Tree census data for 21 years and 58 hectares of secondary and old-growth forests at Barro Colorado Island, Panama

The largest 1% of trees typically sequester 50% or more of the carbon in
tropical forest vegetation. These large trees are rare and long-lived,
making estimates of growth, mortality, and carbon turnover rates
difficult. This data repository presents three censuses completed between
2004 and 2025 for large, canopy trees across 58 hectares of secondary and
old-growth forests at Barro Colorado Island, Panama. The data set includes
34,367 measurements of 15,562 trees of 222 species, and every tree that
reaches the forest canopy. The first two censuses have been used to
contrast canopy structure, dynamics, and composition across secondary and
old-growth forests. The data can now be used to extend these comparisons
with the 2025 census, to refine growth and mortality rates for large trees
in conjunction with data from the 50-ha BCI Forest Dynamics Plot, and for
remote sensing applications with Universal Transverse Mercator easting and
northing coordinates provided for each tree.