uid=HFR,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org all public read doi:10.6073/pasta/556da43b5e8ed5ac8d3eabb09d046eea Tree Ring Data from the Harvard Forest EMS Tower 1896-2014 Neil Pederson https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3830-263X Daniel Bishop https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0394-5996 Researcher Javier Martin Fernandez Researcher Tessa Mandra Researcher 2023 English
<para>Is it possible to reconstruct aboveground carbon/biomass from tree rings? If so, how far back in time can researchers go when using tree-ring data in the reconstruction of past biomass? Answers to these questions will have a significant impact on our understanding of dynamics in the terrestrial carbon sink. Long tree-ring records of biomass can reveal intra-annual to annual to multidecadal variations that cannot be resolved by forest census data that is not conducted annually. Additionally, while these dynamics might be resolved using remote sensing, most remotely-sensed products are only two decades or less in length. By having long records of carbon biomass, we can then identify not only the dominant drivers of biomass, but how the importance of these drivers might change during different eras as environmental factors change (e.g., climate, air pollution, disturbance). To test these and other questions, we collected tree-ring records from two 20m radius plots set within the footprint of the EMS tower plot at the Harvard Forest installed and continuously operated since 1989. We can convert these data to biomass using allometric equations and compare tree-ring inferred aboveground biomass to the census data going back in time. Dye et al. (2016) have shown that these data fall within the range of uncertainty of census data sampled in the Harvard Forest Lyford plot going back to 1969.</para> <para>Dye, A., Barker Plotkin, A., Bishop, D., Pederson, N., Poulter, B., Hessl, A. 2016. Comparing tree-ring and permanent plot estimates of aboveground net primary production in three eastern U.S. forests. Ecosphere 7: e01454.</para> </section> </abstract> <keywordSet> <keyword>climate change</keyword> <keyword>community composition</keyword> <keyword>defoliation</keyword> <keyword>dendrochronology</keyword> <keyword>disturbance</keyword> <keyword>net primary production</keyword> <keyword>permanent plots</keyword> <keyword>tree rings</keyword> <keywordThesaurus>LTER controlled vocabulary</keywordThesaurus> </keywordSet> <keywordSet> <keyword>primary production</keyword> <keyword>populations</keyword> <keyword>disturbance</keyword> <keywordThesaurus>LTER core area</keywordThesaurus> </keywordSet> <keywordSet> <keyword>Harvard Forest</keyword> <keyword>HFR</keyword> <keyword>LTER</keyword> <keyword>USA</keyword> <keywordThesaurus>HFR default</keywordThesaurus> </keywordSet> <intellectualRights> <section> <para>This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.</para> </section> </intellectualRights> <licensed> <licenseName>Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal</licenseName> <url>https://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0.html</url> <identifier>CC0-1.0</identifier> </licensed> <distribution> <online> <url function="information"> https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf407 </url> </online> </distribution> <coverage> <geographicCoverage> <geographicDescription>Prospect Hill Tract (Harvard Forest). Coordinates based on WGS84 datum.</geographicDescription> <boundingCoordinates> <westBoundingCoordinate>-72.17</westBoundingCoordinate> <eastBoundingCoordinate>-72.17</eastBoundingCoordinate> <northBoundingCoordinate>42.53</northBoundingCoordinate> <southBoundingCoordinate>42.53</southBoundingCoordinate> <boundingAltitudes> <altitudeMinimum>356</altitudeMinimum> <altitudeMaximum>356</altitudeMaximum> <altitudeUnits>meter</altitudeUnits> </boundingAltitudes> </boundingCoordinates> </geographicCoverage> <temporalCoverage> <rangeOfDates> <beginDate> <calendarDate>1896</calendarDate> </beginDate> <endDate> <calendarDate>2014</calendarDate> </endDate> </rangeOfDates> </temporalCoverage> <taxonomicCoverage> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Acer</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>rubrum</taxonRankValue> <commonName>red maple</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Betula</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>alleghaniensis</taxonRankValue> <commonName>yellow birch</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>lenta</taxonRankValue> <commonName>black birch</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Fagus</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>grandifolia</taxonRankValue> <commonName>american