Woody plant species were surveyed at 72 locations near the Panama Canal, spanning geological formations and a rainfall gradient. Soil chemistry, and dry season intensity at all the sites. Response of tree species to environmental gradients was estimated. The soil and climate data are provided in a single table here. Tree distributions are published at Condit et al. (2013a), including a data archive in Condit et al. (2013b). Note that the PNAS article incorrectly cites the data archive; the link below is correct.

The README file includes descriptions of columns in the data table. Details on methods for soil chemistry are given in references listed below. The Condit et al. (2013a) paper in PNAS has an accompanying data archive (Condit et al. 2013b), referred to below as PNAS archive.

Data are in a tab-delimited ascii file. There are 77 locations with latitude, longitude, and elevation given. See README file.

References

Condit, R., B. M. J. Engelbrecht, D. Pino, R. Perez, and B. L. Turner. 2013a. Species distributions in response to individual soil nutrients and seasonal drought across a community of tropical trees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110:5064–5068.

Condit, R.; Engelbrecht, B.; Pino, D.; Turner, B.; Pérez, R. 2013b. Panama Tree Distribution Database. https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/19529.

Mirabello, M. J., J. B. Yavitt, M. Garcia, K. E. Harms, B. L. Turner, and S. J. Wright. 2013. Soil phosphorus responses to chronic nutrient fertilisation and seasonal drought in a humid lowland forest, Panama. Soil Research 51:215.

Turner, B. L., T. Brenes-Arguedas, and R. Condit. 2018. Pervasive phosphorus limitation of tree species but not communities in tropical forests. Nature 555:367–370.

Turner, B. L., and S. Joseph Wright. 2014. The response of microbial biomass and hydrolytic enzymes to a decade of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium addition in a lowland tropical rain forest. Biogeochemistry 117:115–130.

Turner, B. L., J. B. Yavitt, K. E. Harms, M. N. Garcia, T. E. Romero, and S. J. Wright. 2013. Seasonal Changes and Treatment Effects on Soil Inorganic Nutrients Following a Decade of Fertilizer Addition in a Lowland Tropical Forest. Soil Science Society of America Journal 77:1357–1369.

Turner, B. L., J. B. Yavitt, K. E. Harms, M. N. Garcia, and S. J. Wright. 2015. Seasonal changes in soil organic matter after a decade of nutrient addition in a lowland tropical forest. Biogeochemistry 123:221–235.

Turner, B. L., P. Zalamea, R. Condit, K. Winter, S. J. Wright, and J. W. Dalling. 2017. No evidence that boron influences tree species distributions in lowland tropical forests of Panama. New Phytologist 214:108–119.