid frogs, and our study provides rare support from a field setting that conspecific attraction may be a relevant mechanism for models of anuran spatial ecology.

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Expansion of industrial plantations continues to threaten Malayan tiger habitat

Southeast Asia has some of the highest deforestation rates globally, with Malaysia being identified as a deforestation hotspot. The Malayan tiger, a critically endangered subspecies of the tiger endemic to Peninsular Malaysia, is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. In this study, we estimate the natural forest loss and conversion to plantations in Peninsular Malaysia and specifically in its tiger habitat between 1988 and 2012 using the Landsat data archive. We estimate a total loss of 1.35 Mha of natural forest area within Peninsular Malaysia over the entire study period, with 0.83 Mha lost within the tiger habitat. Nearly half (48%) of the natural forest loss area represents conversion to tree plantations. The annual area of new plantation establishment from natural forest conversion increased from 20 thousand ha year−1 during 1988–2000 to 34 thousand ha year−1 during 2001–2012. Large-scale industrial plantations, primarily those of oil palm, as well as recently cleared land, constitute 80% of forest converted to plantations since 1988. We conclude that industrial plantation expansion has been a persistent threat to natural forests within the Malayan tiger habitat. Expanding oil palm plantations dominate forest conversions while those for rubber are an emerging threat.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Biodiversity as insurance for sapling survival in experimental tree plantations

Biodiversity can insure ecosystems against declines in their functioning by increasing the mean level of ecosystem processes and decreasing the spatial or temporal variance of these processes. On this basis, mixing tree species is expected to be an effective management strategy to reduce the risk of planting failure in young plantations. We examined the effects of biodiversity insurance on sapling survival in three tree diversity experiments across Belgium. Based on the survival scoring of 89 254 saplings, planted in 126 plots with up to four-species mixtures, we tested two hypotheses: (i) variability in plot-level survival is lower for mixtures compared to monocultures due to compensation among the species (i.e. buffering effect) and (ii) mean survival is higher due to facilitation (i.e. performance-enhancing effect). Variation in plot-level survival decreased strongly with diversity, indicating a buffering effect. The risk of severe planting failure was reduced in mixtures because species exhibit different survival rates; therefore, mixing ensures that not all trees in the plantation are equally susceptible to environmental stressors. In contrast, the mean plot-level survival did not increase with diversity, and thus, an overall performance-enhancing effect was lacking. However, species-level analyses did show performance-enhancing effects, where some species profited from mixing while others did not. Synthesis and applications. We conclude that biodiversity through mixing tree species insures young experimental plantations against planting failure and is therefore highly recommended as a planting management strategy. The risk of large mortality gaps is reduced if tree plantation saplings are mixed at the scale of individual trees or small cells of trees.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Tree species diversity alters plant defence investment in an experimental forest plantation in Southern Mexico

The effects of plant species diversity on plant traits conferring herbivore resistance (e.g., chemical defences), as well as the mechanisms underlying such effects, have received little attention. One potential mechanism for diversity effects on plant defences is that increased plant growth at high diversity could lead to reduced investment in defences via growth-defence trade-offs. We measured tree growth (diameter at breast height) and collected leaves for quantification of total phenolics on 2.5-year old plants of six tropical tree species (N = 597 plants) in a young experimental plantation in southern Mexico. Selected plants were distributed across 23 plots (21 x 21 m each) classified as monocultures of one species (N = 13, 2-3 plots per species) or polycultures (N = 10) represented by mixtures of four out of the six species. We found a significant negative effect of tree species diversity on total phenolics, where polycultures exhibited a 13 percent lower mean concentration than monocultures. However, there was marked variation among tree species in diversity effects on defences, where some species exhibited strong reductions in phenolics in mixtures, whereas others were unresponsive. Further, we found no effect of tree species diversity on growth and results indicated that the negative effect of diversity on chemical defences was not mediated by a growth-defence trade-off. These results demonstrate that tree diversity can alter investment in chemical defences in long-lived tree species, which has important implications for predicting effects on consumers and ecosystem function.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Not seeing the grass for the trees: timber plantations and agriculture shrink tropical montane grassland by two-thirds over four decades in the Palani Hills, a Western Ghats Sky Island

Tropical montane habitats, grasslands, in particular, merit urgent conservation attention owing to the disproportionate levels of endemic biodiversity they harbour, the ecosystem services they provide, and the fact that they are among the most threatened habitats globally. The Shola Sky Islands in the Western Ghats host a matrix of native forest-grassland matrix that has been planted over the last century, with exotic timber plantations. The popular discourse on the landscape change is that mainly forests have been lost to the timber plantations and recent court directives are to restore Shola forest trees. In this study, we examine spatiotemporal patterns of landscape change over the last 40 years in the Palani Hills, a significant part of the montane habitat in the Western Ghats. Using satellite imagery and field surveys, we find that 66% of native grasslands and 31% of native forests have been lost over the last 40 years. Grasslands have gone from being the dominant, most contiguous land cover to one of the rarest and most fragmented. They have been replaced by timber plantations and, to a lesser extent, expanding agriculture. We find that the spatial pattern of grassland loss to plantations differs from the loss to agriculture, likely driven by the invasion of plantation species into grasslands. We identify remnant grasslands that should be prioritised for conservation and make specific recommendations for conservation and restoration of grasslands in light of current management policy in the Palani Hills, which favours large-scale removal of plantations and emphasises the restoration of native forests.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: How many broadleaved trees are enough in conifer plantations? The economy of land sharing, land sparing, and quantitative targets

