Radial Stem Growth Across a Forest Disturbance Gradient in the Brazilian Amazon

The Environmental Information Data Centre dataset contains measurements of stem radial growth from 20 plots (250 x 10 m each) in the Brazilian Amazon. Data were collected from December 2014 to October 2018, capturing a gradient of forest disturbance including undisturbed, logged, logged-and-burned, and secondary forests. Eight plots were affected by understory fires during an El Niño-mediated drought in December 2015, providing a natural experiment on fire impacts.

Use Cases

• Modeling forest carbon recovery based on radial growth rates across disturbance types.
• Analyzing the impact of El Niño-mediated drought and understory fires on tree growth.
• Comparing secondary forest growth trajectories to those of disturbed primary forests.
• Assessing resilience of Amazonian forests to combined logging and fire disturbances.

Strengths

• Contains data from 20 distinct study plots across a controlled gradient of forest disturbance.
• Captures a multi-year time series (2014-2018) including a major drought and fire event in 2015.
• Cross-platform presence (uk_data, eu_open_data) indicates established use and validation.

Limitations

• Column names and specific measurement variables are not listed in the provided metadata.
• Exact row count and file size are unknown, limiting assessment of dataset scale.
• License information is not provided, which may restrict clarity on reuse terms.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Field measurements of stem radial growth in permanent forest plots.

Time Range

December 2014 to October 2018

Freshness

Last updated on uk_data platform: 2026-04-16.

Geography

Eastern Amazonia, Brazilian Amazon