Connell Rainforest Plot Network: Tropical Rainforest Understorey Light Environment Data, Davies Creek Plot, Dinden National Park, Queensland, Australia, 2013 and 2015

Abstract: This data package comprises data from a series of hemispherical photographs taken in 2013 and 2015 at the Connell Rainforest Plot which is situated at Davies Creek, Dinden National Park, 25 km south west of Cairns, Queensland. The 1.7 ha plot consists of mapped and tagged trees in all size classes from tiny seedlings to large canopy trees. Rates of recruitment, growth and mortality have been measured at intervals of 1-6 years with records extending back to 1963. The primary determinant of growth rate in the understorey is light. 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 Green at La Trobe University. A digital camera with a fish-eye lens was used for the first time in 2013 to measure understorey light environments along the seedling transects.

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 Davies Creek 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. The Davies Creek 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.

Study extent: See Sampling Description.

Project funding: The National Science Foundation was the sole funder of this research between 1963–2003. Between 2012 and 2018 this project was solely funded through the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN). LTERN was a Facility within the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.