1. For biodiversity conservation to be an effective and significant social investment, non-marketed values of biodiversity conservation and its associated opportunity costs should be evaluated in monetary terms. 2. In this study, we measured the willingness to pay (WTP) for bird abundance using a choice experiment (CE) based on the random utility model. We performed a cost–benefit analysis to identify the optimal proportion of broad-leaved trees in conifer plantations on a volume basis to maximize the social benefits of bird conservation and wood production. 3. The results suggested that respondents to the CE were not satisfied with their current situation and preferred an increase in bird abundance. However, the estimated WTP indicated diminishing returns of bird conservation. More specifically, WTP first greatly increased before gradually experiencing decreasing marginal values, reaching its peak, and finally decreasing slightly with increasing bird abundance. 4. Optimization analyses indicated that when the relation between bird abundance and broad-leaved tree proportion was convex, semi-natural plantations with non-zero broad-leaved tree proportion (0.02–0.22) were always optimal options. When the relation was linear, optimal broad-leaved tree proportion ranged from 0 to 0.78 and was greatly affected by wood values. When the relation was concave, there were only two optimal broad-leaved tree proportions: a very high proportion (approximately 0.90) and the lowest possible proportion (0). When the convex and concave relations approached the linear form, comparable benefits could be attained across broad ranges of broad-leaved tree proportion both within and across the relations. In such cases, it would be useful to increase the likelihood of a feasible land-use strategy of either land sparing or land sharing in order to be successful. 5. Synthesis and applications. It can be difficult to set quantitative targets in biodiversity conservation solely on an ecological basis, and social benefits of biodiversity conservation can create diminishing returns in many situations. The framework we proposed shows how to reconcile resource production and biodiversity conservation in the real world.

opencc-zeroDec 2010View details →

Data from: Effects of forest plantations on the genetic composition of conspecific native Aleppo pine populations

Afforestation is a common and widespread management practice throughout the world, yet its implications for the genetic diversity of native populations are still poorly understood. We examined the effect of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) plantations on the genetic composition of nearby conspecific native populations. We focused on two native populations in Israel with different levels of isolation from the surrounding plantations and compared the genetic diversity of naturally established young trees within the native populations with that of local native adults, using nine nuclear microsatellite markers. We found that the genetic composition of the recruits was significantly different from that of local adults in both populations, with allelic frequency changes between generations that could not be ascribed to random drift, but rather to substantial gene flow from the surrounding planted Aleppo pine populations. The more isolated population experienced a lower gene flow level (22%) than the less isolated population (49%). The genetic divergence between native populations at the adult-tree stage (Fst = 0.32) was more than twice as high as that of the young trees naturally established around native adults (Fst = 0.15). Our findings provide evidence for a rapid genetic homogenization process of native populations following the massive planting efforts in the last decades. These findings have important implications for forest management and nature conservation and constitute a warning sign for the risk of translocation of biota for local biodiversity.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Ecological niche modelling for conservation planning of an endemic snail in the verge of becoming a pest in cardamom plantations in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot

Conservation managers and policy makers are often confronted with a challenging dilemma of devising suitable strategies to maintain agricultural productivity while conserving endemic species that at the early stages of becoming pests of agricultural crops. Identification of environmental factors conducive to species range expansion for forecasting species distribution patterns will play a central role in devising management strategies to minimize the conflict between the agricultural productivity and biodiversity conservation. Here, we present results of a study that predicts the distribution of Indrella ampulla, a snail endemic to the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, which is becoming a pest in cardamom (Ellettaria cardamomum) plantations. We determined the distribution patterns and niche overlap between I. ampulla and Ellettaria cardamomum using maximum entropy (MaxEnt) niche modeling techniques under current and future (2020–2080) climatic scenarios. The results showed that climatic (precipitation of coldest quarter and isothermality) and soil (cation exchange capacity of soil [CEC]) parameters are major factors that determine the distribution of I. ampulla in Western Ghats. The model predicted cardamom cultivation areas in southern Western Ghats are highly sensitive to invasion of I. ampulla under both present and future climatic conditions. While the land area in the central Western Ghats is predicted to become unsuitable for I. ampulla and Ellettaria cardamomum in future, we found 71% of the Western Ghats land area is suitable for Ellettaria cardamomum cultivation and 45% suitable for I. ampulla, with an overlap of 35% between two species. The resulting distribution maps are invaluable for policy makers and conservation managers to design and implement management strategies minimizing the conflicts to sustain agricultural productivity while maintaining biodiversity in the region.