Connell Rainforest Plot Network: Tropical Rainforest Tree Demographic Data, Davies Creek Plot, Dinden National Park, Queensland, Australia, 1963-2013
Abstract: This rainforest tree demographic data package comprises recruitment, growth and mortality census data for rainforest trees Davies Creek Plot in Dinden National Park, (25 km south west of Cairns), Queensland for 1963-2013. This plot consists of one 1.7 hectare plot in tropical rainforest, established in 1963. Rainforest tree attributes recorded comprise the size (height or girth) of tagged and mapped, free-standing stems of shrub and tree species. Sampling has been undertaken at intervals of 1-6 years. The Davies Creek Plot was incorporated over an existing 0.4 ha plot established by the Queensland Department of Forestry in 1951 (Nicholson et al. 1988), so the central part of the Davies Creek Plot has records extending back more than a decade prior to 1963.
This data package forms part of the collection of vegetation data undertaken at plots situated in both Lamington National Park and Davies Creek initiated by Professor Joseph H. Connell (University of California, Santa Barbara) in 1963.
A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Connell Rainforest Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c13444388e1b
Sampling method: The Dinden National Park Plot is a 1.7 hectare plot. The plot was selected by Prof. Joseph H. Connell in 1963 on the advice of his CSIRO collaborators Dr Len Webb and Mr Geoff Tracey, and was chosen for three reasons; it was accessible, it was unlogged, and a smaller 0.4 ha plot belonging to the Queensland Department of Forestry had already been established there in 1951.
This plot is one of two plots established by Connell in 1963 – the other is in subtropical rainforest near O’Reilly’s Guesthouse in Lamington National Park, 65 km south of Brisbane. The same sampling methods are employed at both plots, at intervals of 1-6 years.
Project funding: The National Science Foundation was the sole funder of this research between 1963 and 2003.
Between 2012 and 2018 this project was part of, and funded through the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN) a facility within the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.
Type
collection
Title
Connell Rainforest Plot Network: Tropical Rainforest Tree Demographic Data, Davies Creek Plot, Dinden National Park, Queensland, Australia, 1963-2013
Alternate Title
Connell Rainforest Plot Network: Tropical Rainforest Tree Demographic Data, Dinden National Park Davies Creek, 1963–2013
Collection Type
Dataset
Access Privileges
Long Term Ecological Research Network
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
10.25911/5c414576ba900
Metadata Language
English
Data Language
English
Brief Description
This rainforest tree demographic data package comprises recruitment, growth and mortality census data for rainforest trees Davies Creek Plot in Dinden National Park, (25 km south west of Cairns), Queensland between 1963-2013.
A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Connell Rainforest Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c13444388e1b.
Full Description
Abstract: This rainforest tree demographic data package comprises recruitment, growth and mortality census data for rainforest trees Davies Creek Plot in Dinden National Park, (25 km south west of Cairns), Queensland for 1963-2013. This plot consists of one 1.7 hectare plot in tropical rainforest, established in 1963. Rainforest tree attributes recorded comprise the size (height or girth) of tagged and mapped, free-standing stems of shrub and tree species. Sampling has been undertaken at intervals of 1-6 years. The Davies Creek Plot was incorporated over an existing 0.4 ha plot established by the Queensland Department of Forestry in 1951 (Nicholson et al. 1988), so the central part of the Davies Creek Plot has records extending back more than a decade prior to 1963.
This data package forms part of the collection of vegetation data undertaken at plots situated in both Lamington National Park and Davies Creek initiated by Professor Joseph H. Connell (University of California, Santa Barbara) in 1963.
A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Connell Rainforest Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c13444388e1b
Sampling method: The Dinden National Park Plot is a 1.7 hectare plot. The plot was selected by Prof. Joseph H. Connell in 1963 on the advice of his CSIRO collaborators Dr Len Webb and Mr Geoff Tracey, and was chosen for three reasons; it was accessible, it was unlogged, and a smaller 0.4 ha plot belonging to the Queensland Department of Forestry had already been established there in 1951.
This plot is one of two plots established by Connell in 1963 – the other is in subtropical rainforest near O’Reilly’s Guesthouse in Lamington National Park, 65 km south of Brisbane. The same sampling methods are employed at both plots, at intervals of 1-6 years.