beech</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Picea</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>abies</taxonRankValue> <commonName>norway spruce</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Pinus</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>strobus</taxonRankValue> <commonName>eastern white pine</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Quercus</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>rubra</taxonRankValue> <commonName>northern red oak</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Tsuga</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>canadensis</taxonRankValue> <commonName>eastern hemlock</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicCoverage> </coverage> <maintenance> <description> <para>complete</para> </description> </maintenance> <contact> <positionName>Information Manager</positionName> <organizationName>Harvard Forest</organizationName> <address> <deliveryPoint>324 North Main Street</deliveryPoint> <city>Petersham</city> <administrativeArea>MA</administrativeArea> <postalCode>01366</postalCode> <country>USA</country> </address> <phone phonetype="voice">(978) 724-3302</phone> <electronicMailAddress>hf-im@lists.fas.harvard.edu</electronicMailAddress> </contact> <publisher> <organizationName>Harvard Forest</organizationName> <address> <deliveryPoint>324 North Main Street</deliveryPoint> <city>Petersham</city> <administrativeArea>MA</administrativeArea> <postalCode>01366</postalCode> <country>USA</country> </address> <phone phonetype="voice">(978) 724-3302</phone> <phone phonetype="fax">(978) 724-3595</phone> <onlineUrl>https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu</onlineUrl> </publisher> <methods> <methodStep> <description> <section> <title>Vegetation and tree-ring data Vegetation and tree-ring data associated with this dataset were collected by the “PalEON Protocol”. Three plots were established in the EMS Plot where all trees greater than 10 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) in a 13 m radius were mapped (using distance and azimuth from plot center), measured for DBH, placed into canopy strata (dominant, co-dominant, intermediate, and suppressed, life status (live or dead), structural position if dead (snag, log, or stump hole), and cored. Two to three cores were removed from all trees sampled, live or dead, when possible; some were too rotten to core. Decay classes were determined for all deadwood (1 = recent to 5 = nearly soil) following Bunnell and Houde (Bunnell, F.L. and Houde, I., 2010, Down wood and biodiversity--implications to forest practices, Environmental Reviews, 18, pp.397-421) and surveys were made of saplings (all stems 2.5-4.99 cm DBH from plot center out to 5 m) and poles (all stems 5-9.99 in DBH from plot center out to 9 m). This protocol was repeated for 13-20 m from plot center, but only for trees greater than 20 cm DBH, to increase representation and possibly sample a higher proportion of old trees. Tree-ring measurements were taken from all usable cores and portions of usable cores for each plot. Some cores had too much rot or other issues to be useful. The occurrence of a missing or locally absent ring, where a tree did not fully form a ring on the side of the tree that was cored, is designated with a zero.
Tree-ring file formats Data are provided in both traditional Tucson and csv formats. Tucson files are organized by species where the species code is the first two letters of the genus plus the first two letters of the species. Tuscon files contain total raw ring width (.rwl), earlywood ring width (.ewr), or latewood ring width (.lwr). Tucson data can be read as a space-delimited file in most coding languages. In R, package dplR has built-in function read.rwl that converts .rwl files to a data frame (rows become years; columns become ring-width series). For more information on the Tucson data format, please see: Brewer, P.W., Murphy, D. and Jansma, E., 2011. TRiCYCLE: a universal conversion tool for digital tree-ring data. Tree-Ring Research, 67(2), pp.135-144.
Notes about the data TP1 Tree 037 (ACRU) and TP2 Tree 002 (BEAL) are both missing from the ring-width files. The causes of the missing data are accounted for in the “comments” column of the field notes file (hf407-02-tp-core.csv). Due to sampling early in the growing season (May 2013), some hardwood samples (all ACRU, FAGR, and BEAL) from TP1 Trees 1-42 did not have measurable partial rings for 2013. In contrast, samples from QURU and TSCA had measurable earlywood from 2013, which is included in the ring-width files. Details of the range of years measured for each series are included in the core notes. Red oak and black oak have been merged into QURU files due to species ID uncertainty. However, field notes have current species ID (QURU or QUVE).
Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research Harvard Forest
324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA
(978) 724-3302 (978) 724-3595 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu https://ror.org/059cpzx98 pointOfContact The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210. hf407-01-tp-tree.csv trees hf407-01-tp-tree.csv 14036 1892c0111452f6f962b7a090d0e440f9 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p40/hf407/hf407-01-tp-tree.csv site site and plot identifier TP1 EMS Tower Plot 1 (Plot center at 42.53928 N, -72.17614 W) TP2 EMS Tower Plot 2 (Plot center at 42.53791 N, -72.17581 W) NA missing value tree tree number tree number NA missing value species species ACRU Acer rubrum BEAL Betula alleghaniensis BELE Betula lenta FAGR Fagus grandifolia PIAB Picea abies PIST Pinus strobus QURU Quercus rubra QUVE Quercus velutina TSCA Tsuga canadensis NA missing value date date of sampling YYYY-MM-DD 1 day NA missing value canopy canopy position codominant codominant dominant dominant intermediate intermediate suppressed suppressed NA missing value status alive, dead or non-standing tree position dead status is unknown Li live Lo log Sh stump hole Sn snag St stump NA missing value dbh diameter at breast height centimeter 0.1 real NA missing value distance distance from plot center meter 0.1 real NA missing value azimuth degrees from due north degree 1 whole NA missing value tag tree tag number from the Lyford Plot permanent plot data tree tag number from the Lyford Plot permanent plot data NA missing value dist_top distance from center for top of dead log meter 0.1 real NA missing value az_top degrees from due north for top of dead log degree 1 whole NA missing value decay decay class 1 solid wood, recently fallen, bark and twigs present 2 solid wood, significant weathering, branches present 3 wood not solid, bark may be sloughing but nail still must be pounded into wood 4 wood sloughing and/or friable, nail may be forcibly pushed into wood 5 wood friable, barely holding shape, nail may be easily pushed into wood NA missing value 217 hf407-02-tp-core.csv core data hf407-02-tp-core.csv 28266 c4ad5e825910514ac0fb00b3dc0f6862 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p40/hf407/hf407-02-tp-core.csv site site and plot identfier TP1 EMS Tower Plot 1 (Plot center at 42.53928 N, -72.17614 W) TP2 EMS Tower Plot 2 (Plot center at 42.53791 N, -72.17581 W) NA missing value tree tree number tree number NA missing value core core cardinal direction A no associated cardinal direction B no associated cardinal direction E east N north S south W west NA missing value species species ID of individual series ACRU Acer rubrum BEAL Betula alleghaniensis BELE Betula lenta FAGR Fagus grandifolia PIAB Picea abies PIST Pinus strobus QURU Quercus rubra QUVE Quercus velutina TSCA Tsuga canadensis inner_year observed innermost year (not always measured) YYYY 1 year NA missing value outer_year observed outermost year (not always measured) YYYY 1 year NA missing value meas_inner year of innermost measured ring YYYY 1 year NA missing value meas_outer year of innermost measured ring YYYY 1 year NA missing value rings total number of rings measured number 1 natural NA missing value pith estimated number of rings from pith or at pith number 1 natural NA missing value gap location, in dates, when there is an observed gap(s) in mounted cores location, in dates, when there is an observed gap(s) in mounted cores NA missing value missing list of years with missing rings in series list of years with missing rings in series NA missing value false list of years with false rings in series list of years with missing rings in series NA missing value incomplete list of years with incomplete/partial rings in series list of years with incomplete/partial rings in series NA missing value reaction list of years with “reaction wood” in series list of years with “reaction wood” in series NA missing value canopy estimated condition of tree during early growth years G gap N non-gap U unknown NA missing value comments core-specific comments core-specific comments NA missing value 399 hf407-03-tp-tree-ring.csv tree ring measurements hf407-03-tp-tree-ring.csv 2400312 42d28f453fc0b70a0c4dd219f3583625 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p40/hf407/hf407-03-tp-tree-ring.csv site site TP EMS Tower Plot NA missing value species species ACRU Acer rubrum BEAL Betula alleghaniensis BELE Betula lenta FAGR Fagus grandifolia PIAB Picea abies PIST Pinus strobus QURU Quercus rubra QUVE Quercus velutina TSCA Tsuga canadensis NA missing value core core number core number NA missing value type ring measurement type ewr earlywood ring width lwr latewood ring width rwl raw ring width year year of ring width YYYY 1 year NA missing value rw measured ring width millimeter 0.001 real NA missing value 75318 hf407-04-tp-field-notes.pdf field notes hf407-04-tp-field-notes.pdf 6115110 2c47f345ab6aa104f1be0f15d711f50f none pdf https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p40/hf407/hf407-04-tp-field-notes.pdf document hf407-05-paleon-protocol.pdf PalEON sampling protocol hf407-05-paleon-protocol.pdf 119799 f3b84b86405124b818d9f573762e6eac none pdf https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p40/hf407/hf407-05-paleon-protocol.pdf document hf407-06-tp-rwl.zip Tuscon files hf407-06-tp-rwl.zip 188628 d2f8d8ec5272287b726c97e8886024d8 zip Tuscon ring data https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p40/hf407/hf407-06-tp-rwl.zip document hf407-07-tuscon2long-paleon.txt R script to convert Tucson files hf407-07-tuscon2long-paleon.txt 2271 cc527423550db7a73df19a70d50fd71a none R script https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p40/hf407/hf407-07-tuscon2long-paleon.txt script atmosphere historical plot long-term measurement historical paleological https://sites.nd.edu/paleonproject/