Lesser-Known Timber Species in the Congo Basin: Forest Inventory and Wood Properties

Datasets from 2026 support an analysis of lesser-known timber species in the Yangambi and Yoko landscapes of the Congo Basin. The repository includes information on species frequency in sawmills, local timber uses, wood density, technological properties, and forest dynamics from permanent inventory plots. It was created by Mbusa Wasukundi to assess the ecological sustainability and market potential of these species.

Use Cases

• Assessing market potential based on species frequency in sawmills and workshops data
• Evaluating technological suitability based on wood density and durability property databases
• Modeling forest dynamics based on annual diameter increment and mortality data from inventory plots
• Comparing local craftworker perceptions of workability with documented technological characteristics

Strengths

• Includes multiple integrated data types: forest inventory, market surveys, and wood property databases
• Data supports a specific, applied research goal of promoting lesser-known timber species
• Repository contains supporting R scripts for analysis alongside the data files

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• The dataset is small at 527.4 KB, indicating a limited scope of records

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Data gathered from sawmill and workshop surveys, local craftworker perceptions, and permanent forest inventory plots.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-26 03:07:40; freshness should be verified

Geography

Yangambi and Yoko landscapes in the Congo Basin