Old-Growth Boreal Forest Biomass and Climate Data from Finland

10,194 g/m2 of above-ground biomass was measured in an old-growth spruce forest near Kuusamo, Finland. This dataset provides detailed stand characteristics, biomass allocation, and net primary productivity from the 1967-1972 growing seasons, alongside long-term climate records including precipitation from 1908-1994. The data was collected by harvest methods and is associated with ORNL_CLOUD.

Use Cases

• Modeling carbon stocks in old-growth boreal forests using the measured biomass columns for trees, understory, and moss layers.
• Analyzing the relationship between long-term precipitation trends (1908-1994) and forest productivity metrics like net primary productivity (NPP).
• Comparing biomass and NPP figures from a northern, climax forest site with data from younger or more southerly spruce stands.
• Studying stand characteristics such as dominant species composition and average tree age (approximately 260 years) for ecological baseline studies.

Strengths

• Includes direct harvest measurements for biomass, providing ground-truthed estimates for above-ground (10,194 g/m2) and below-ground (3,753 g/m2) components.
• Pairs ecological data with long-term climate records, featuring precipitation data spanning 86 years (1908-1994).
• Provides detailed species-level information for the ground vegetation layer (e.g., Vaccinium myrtillus, Hylocomium splendens).

Limitations

• Below-ground biomass estimates are noted as less reliable than above-ground measurements.
• Climate records have a gap; temperature and precipitation data for 1961-1994 excludes the period from 1971-1980.
• Conflicting metadata: the last updated date is reported as both 2026-03-12 and 1994-12-31 across different platform entries.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Data determined by harvest methods for biomass and productivity; climate data from a weather station approximately 60 km south of the forest site.

Time Range

1908-1994

Freshness

2026-03-12 23:13:10.421043

Geography

Kuusamo, Finland, just south of the Arctic Circle (66.37 N 29.32 E).