Soil and Vegetation Survey of Brazil's Tapajos National Forest

Soil and vegetation data were collected from 13 sites across four areas in Brazil's Tapajos National Forest in November 1999. The dataset includes five files containing measurements of soil bulk density, texture, carbon, nitrogen, and organic matter, alongside vegetation biomass, leaf area index, and isotopic analysis of plant tissues. It was produced by ORNL_CLOUD and is hosted on multiple platforms including NASA EarthData and Data.gov.

Use Cases

• Analyzing soil carbon and nitrogen content across different depths (10, 30, 50 cm) to understand soil nutrient stocks.
• Estimating above-ground biomass using species-specific allometric relationships based on diameter, height, and canopy dimensions.
• Studying plant water stress by examining leaf water potential measurements taken at dawn.
• Investigating nitrogen cycling and plant resource use through isotopic analysis of delta 15N and delta 13C in foliage, wood, bark, roots, and litter.
• Correlating leaf area index (LAI) measurements with forest structure and biomass estimates.

Strengths

• Data integrates multiple ecosystem components: soil properties, vegetation structure, biomass, and isotopic signatures from 13 distinct sampling sites.
• Soil samples provide depth-specific profiles (10, 30, 50 cm) for key properties like bulk density and texture.
• Vegetation transects are standardized (250m x 10m) and include LAI measurements at 26 points per transect.

Limitations

• Conflicting metadata exists: one source lists a last updated date of 2026-03 -13, while another lists the original collection date of 1999-11-29.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Field surveys involving soil coring, vegetation transect characterization, biomass estimation via allometry, and laboratory analysis of physical and chemical properties.

Time Range

1999-11

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:17:00.115618

Geography

Tapajos National Forest, 50 to 100 km south of Santarem, Para, Brazil.