Oak Radial Growth and Mistletoe Effects from Dendrometer Monitoring, 2020-2023

Jiri Dolezal's dataset, published on figshare in April 2026, contains data from a four-year study (2020–2023) on the impact of European mistletoe on oak tree growth. It includes continuous 15-minute dendrometer measurements of oak trees across age classes, canopy positions, and infection statuses, paired with air temperature, soil temperature, and soil moisture data. The study quantifies cambial phenology, seasonal infection-effect curves, and climate-growth correlations to determine when parasite impacts are greatest.

Use Cases

• Modeling the hydrothermal niche for oak growth based on temperature and soil moisture response surfaces.
• Analyzing the timing of cambial phenology (onset, peak, cessation) across different tree categories and years.
• Quantifying the amplitude of radial growth suppression by mistletoe under varying climatic conditions.
• Comparing short-term climate sensitivities (temperature, moisture) between infected and non-infected trees.
• Investigating how infection status shifts a host's growth regime from resource-tracking to stress-limited.

Strengths

• Data collection spans four consecutive growing seasons (2020–2023), providing multi-year temporal depth.
• Includes high-frequency (15-minute) electronic dendrometer measurements paired with three environmental variables (air temperature, soil temperature, soil moisture).
• Covers multiple controlled categories: tree age classes, canopy positions, and infection statuses for comparative analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• The dataset is small in file size (303.5 KB), indicating a limited scope or aggregated summary data rather than raw time-series streams.

Provenance

Source

Jiri Dolezal via figshare.

Collection Method

Continuous monitoring using electronic dendrometers and environmental sensors.

Time Range

2020 to 2023 (four growing seasons).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-13 05:48:46; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Likely European, given the study species (Quercus robur, Loranthus europaeus), but specific location is not stated.