Magdalena Valley Tropical Forest Biomass and Climate Data

ORNL_CLOUD provides a dataset on tropical seasonal evergreen forests in Colombia's Magdalena Valley. It contains measured data for above-ground biomass, litterfall, and nutrient content from two contrasting forest stands during an 18-month period in 1970-1971, alongside a long-term climate record. The dataset offers minimum estimates of above-ground net primary production (ANPP) for terrace and slope forests.

Use Cases

• Comparing above-ground biomass (18,109 vs. 32,581 g/m2) and basal area (22 vs. 32 m2/ha) between terrace and slope forest ecosystems.
• Analyzing litterfall accumulation rates (1,202 and 873 g/m2/yr) to estimate minimum above-ground net primary production (ANPP).
• Correlating forest productivity metrics with long-term local climate patterns using mean monthly precipitation (1951-1992) and temperature (1970 - 1997) data from Barranca Bermeja.
• Studying nutrient content and bioelement stores in above-ground vegetation, organic surface layers, and soils.

Strengths

• Provides detailed, site-specific measurements for two contrasting forest stands, including quantified biomass, basal area, and litterfall rates.
• Includes a long-term supporting climate record with 42 years of precipitation data and 28 years of temperature data.
• Data collection methods are specified, involving tree harvesting and allometric regressions for biomass estimation.

Limitations

• Core forest measurements cover a limited 18-month period (1970-1971), reducing temporal representativeness.
• Row counts, column names, and exact file sizes are unknown across all platforms.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata exists between sources (1997-12 31 vs. 2026-03-12).

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Field measurements via harvesting sample trees and palms, allometric regressions, and litterfall accumulation collection.

Time Range

1951-1997

Freshness

2026-03-12 23:09:57.685611

Geography

Magdalena Valley, Colombia; climate data from Barranca Bermeja (7.00 N 73.80 W).