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The Liana community of the Barro Colorado Island 50-ha plot - complete 2007 dataset

Schnitzer, Stefan1; DeFilippis, David1

Research facility: Barro Colorado Island
Published Oct 04, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m63xsj4bq

Data files

Oct 04, 2024 version files 7.83 MB

Abstract

Lianas are an important component of tropical forests and they have been shown to interact intensely with trees (Putz 1984, Schnitzer & Bongers 2002). Lianas decrease tree growth, reproduction, recruitment, sap velocity, and leaf area, and the negative effects of lianas on trees have important community and ecosystem ramifications, particularly for species diversity and for forest-level carbon accretion and storage (Toledo-Aceves 2015, Garcia-Leon et al. 2018, Estrada-Villegas et al. 2022). The ability to determine the relationship between lianas and long-term tree performance; however, has been impeded by the lack of large-scale, spatially explicit liana census data. Here we describe and release the 2007 liana dataset from the Barro Colorado Island, Panama (BCI) 50-ha plot, an intensely studied forest dynamics plot with a rich 40-year history of tree dynamics (See Condit et al. 2019). Our dataset includes the stem diameter, spatial location, and species identification for all liana stems larger than or equal to 1 cm diameter that were rooted within the BCI 50-ha plot. This dataset also includes information on whether the liana stem was clonal at the time of the census; i.e., clonal stems had their own root systems but were still attached to another stem in the census. To ensure that our dataset was accurate, we used multiple levels of quality control during field data collection and then we checked and cleaned the dataset multiple times, including updating all species names in 2023. The methods for the liana census were described in Gerwing (2006), Schnitzer et al. (2008, 2012, 2015); species information is described in Schnitzer et al. (2024a, 2024b).

In 2007, we found 67,145 rooted liana stems with a basal area of 49.01 m2 comprising 165 species. Of the total rooted stems, 30.14% (20,235 stems) were clonal. We were able to positively identify 98.5% of the stems to species, with the remaining 1.5% of stems to genus. Liana stems were distributed throughout the BCI 50-ha plot; however, there was clear population and community structure, with liana density and diversity congregating around disturbed areas where trees had fallen and had not yet regenerated back to high canopy (Dalling et al. 2012, Ledo et al 2014). This rich dataset can be used to address numerous questions on the spatially explicit effects of lianas in forest dynamics looking both backwards and forwards in time (e.g., Schnitzer 2018). We welcome opportunities to collaborate with research groups interested in using this dataset; however, the data are free to be used with no restrictions other than citing this data paper and acknowledging NSF grant DEB-0613666, which funded this original liana census.