DOI: 10.15146/5xcp-0d46
title: Complete data from the Barro Colorado 50-ha plot: 423617 trees, 35 years

description: The 50-ha plot at Barro Colorado Island was initially demarcated and fully
 censused in 1982, and has been fully censused 7 times since, every 5 years
 from 1985 through 2015 (Hubbell and Foster 1983, Hubbell et al. 1990,
 Condit et al. 2012, Condit et al. 2017). Every measurement of every stem
 over 8 censuses is included in this archive. Most users will need only the
 8 R Analytical Tables in the format tree, which come here zipped
 together into a single archive (bci.tree.zip), plus the single R Species
 Table. Additional tables cover all individuals stems, additional
 measurements at mulitple positions on some stems, and the full database in
 original MySQL format. This is the 2019 version of the database, frozen as
 of 30 May 2019, replacing the 2012 Smithsonian archive
 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5479/data.bci.20130603). There are unauthorized
 versions of the BCI database available elsewhere. This is the only version
 approved by the lead investigators (Condit and Hubbell). PIs Condit and
 Hubbell would like to be informed of papers resulting from the BCI plot
 data. Depending on our level of interest and how much a paper depends on
 the BCI plot, co-authorship might be requested. Please cite this archive
 as Condit R., Perez, R., Aguilar, S., Lao, S., Foster, R., Hubbell, S.P.
 2019. Complete data from the Barro Colorado 50-ha plot: 423617 trees, 35
 years, 2019
 version.   https://doi.org/10.15146/5xcp-0d46.
 References Hubbell, S. P. and Foster, R. B. 1983. Diversity of canopy
 trees in a neotropical forest and implications for conservation. Pp. 25-41
 in Tropical Rain Forest: Ecology and Management, Whitmore, T., Chadwick,
 A., and Sutton, A. (Eds.). The British Ecological Society. Hubbell, S. P.,
 Condit, R., and Foster, R. B. 1990. Presence and absence of density
 dependence in a Neotropical tree community. Philosophical Transactions of
 the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences Pages 269–281.
 pdf http://conditdatacenter.org/pdfs/HubbellConditFoster.PhilTrans1990.pdf
 Condit, R., 1998. Tropical Forest Census Plots: Methods and Results from
 Barro Colorado Island, Panama and a Comparison with Other Plots.
 Springer-Verlag, Berlin. pdf Condit_1998_CensusPlotsmethodsBook.pdf.
 Harms, K., Condit, R., Hubbell, S., and Foster, R. 2001. Habitat
 associations of trees and shrubs in a 50-ha Neotropical forest plot.
 Journal of Ecology 89:947–959. pdf
 http://conditdatacenter.org/pdfs/Condit_harmsetal.jecol.2001.pdf Condit,
 R., Chisholm, R. A., and Hubbell, S. P. 2012. Thirty years of forest
 census at Barro Colorado and the importance of immigration in maintaining
 diversity. PLoS ONE 7:e49826. pdf
 http://conditdatacenter.org/pdfs/ConditChisholmHubbell2012.pdf Condit, R.,
 Lao, S., Singh, A., Esufali, S., and Dolins, S. 2014. Data and database
 standards for permanent forest plots in a global network. Forest Ecology
 and Management, 316: 21-31. pdf
 http://conditdatacenter.org/pdfs/ConditEtAl_FORECO2014.pdf Cushman, K.,
 Muller-Landau, H. C., Condit, R. S., and Hubbell, S. P. 2014. Improving
 estimates of biomass change in buttressed trees using tree taper models.
 Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 5:573–582. pdf
 http://conditdatacenter.org/pdfs/CushmanConditEtAl_2014_MEE.pdf Condit,
 R., Pérez, R., Aguilar, S., Lao, S., and Hubbell, S. P. 2017. Demographic
 trends and climate over 35 years in the Barro Colorado 50 ha plot. Forest
 Ecosystems 4:1–13. pdf
 http://conditdatacenter.org/pdfs/Condit_et_al-2017-Forest_Ecosystems.pdf
 Condit R., Perez, R., Aguilar, S., Lao, S., Foster, R., Hubbell, S.P.
 2019. BCI 50-ha plot taxonomy, 2019 version. DataONE Dash, Dataset,
 https://doi.org/10.15146/R3FH61.
description: See Condit (1998).
description: R Analytical Tables: Tree and Stem These are
 16 tables in R format, 8 tables in the <i>tree</i> format, one
 table per census, and 8 more in the <i>stem</i> format. They
 are named bci.tree1 through bci.tree8 and bci.stem1 through bci.stem8,
 with the number corresponding to a census.
