DOI: 10.5061/dryad.sj3tx96bx
title: Woody debris removal modifies carbon stocks and soil properties in a fragmented tropical rainforest

description: 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.
description: The download includes a compressed folder that contains six CSV files
 whose contents are described below: 1. Nandakumar_et_al_CWD.csv 2.
 Nandakumar_et_al_CWD_density.csv 3. Nandakumar_et_al_CWD_vegetation.csv 4.
 Nandakumar_et_al_CWD_soil.csv 5. Nandakumar_et_al_CWD_soil_other.csv 6.
 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 1. 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. 2. Zanne, A. E. (2009). Global
 wood density database. Dryad. Identifier: . handle.
 net/10255/dryad 235 (2009). 3. 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.