SAFE Carbon Plots: Total and Partitioned Soil Respiration

Monthly (intended) measurements from the SAFE Project's intensive carbon plots, part of the Global Ecosystem Monitoring network, provide individual soil respiration flux data and calculated summaries of the below-ground carbon cycle. The dataset includes total respiration measured at 25 points per plot and partitioned respiration from clusters of six collars at four points per plot, using an EGM-4 infrared CO2 analyser. It forms the basis for the below-ground carbon budget in a 2021 study and includes two additional plots from Lambir Hills National Park.

Use Cases

• Modeling below-ground carbon budgets based on calculated soil carbon pools and organic carbon flows.
• Analyzing spatial variability of soil respiration using individual measurements from 25 points per hectare plot.
• Partitioning total soil CO2 flux into components using data from specialized collar clusters.
• Assessing methodological bias in flux measurements from a disturbance experiment in plot centers.
• Comparing soil carbon dynamics across tropical forest sites, including non-SAFE Project plots from Lambir Hills.

Strengths

• Data is part of the standardized Global Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM) network, following a detailed manual for methods and installation.
• Includes both raw individual measurements and plot-level mean summaries, supporting analyses at multiple scales.
• Employs a specific, documented methodology: PVC collars of 10.65 cm diameter, 124-second chamber closure, and CO2 recording every 5 seconds.

Limitations

• Key metadata is missing: row count, column names, file formats, and specific temporal coverage are unknown.
• The intended monthly measurement interval was often not achieved due to reported problems with access, staffing, and instruments.
• Conflicts in source metadata: one platform lists an organization (University of Oxford) while others do not.

Provenance

Source

SAFE Project Intensive Carbon Plots, Global Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM) network.

Collection Method

Field measurements using PVC soil collars and an EGM-4 infrared CO2 analyser with an SRC-1 respiration chamber; flux calculated from linear change in chamber CO2 concentration.

Geography

SAFE Project plots (location unspecified in input) and Lambir Hills National Park.