 Every <i>tree</i> table includes a record for every tree
 appearing in the 50-ha plot across all censuses, with one row per tree and
 one table per census. Trees not yet censused and dead trees are included,
 allowing the fate of every tree to be tallied in every census. The rows in
 every <i>tree</i> table are in exactly the same order, so the
 8 <i>tree</i> tables are effectively a single giant table,
 with columns for every one of the 8 censuses. They are divided into
 separate tables for easier access. Moreover, each individual census table
 is self-contained, and if a user needs only one census, then only that one
 census table is necessary. For most purposes the most recent, bci.tree8,
 should serve for a single census. The 8 <i>stem</i> tables
 form a parallel set having one row for every stem ever censused.
 In the <i>tree</i> tables, if stemID matches for a
 given tree in 2 censuses, then it is certain that the same stem was
 measured in both censuses. If the stemID differs between censuses, it
 often means that the first stem broke and a new stem was measured.
 However, in trees with 2 or more stems, it was not always possible to
 identify stems with certainty across censuses prior to 2010, because stem
 tags were not used. This means that there are cases where the stemID
 changes even though the stem(s) really did persist. The cleanest way to
 assess growth is to use only those cases where the stemID matches between
 censuses. It is also necessary to check the HOM (height-of-measurement) in
 case it changes between censuses. In the <i>stem</i> tables,
 records on matching rows are guaranteed to be the same stem, but the HOM
 might change. The 8 <i>tree</i> tables are
 zipped into the single file bci.tree.zip, and the
 8 <i>stem</i> tables into bci.stem.zip.
 Columns in R Analytical Tables: Tree and Stem
 treeID: The unique tree identifier in the database.
 Guarantees a tree match. stemID: The unique stem
 identifier in the database. Guarantees a stem match.
 tag: Tag number on the tree (occasionally negative where a tag
 was duplicated by mistake). StemTag: Tag number on
 the individual stem, if present. sp: The species
 mnemonic. See the R Species Table for full Latin names.
 quadrat: Quadrat designation, as a 2-digit row number then
 2-digit column number on a 20x20 m grid. gx: The x
 coordinate within the plot, meters from the west border of the plot,
 always in [0,1000). gy: The y coordinate, meters from
 the south border, always in [0,500). dbh: Diameter
 (mm) of one stem on the tree, the stem whose stemID is given.
 hom: The height-of-measure, meters above the ground, where the
 dbh was measured. ExactDate: The date on which a tree
 was measured. date: Integer date for easy calculation
 of time interval between censuses (the number of days since 1 Jan
 1960). codes: The codes describing the measurement as
 recorded in the field. See Condit (1998) for a description of field codes.
 For analyses, status codes should be used, not field codes.
 status: A status code for the tree or stem. See the section
 below, Status Codes for Analyses. DFstatus: Alternate
 stem status, redundant relative to status. nostems:
 The number of living stems on the date of measurement.
 agb: Above-ground-biomass of all stems on the tree, in Mg (=
 metric tons), or for the individual stem. Note that agb=0 for dead
 trees. ba: Basal area of all stems on the tree, in
 square meters. Note that ba=0 for dead trees. 
 Status Codes for Analyses These indicate
 whether a tree (stem) is alive (A) or dead (D), with some further
 complications. Status A=alive is assigned to a tree if it has any living
 stem or sprout. Status D=dead is only used when an entire tree is dead. A
 third status is P=prior, necessary because each of the analytical tables
 has a record for every tree (or stem). Thus, there must be records in
 early censuses for trees that recruited in later censuses, and these trees
 have status P. In a complete life cycle, a tree begins with status P,
 becomes A, then D; for many trees, the cycle includes only P to A, or A to
 D, or just A over all 8 censues. Additional status codes are necessary
 because a stem can be dead while the tree is still alive, and for rare
 cases where trees were missed during a census or recorded as dead once
 then later alive. Status Codes for Analyses
 (the <i>status</i> column in R Analytical Tables)
 A: Alive, applied to either the tree or
 stem. D: Dead, meaning the entire tree is dead, ie
 with no living stems or sprouts. P: Prior, applied to
 a tree (or stem) in censuses prior to its appearance in the
 plot. M: Missing, indicating that the tree was
 skipped by mistake during the census, so it could have been alive or
 dead. AD: A seldom-used code, applied when a tree was
 noted as dead in one census but was found alive in a later census. For
 most purposes, this code should be interpreted the same as code A for
 alive. AR: A similar unusual code, applied when a
 stem was noted as broken in one census but intact in a later census. For
 most purposes, this code should be interpreted the same as code A for
 alive. G: Gone, for stems only, meaning the stem
 broke or otherwise disappeared, but other stems on the tree were alive and
 measured. V: Vanished, for stems only. This is needed
 in the BCI plot because stem tags were not used before the 2010 census. It
 is often the case where a tree had 2 or more stems that were, after 5
 years, impossible to match. When this was true, new stems with new stemIDs
 and thus new rows in the stem table were created. Earlier stems were given
 status=V. In most cases, V means the stems persisted but could not be
 tracked. R Species Table
 A single table in R format with taxonomic details on the species
 names used in the plot database as well as wood density. This is matched
 to the R Analytical Tables with the species mnemonic (column sp). The R
 species table includes many species not found in the 50-ha plot but known
 in other plots in Panama. More information and references about the plot
 tree species, including all taxonomic changes since 1982, is available in
 a separate data archive (Condit et al. 2019). Columns
 in R Species Table sp: The species
 mnemonic. Latin: Full Latin name.
