Global planted forest data for timber species
Creators: name: Richardson, Sarah B.
name: An, Lauralee
name: Pollack, Sarah E.
name: Velappan, Hemalatha
name: Nogueron, Ruth
name: Richter, Jessica
name: Gardner, Shelley L.
name: Williams, Karen L.
name: Hermanson, John C.
name: Dow Goldman, Elizabeth
name: Peyer, Suzanne M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Planted forest
Timber
Forest Legality
Geographic information systems
species distribution

description: Discerning whether certain timber species were harvested from natural forests versus less restricted planted forests can help ascertain the legality of wood products that enter the global market. However, readily available global planted forest data to the species level have been scarce. We confronted the need for such data by developing a two-pronged dataset, consisting of 'polygon' and 'non-polygon' location-based data, collectively, Planted Forest Timber Data. We obtained the polygon data from the World Resources Institute's Spatial Database of Planted Trees v2.0, extracting data specific to traded timber species. We derived the non-polygon data from peer-reviewed literature and government documents. The polygon dataset encompasses 27 countries and 253 species and the non-polygon dataset spans 91 countries and 447 species. The polygon data are stored among 27 geopackages, one for each country. Each summarized row of polygon data contains up to 13 possible fields. The non-polygon data are housed within one main file, with each row of data including up to 28 possible fields. Both datasets also include summaries of independent evidence for a species growing in the specified countries. We envision that the more these two living datasets grow, the more they will mutually benefit from one another for data cross-validation. This assembled information is meant to equip global leaders in forest governance, policy, enforcement, and research with vetted data for promoting legal timber trade and protecting biodiversity.
description: Funding provided by: United States Department of AgricultureROR ID: https://ror.org/01na82s61Award Number: 21-CA-11132762-186
Funding provided by: United States Department of AgricultureROR ID: https://ror.org/01na82s61Award Number: 20-DG-11132762-228
Funding provided by: United States Department of AgricultureROR ID: https://ror.org/01na82s61Award Number: 22-CA-11132762-413
description: The Planted Forest Timber Data is composed of two types of information, polygon and non-polygon data, divided into two distinct living datasets. The polygon dataset includes visual delineations of the planted forest boundaries. These data are organized into GeoPackages with an accompanying summary table that links the collective data together. The planted forest plots in the non-polygon dataset do not have delineated boundaries, but still have species information at least at the country level. The polygon dataset is composed of a subset of the Spatial Database of Planted Trees v2.0, specifically the portion of data that pertained to tree species commonly associated with the timber trade. We used government Lacey Act data and the Botanic Gardens Conservation International's Working List of Commercial Timber Species to identify and isolate the species that qualify as timber. We also calculated the area of each planted forest plot. We assembled the non-polygon dataset by querying scientific databases (e.g., Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct) and library catalogs for primary and secondary literature, respectively, and performed internet searches for government reports and national databases. In addition to presence data and when available, we indicated in our non-polygon dataset the absence of planted forests for a given species, either within a specific country or worldwide.