Amazon Forest Tree Traits Under 14-Year Canopy Throughfall Exclusion

Caxiuanã National Forest Reserve in Brazil contains tree trait data for 176 trees sampled during the 2016 dry season. The dataset includes 17 measured traits across a one-hectare experimental plot with a 50% throughfall exclusion since 2002 and a corresponding control plot.

Use Cases

• Model hydraulic Safety Margin against leaf water potential and xylem pressure to assess drought vulnerability.
• Analyze the relationship between leaf mass per area and leaf nitrogen content across tree species under light availability differences.
• Compare carboxylation capacity and electron transport capacity between the throughfall exclusion and control plot types.
• Investigate correlations between stem CO2 efflux, diameter at breast height, and branch wood density.

Strengths

• Data from a 14-year long-term experimental manipulation of canopy throughfall.
• Includes 17 distinct physiological and structural traits per tree.
• Sampling covers 176 trees across controlled experimental and baseline plots.

Limitations

• Limited to 176 tree samples, which may restrict statistical power for rare species or traits.
• Geographic scope is restricted to a single forest reserve in the eastern Amazon.
• Data represents a single temporal snapshot (September-October 2016) within the long-term experiment.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Field sampling of tree traits in experimental throughfall exclusion and control plots.

Time Range

September to October 2016 (peak dry season).

Freshness

Data collected in 2016; metadata last updated in 2026.

Geography

Caxiuanã National Forest Reserve, eastern Amazon, Brazil, on terra firma forest at 15 m above sea level.