Project funding: The National Science Foundation was the sole funder of this research between 1963 and 2003.
Between 2012 and 2018 this project was part of, and funded through the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN) a facility within the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.
Methods
General
1
Measuring tapes especially imported from the United States – feet and tenths of feet, and inches and tenths of inches. Star pickets marks the ends of transects, and short steel posts mark transects at 25 feet intervals. Plants are tagged with numbered aluminium tags, attached to the plant using loops of insulated copper wire on smaller stems, or nailed onto larger stems. There are no environmental monitoring devices on the plot.
Prof Joseph H. Connell (University of California, Santa Barbara) established a long-term forest dynamics plot in 1963, in tropical rainforest at in Dinden National Park, 25 km south west of Cairns. The plot is 1.7 hectare, and was established over an existing an existing 0.4 ha plot established by the Queensland Department of Forestry in 1951. This plot has never been logged.
Although a summary of methods employed in the study has been provided below, the reader should refer to a comprehensive description of the methods and the plot configuration provided in the Conceptual Design (p 84) and accompanying documentation.
In summary, samples of trees in three broad size classes have been monitored on the plots over several decades. ‘Large trees’ (≥ 10.0 cm dbh) were first tagged, mapped and measured in 1963 across both plots. At the same time, ‘medium trees’ (2.5 cm dbh but < 10.0 cm dbh) were mapped and tagged along several belt transects 6.1 m wide running through the plot, centred on survey lines 20.1 m apart. The medium-tree belt transects comprise 30% of each plot. In 1965, ‘small trees’ (tiny seedlings to saplings < 2.5 cm dbh), were mapped and tagged along narrower transects either 1.8 or 3.6 m wide, centred on the same survey lines used to sample medium trees. Large trees rooted outside the plot boundaries, but whose canopies extended over the plots have also been monitored.
Large and medium trees are tagged with numbered aluminium tree tags inscribed with a unique number, nailed into the trunk with galvanized nails. Small trees are also tagged with numbered aluminium tags, attached to the plant using loops of insulated copper wire. The plots are laid out and trees are mapped using imperial and engineering units (feet and tenths of feet). Large and medium trees are measured for girth at breast height using inches and tenths of inches, and small trees are measured for height in feet and tenths of feet. These are converted to SI Units for analyses and publication. The belt transects comprise 30% of each plot. The seedlings of vines are occasionally tagged by inexperienced workers, but these are excluded from analyses.
Although a summary of methods employed in the study has been provided below, the reader should refer to a comprehensive description of the methods and the plot configuration provided in the Conceptual Design (p 84) and accompanying documentation.
In summary, samples of trees in three broad size classes have been monitored on the plots over several decades. ‘Large trees’ (≥ 10.0 cm dbh) were first tagged, mapped and measured in 1963 across both plots. At the same time, ‘medium trees’ (2.5 cm dbh but < 10.0 cm dbh) were mapped and tagged along several belt transects 6.1 m wide running through the plot, centred on survey lines 20.1 m apart. The medium-tree belt transects comprise 30% of each plot. In 1965, ‘small trees’ (tiny seedlings to saplings < 2.5 cm dbh), were mapped and tagged along narrower transects either 1.8 or 3.6 m wide, centred on the same survey lines used to sample medium trees. Large trees rooted outside the plot boundaries, but whose canopies extended over the plots have also been monitored.
Large and medium trees are tagged with numbered aluminium tree tags inscribed with a unique number, nailed into the trunk with galvanized nails. Small trees are also tagged with numbered aluminium tags, attached to the plant using loops of insulated copper wire. The plots are laid out and trees are mapped using imperial and engineering units (feet and tenths of feet). Large and medium trees are measured for girth at breast height using inches and tenths of inches, and small trees are measured for height in feet and tenths of feet. These are converted to SI Units for analyses and publication. The belt transects comprise 30% of each plot. The seedlings of vines are occasionally tagged by inexperienced workers, but these are excluded from analyses.
Natural disturbance monitoring
2
See instrumentation details in "general" methods section.
