DOI: 10.6073/pasta/6061298660b4ceb806ba49805a950646
title: Census of species, diameter and location at the Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot (LFDP), Puerto Rico

description: Censuses are performed every 5 years, the last one was finished in 2012 and the quality control process in 2013. File LFDP_CENSUS1 contains data for the Census 1 (Survey 1,2,and 3) of pre LFDP including the Tag number Species code, quadrat location and date and stem diameter D130 (diameter measured at 130 cm from the ground (DBH). It also contains the diameter as recorded for all stems in survey 1, 2 and 3. LFDP_CENSUS1a has the same structure as LFDP_census1. In LFDP_census1a file, however, the stem diameters have been calculated to allocate "missed" stems that were found in survey 2, 3 or Census 2 to either Census 1 survey 1 (stems &gt;=10 cm D130) or Census 1 survey 3 (stems &gt;=1, &lt;10 cm D130). We calculated the diameter the stem would have had, if it had been recorded at the same time the quadrat it was located in was assessed, in the appropriate survey for that stem size. To extrapolate the stem size back in time, we used the actual growth rate of that individual stem if more than one measurement was available. If only one diameter measurement was available we used the median growth rate for that species in the appropriate size class (median growthrate of stems &lt;10 cm, or median for stems &gt;=10, &lt;30 cm D130). In our publications we will combine data sets LFDP_census1 and LFDP_census1a to make Census 1 and to reconstruct the forest for stems &gt;= 10 cm D130 at the time of Hurricane Hugo. We have divided the data into two separate files to ensure that when stem diameters are compared to future censuses the diameter data in LFDP_census1a is not used to calculate growth rates. The dates in LFDP_census1a show the date at which the real diameter was measured in survey 2 or 3 and not the time that the calculated diameter (Fdiam sur1/s2/s3) represents for the quadrat in which the stem was located. Blank in the date field in LFDP_census1a means that the tree was first measured in Census 2 and the diameter given (Fdiam sur1/s2/s3) was extrapolated back in time to Census 1. The last corrections to the Census 1 data were made in May 2001. The National Science Foundation requires that data from projects it funds are posted on the web two years after any data set has been organized and "cleaned". The data from each census of the LFDP will be updated at intervals, as each survey of the LFDP shows errors in the previous data collection. After posting on the web, researchers who are not part of the project are then welcome to use the data. Given the enormous amount of time, effort and resources required to manage the LFDP, obtain these data, and ensure data accuracy, LFDP Principal Investigators request that researchers intending to use this data comply with the requests below. Through complying with these requests we can ensure that the data are interpreted correctly, analyses are not repeated unnecessarily, beneficial collaboration between users is promoted and the Principal Investigators' investment in this project is protected. : Â· Submit to the LFDP PIs a short (1 page) description of how you intend to use the data; Â· Invite LFDP PIs to be co-authors on any publication that uses the data in a substantial way (some PIs may decline and other LFDP scientists may need to be included); Â· If the LFDP PIs are not co-authors, send the PIs a draft of any paper using LFDP data, so that the PIs may comment upon it; Â· In the methods section of any publication using LFDP data, describe that data as coming from the "Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot, part of the Luquillo Experimental Forest Long-Term Ecological Research Program"; Â· Acknowledge in any publication using LFDP data the "The Luquillo Experimental Forest Long-Term Ecological Research Program, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the University of Puerto Rico, and the International Institute of Tropical Forestry"; Â· Supply the LFDP PIs with 10 reprints of any publication using LFDP data; Â· Accept that the LFDP PIs can not guarantee that the LFDP data you intend to use has not already been submitted for publication or published.