Tree carbon fluxes and stocks in West African cocoa plantations

The study was conducted at 15 sites across Côte d’Ivoire, covering a South-North climate and vegetation gradient from evergreen to semi-deciduous forests. These sites were selected to represent varying cocoa field characteristics, including structural complexity (ranging from monocultures to agroforests), cocoa field age (young to mature), and cocoa tree productivity (low to high). Each site had 10 cocoa plots, ranging from 0.3 to 5 hectares. The carbon stocks of all trees, including remnant, spontaneous, and planted trees, have been estimated using the BIOMASS R package. This tool provides a robust and widely accepted methodology for calculating tree biomass and carbon stocks, ensuring accurate and reliable estimates for this dataset., Study Sites
Study plots have been selected from 15 locations throughout the cocoa production area (the forest zone) of Côte d’Ivoire (Fig. 1). These sites are situated along a South-North climate gradient, with mean annual temperatures ranging from 22.6°C to 26.2°C and annual rainfall varying between 1,900 mm and 1,100 mm. This climate gradient corresponds to a South-North vegetation gradient, transitioning from evergreen forests to semi-deciduous forests. To capture the diversity of cocoa fields, we identified 10 cocoa fields at each site, focusing on three key criteria: (i) structural complexity, ranging from nearly full-sun cocoa monocultures to complex cocoa agroforests; (ii) age of the cocoa fields, encompassing both young (< 20 years) and mature (> 20 years) plots; and (iii) cocoa tree yield, varying from low productivity (< 300 kg) to high productivity (> 300 kg). The study plots vary in size from 0.3 to 5 hectares and serve as the sampling units, corresponding to the..., , # Tree carbon fluxes and stocks in West African cocoa plantations

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qfttdz0sm](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qfttdz0sm)

## Description of the data and file structure

* Two Response Variables were calculated: Carbon Stocks per plot, Carbon Stocks per tree
* Four Explanatory Variables were gathered through interviews and included characteristics related to the farmers (e.g., land ownership, botanical knowledge) and cocoa fields (previous land use, Cocoa plant density).

### Files and variables

#### File: bd\_plot.csv

**Description:** Geographical coordinates of the sampled plots

##### Variables

* plot_ID: Unique identifier of the plot
* lat: Latitude
* lon: Longitude

#### File: table\_stock.csv

**Description:** Carbon stocks per cohort per plot

##### Variables

* plot_ID: Unique identifier of the plot
* origin: 1 planted, 2 spontaneous, 3 remnant
* c_ha: Carbon stock per hectare (Mg.ha-1)
* owner: ownership status of the cocoa farmer (1 own...