LBA-ECO ND-04 Secondary Forest Recovery, Structure, and LAI, Central Amazonia, Brazil

This data set reports measurements of the canopy and structure of secondary forests regenerating from abandoned pastures. These secondary forests are located in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, along the road BR-174 north of the city of Manaus within three fazendas (cattle ranches) now in various stages of grazing, pasture abandonment, or pasture reclamation: Fazenda Rodao (km 46), Embrapa-District of SUFRAMA (DAS) pasture research site (km 53), and Fazenda Dimona (km 72). Ten secondary forest study sites were selected within the three fazendas where post-pasture forest recovery ranged from 0 to 14 years since abandonment.
From 2000-2001 estimates of leaf area index (LAI) and canopy cover were derived from hemispherical canopy digital photographs, and estimates of aboveground biomass and basal area were derived utilizing allometric equations from diameter at breast height (DBH) measurements. Estimates were classified by growth-form and diameter class. See Feldpausch et al. (2005) for more information. There are four comma-delimited data files with this data set and one companion file with information regarding the allometric equations relating diameter at breast height (for dbh > 5 cm) to dry weight for biomass calculations.