 Genus: Taxonomic genus. Species: Taxonomic
 species. Family: Following (mostly) the angiosperm
 classification at http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/.
 SpeciesID: The unique species identifier in the database.
 Guarantees a species match. SubspeciesID: The unique
 subspecies identifier in the database. Guarantees a subspecies
 match. Authority: Taxonomic authority.
 IDLevel: The taxonomic level to which the species is identified,
 usually <i>species</i>, otherwise it is a recognizable
 morphospecies, not named to species (usually the genus is
 known). syn: Prior names used in the BCI
 plot. subsp: Infraspecific name (blank in most cases
 because no subspecies name is used). wsg: Wood
 specific gravity (grams per cm<sup>3</sup> dry
 weight). wsglevel: The taxonomic level for which wsg
 is known, ie where this is genus it means the wsg is the average for the
 genus (unrelated to IDLevel). Topography
 of the BCI plot A tab-delimited ascii text table,
 BCIelev.tsv, with precise topography of the BCI 50-ha plot. See Harms et
 al. (2001) for details. Columns in Topography of the
 BCI plot x: The x coordinate within the
 plot, in meters from the west border. y: The y plot
 coordinate, in meters from the south border. elev:
 Elevation above sea-level in meters. Full
 Measurement Table A tab-delimited text table,
 FullMeasurementBCI.tsv, zipped as FullMeasurementBCI.zip. The table
 includes a measurement of every stem at every HOM (height-of-measure)
 taken in the 50-ha plot over 1982-2015. In this table, every measurement
 is a separate row, so records for the same tree are on multiple rows. The
 R Analytical tables include the same measurements in a more convenient
 format for analysis. However, there are some measurements in this full
 table not appearing in analytical tables. Those are cases where a tree was
 measured at several HOMs due to buttresses. In the R tables, only a single
 measurement per stem is included, designed so that as many censuses as
 possible are at the same HOM. Analyses of trunk taper require this table
 instead of R Analytical Tables (Cushman 2014). Columns
 in Full Measurement Table Family: Same as R
 Species Table. Genus: Same as R Species
 Table. SpeciesName: Same as Species in R Species
 Table. Mnemonic: Same as sp in R Species
 Table. Subspecies: Same as subsp in R Species
 Table. SpeciesID: Same as R Species Table.
 SubspeciesID: Same as R Species Table.
 QuadratName: Same as quadrat in R Analytical Table.
 PX: Same as gx in R Analytical Table. PY:
 Same as gy in R Analytical Table. TreeID: Same as R
 Analytical Table. Tag: Same as R Analytical
 Table. StemID: Same as R Analytical Table.
 StemTag: Same as R Analytical Table.
 PlotCensusNumber: Census number 1-8. DBH:
 Same as column dbh in R Analytical Table. HOM: Same
 as column hom in R Analytical Table. ExactDate: Same
 as R Analytical Table. Date: Same as R Analytical
 Table. ListOfTSM: Same as codes in R Analytical
 Table. HighHOM: A flag, with 1 indicating this hom is
 at the highest position on the stem, otherwise 0.
 Status: Same as status in R Analytical Table.
 Complete MySQL Database This is
 the full MySQL database, zipped as condit_bci_23May2019.zip. Within the
 zip is a single mysql dump file that must be sourced within MySQL to
 restore the database. Most users will never need this, and further details
 are omitted here. A more thorough description of the tables can be found
 in Condit et al. (2014).