Tropical Seedling Growth Under Experimental Soil Warming in Panama

Six tree species, including Inga laurina and Virola surinamensis, were monitored for growth responses to a 4-degree soil warming experiment on Barro Colorado Island. Data include relative growth rates, height change, herbivory index, photosynthesis measurements, leaf chlorophyll, and soil nutrient mineralization from 2016 to 2022. The dataset captures physiological and environmental parameters following three years of experimental warming.

Use Cases

• Model seedling relative growth rates as a function of soil nutrient (N and P) mineralization data and herbivory index.
• Analyze light-saturated photosynthesis (Amax) and leaf chlorophyll concentration across six species to assess warming tolerance.
• Correlate height change over time with measured light (PPFD) levels and species identity.
• Compare herbivory index and growth parameters between warmed and control plots to evaluate biotic interactions.

Strengths

• Includes physiological measurements like light-saturated photosynthesis (Amax) and leaf chlorophyll concentration.
• Covers six distinct tropical tree seedling species over a multi-year period from 2016 to 2022.
• Experimental design features a controlled 4-degree soil warming treatment across the whole soil profile.

Limitations

• Sample size is limited to six specific species, reducing generalizability to other tropical flora.
• Photosynthesis and chlorophyll data were collected in separate campaigns (2019 and 2022), creating temporal gaps for those features.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Field measurements from the Soil Warming Experiment in Lowland Tropical Rainforest (SWELTR), using in situ ion-exchange resins for soil nutrients.

Time Range

2016 to 2022

Freshness

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Geography

Barro Colorado Island, Panama