Woody debris removal modifies carbon stocks and soil properties in a fragmented tropical rainforest
Data files
Jan 19, 2024 version files 66.16 KB
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Nandakumar_et_al_v2.zip
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README.md
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Abstract
We examined whether and how woody debris removal for domestic fuel affects carbon storage and soil properties in an Indian rainforest. Fuelwood removal reduced aboveground carbon stocks, increased soil bulk density, and possibly reduced soil phosphorus stocks. Equitably balancing this subtle trade-off between climate-regulating and vital, widely-utilized provisioning functions, is a challenge for tropical forest research and management.
The download includes a compressed folder that contains six CSV files whose contents are described below:
- Nandakumar_et_al_CWD.csv
- Nandakumar_et_al_CWD_density.csv
- Nandakumar_et_al_CWD_vegetation.csv
- Nandakumar_et_al_CWD_soil.csv
- Nandakumar_et_al_CWD_soil_other.csv
- Osuri_et_al_CWD.csv
File 1: “Nandakumar_et_al_CWD.csv”
Description: This file contains dimensions of all Coarse Woody Debris (CWD) with diameter above 10 cm, within 20m x 20m vegetation plots. For standing CWD and stumps from past logging, one diameter and height was measured. For fallen CWD, diameters at the two ends of the CWD where the diameter is atleast 10 cm, and the length between these diameters were measured. For CWD falling partially outside the plot, diameter at and length of CWD inside the plot boundary was measured. Each row represents one piece of CWD.
Column names and descriptions
- id: Unique code assigned to an edge-interior vegetation plot pair
- plot.remarks: General remarks about the plot and whether the plot is edge or interior plot.
- class: Decay class of CWD. Criteria for deciding decay classes is given in the supplementary (Table S1)
- state: Whether the CWD is on the ground, is standing or is the remaining stump of a logged tree
- dia1: 1st diameter of the CWD (cm)
- dia2: 2nd diameter of the CWD (cm). This will be absent for Standing CWD and stumps from past logging
- cwd_group.pom: The point of measurement of the diameter, for standing CWD
- height: Height/length of the CWD (m)
- cwd_group.hole: Whether there was a cavity in the CWD
- hole.depth: If there is a cavity, what is its depth (cm)
- hole.dia: If there is a cavity, what is its diameter (cm)
- cwd.remarks: General remarks about the CWD and shape of the cavity if present.
- edg_int: Whether the plot is an edge or interior plot.
- treatment: Whether it is a plot near settlements (fuelwood_removal) or far away from settlements (control)
File 2: “Nandakumar_et_al_CWD_density.csv”
Description: This file contains the density of CWD of diameter greater than 10 cm in different decay classes. CWD were arbitrarily selected along different trails. Cores were extracted from CWD from each density class and water displacement method was used for estimating density.
Column names and description
- Place: Site where the CWD was found
- Status: Whether the CWD was fallen or standing. Whether the CWD was fully touching the soil (on-ground) or starting to slant is indicated in square brackets
- Class: Decay class of the CWD
- Code: Unique code assigned to the CWD
- Volume 1-4: Volume of the cores extracted from the CWD (cm3). If there were more than one core from a single CWD, they are assigned in different columns
- Mass: Mass of the cores after air-drying till constant weight (g).
- Remarks.Condition: Remarks about the CWD and condition of the core.
- dens: density of the core (g/m3), calculated using the formula volume/mass.
File 3: “Nandakumar_et_al_vegetation.csv”
Description: This file contains the diameter, height and species identity of all the trees with a diameter above 10 cm in the 20m x 20m vegetation plots. Diameters were taken at breast height, and species that could not be identified to the species level were recorded using their genus name alone.
Column names and description:
- id: Unique code assigned to an edge-interior vegetation plot pair
- edg_int: Whether the plot is an edge or interior plot.
- height: Height of the tree (m)
- species: Scientific name of the tree
- dbh 1-10: Diameter at breast height of the tree (cm). If the tree had multiple stems at breast height, their individual diameters were measured and noted down in the subsequent columns
- cut_dbh 1-4: If one of the stems of a tree was cut, the diameter at the base of the cut stem (cm). If multiple cut stems were present, they were noted in the subsequent columns
- plot.remarks: General remarks about the plot
- tree.remark: General remarks about the tree
- treatment: Whether it’s a plot near settlements (fuelwood_removal) or far away from settlements (control)
File 4: “Nandakumar_et_al_soil.csv”
Description: This file contains all the soil parameter values from the 20m x 20m vegetation plots, that were included in the analysis. Soil was collected using a 15 cm long soil core. Soil was collected across the diagonals of the plot and pooled together, after which the soil was dried in a well-ventilated room, ground using a mortar and sieved using a 2mm sieve, before sending it for analysis.
Column names and description:
- parameter: Name of the soil parameter
- value: value of the soil parameter - Carbon concentration (mg/g); carbon stocks (Mg/ha); bulk density (g/m3); other nutrient concentrations (mg/kg), other nutrient stocks (kg/ha)
- id: Unique code assigned to a edge-interior vegetation plot pair
- edg_int: Whether the plot is an edge or interior plot.
- treatment: Whether it’s a plot near settlements (fuelwood_removal) or far away from settlements (control)
File 5: “Nandakumar_et_al_soil_other.csv”
Description: This file contains all the soil parameter values from the 20m x 20m vegetation plots, that were included in the analysis. Soil was collected using a 15 cm long soil core. Soil was collected across the diagonals of the plot and pooled together, after which the soil was dried in a well-ventilated room, ground using a mortar and sieved using a 2mm sieve, before sending it for analysis.
Column names and description:
- parameter: Name of the soil parameter
- value: value of the soil parameter - Electrical conductivity (dS/m); pH (no unit); all other nutrient concentrations (mg/kg), all other nutrient stocks (kg/ha)
- id: Unique code assigned to an edge-interior vegetation plot pair
- edg_int: Whether the plot is an edge or interior plot.
- treatment: Whether it’s a plot near settlements (fuelwood_removal) or far away from settlements (control)
File 6: “Osuri_wood_density.csv”
Description: This file contains species-wise average wood density data, compiled from Zanne et al. (2009), Chave et al. (2009) and Osuri et al. (2016).
Column names and description:
- species: species name
- genus: genus name
- wd: wood density (g/cm3)
References
- Chave, J., Coomes, D., Jansen, S., Lewis, S. L., Swenson, N. G., & Zanne, A. E. (2009). Towards a worldwide wood economics spectrum. Ecology letters, 12(4), 351-366.
- Zanne, A. E. (2009). Global wood density database. Dryad. Identifier: http://hdl. handle. net/10255/dryad 235 (2009).
- Osuri, A. M., & Sankaran, M. (2016). Seed size predicts community composition and carbon storage potential of tree communities in rain forest fragments in India’s Western Ghats. Journal of Applied Ecology, 53(3), 837-845.