Gaps created by the death of large canopy trees have been systematically surveyed many times over the decades until 2002, with the boundaries of the gaps being noted on hand drawn maps. These maps have never been digitized, and the originals are held at the University of California. Copies of some later maps are held by Peter Green at La Trobe University.
Floristic identification, vouchers and lists
3
Voucher specimens have been collected on an ad hoc basis over the years for many individuals on the plot. These specimens are subject to curation at La Trobe University. Species lists are updated as taxonomic changes are published. Major taxonomic revisions of the rainforest Myrtaceae and Lauraceae pose some problems for analyses. These revisions have erected many new species and changed old ones, and of course it is impossible to apply the revised taxonomy to unvouchered specimens (i.e. dead stems).
Surveys for canopy cover and understorey light environments
4
Stand structure, canopy cover and variation in understorey light environments have not been measured systematically on the plots. Under LTERN, new surveys for canopy cover and understorey light environments using hemispherical photography are being incorporated into regular plot monitoring.
File Descriptions
ltern_crft_tree_demographic_daviescreek_background.csv
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| "Repl" |
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| "Spec" |
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| "Species" |
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| number of records | 60616 |
Contact Email
P.Green@latrobe.edu.au
Contact Address
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environment
La Trobe University
Bundoora, Vic., 3086
Australia
Contact Phone Number
+61 3 9479 3675
Contact Fax Number
+61 3 9479 1188
Principal Investigator
Peter Green
Supervisors
Peter Green
Collaborators
Dick Williams;
La Trobe University;
Joseph Connell
Fields of Research
0602 - Ecology
Keywords
GCMD:Biological Classification > Plants;
GCMD:Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Community Dynamics;
GCMD:Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Species/Population Dynamics;
GCMD:Biosphere > Terrestrial Ecosystems > Forests;
LTERN Monitoring Theme:Vegetation structure;
LTERN Monitoring Theme:Plant species composition;
LTERN Monitoring Theme:Plant species abundance;
LTERN Monitoring Theme:Individual plants;
LTERN Monitoring Theme:On plot weather;
keyword:Girth;
keyword:Height;
keyword:Diameter;
keyword:Population dynamics;
keyword:Seedling recruitment;
keyword:Tropical;
Connell Rainforest;
Davies Creek;
Tropical Rainforest Tree Demographic Data, Dinden National Park
Type of Research Activity
Strategic basic research
Date Coverage
2013
1963
Geospatial Location
Davies Creek Plot, Dinden National Park, Queensland
text
northlimit = -17.0316; southlimit = -17.0361; westlimit = 145.622; eastLimit = 145.626
iso19139dcmiBox
Date of data creation
2014-08-15
Year of data publication
2014
Creator(s) for Citation
Green
Peter
Publisher for Citation
Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN), ANU Data Commons, The Australian National University
Related Websites
ANU Open Research, Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN) collection.
https://hdl.handle.net/1885/130861
Other Related Identifiers
MorphoId:ltern2.84;
PackageId:59
Access Rights
Background data (i.e. data collected prior to 2012) must remain mediated and requires permission from Dr Peter Green because of co-ownership with Joseph H. Connell.
Prior to publication of research utilising this data - the data provider (Dr Peter Green) also requests consultation.
Access Rights Type
Restricted
Rights held in and over the data
AusGoal Restrictive Licence - This licence has been developed specifically for material that may contain personal or other confidential information. It may also be used for other reasons, including material to be licenced under some form of limiting or restrictive condition.
Licence Type
AusGoalRestrictive - AusGoal Restrictive Licence
Licence
LTERN Deed: 49
Date of execution: 2018-01-22
Restrictions: Background data (i.e. data collected prior to 2012) must remain mediated because of co-ownership with Joseph H. Connell.
Retention Period
Indefinitely
Data Management Plan
No
Status: Published
Published to:
Published to:
- Australian National University
- Australian National Data Service
Related items
- hasAssociationWith:
Connell Rainforest Plot Network: Davies Creek Plot, Dinden National Park, Queensland, Australia data packages, 1963-2018 [anudc:5546] - hasAssociationWith:
Dick Williams [anudc:5581] - hasAssociationWith:
Professor Joseph Connell [anudc:5599] - hasAssociationWith:
La Trobe University [anudc:5634] - hasAssociationWith:
Dr Peter Green [anudc:5613]