GLOWCAD: A global database of woody tissue carbon concentrations/fractions

Woody tissue carbon (C) concentration is a key wood trait necessary for accurately estimating forest C stocks and fluxes, which also varies widely across species and biomes. However, coarse approximations of woody tissue C (e.g., 50%) remain commonplace in forest C estimation and reporting protocols, despite leading to substantial errors in forest C estimates. Here, we describe the Global Woody Tissue Carbon Concentration Database (GLOWCAD): a database containing 3,676 individual records of woody tissue C concentrations from 864 tree species. Woody tissue C concentration data—i.e., the mass of C per unit dry mass—were obtained from live and dead woody tissues from 130 peer-reviewed sources published between 1980-2020. Auxiliary data for each observation include tissue type, as well as decay class and size characteristics for dead wood. In GLOWCAD, 1,242 data points are associated with geographic coordinates, and are therefore presented alongside 46 standardized bioclimatic variables ext..., Literature review
            Data compilation expanded earlier versions of the GLOWCAD first initiated in 201226, and more recently published in 201820,30 and 202131,32. GLOWCAD is therefore based on a systematic search on primary literature of all peer-reviewed papers that cited previously published studies on woody tissue C concentrations20,24-26. We used key terms “carbon”, “tree”, “wood carbon”, “coarse woody debris”, “dead wood”, and “wood nutrient”, as well as “carbon” aside major tree tissue types (including “wood”, “bark”, “root” and “stem”) to search four web-based platforms (Google Scholar, Web of Science, Web of Knowledge, and Scopus) identifying additional peer-reviewed publications that present species- specific woody tissue C concentration data.
            In addition to peer-reviewed papers, other sources of data included in GLOWCAD include the TRY Plant Trait Database (v. 5.0)33 and the Global Root Traits (GRooT) Database34. The TRY datasets included are the Subarctic ..., GLOWCAD is openly available for use in any application. It can be accessed via 1) the DRYAD Digital Repository (information to be updated upon acceptance), 2) a GitHub repository (information to be updated upon acceptance), 3) the TRY Plant Trait Database (information to be updated upon acceptance), and 4) upon request to the corresponding author. GLOWCAD is licensed under CC-BY 4.0.