Brazilian Forest Root Biomass and Growth Under Rainfall Exclusion

Tapajos National Forest, Brazil, contains biomass estimates for coarse roots and fine root growth measurements from a rainfall exclusion experiment site. Data includes species-identified coarse roots from three 1000-meter transects and monthly average fine root growth by depth interval from July 2000 to December 2003. The dataset was produced by NASA as part of the LBA-ECO project but carries a quality warning regarding documentation and method discrepancies.

Use Cases

• Analyzing coarse root biomass distribution by species across forest transects.
• Modeling fine root growth dynamics at different soil depths (0.5m to 2m) over time.
• Studying the impact of experimental rainfall exclusion (1999-2006) on below-ground forest processes.
• Comparing root phenology and growth between control and treatment plots.

Strengths

• Provides species-level identification for coarse roots collected along three 1000m x 1m transects.
• Includes fine root growth time-series data at monthly resolution from July 2000 to December 2003.
• Data originates from a controlled, long-term rainfall exclusion experiment (1999-2006).

Limitations

• The data center issued a quality statement warning of missing/incomplete data and documentation.
• Known discrepancies exist in documentation, reported collection dates, and the rhizotron collection method for fine roots.
• Cross-source conflict: last updated date is reported as 2026-03 13 on Data.gov but 2004-02-29 on NASA Earthdata, suggesting metadata inconsistencies.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), LBA-ECO project.

Collection Method

Coarse roots measured along transects; fine roots measured with rhizotron tubes in soil pits in control and treatment plots.

Time Range

1999-2006 (experiment), with specific collection dates from January 2001 (coarse roots) and July 2000 to December 2003 (fine root growth).

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:02:46.555233

Geography

km 67 Rainfall Exclusion Experiment site, Tapajos National Forest, Para, Brazil.