Restoration of riparian forest cover increases carbon stocks in the Pacific Northwest

Reforestation of degraded riparian areas provides climate mitigation benefits through increased carbon storage. In recent decades, riparian reforestation has accelerated in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States, primarily aiming to restore ecosystem functions and associated benefits, but few studies have evaluated riparian planting C sequestration and storage, particularly in highly productive wet riparian ecosystems like the PNW. 
Using these plantings as a ‘natural experiment’, we assessed C storage in woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) and soils across a chronosequence of PNW riparian reforestation sites, and non-forested riparian baseline sites, representing the pre-planting condition. These data were used to evaluate changes in C storage with planting age and identify key covariates affecting C storage in plants and soils and their relationship with planting age across a ~430 km latitudinal gradient in western Oregon, USA.   
Sites were distributed a..., , # Data from: Restoration of riparian forest cover increases carbon stocks in the Pacific Northwest

[Access this dataset on Dryad](http:///doi.org/10.5061/dryad.612jm64gs)

This dataset contains carbon storage and other relevant properties in the woody vegetation and soils of non-forested baseline and reforested riparian areas in western Oregon. Detailed methods for these data are available in the associated open-access article.

## Description of the data and file structure

In recent decades, riparian reforestation has accelerated in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States, primarily aiming to restore ecosystem functions and associated benefits. Reforestation of degraded riparian areas provides climate mitigation benefits through increased carbon (C) storage, but the magnitude of this benefit is uncertain. Using these plantings as a ‘natural experiment’, we assessed C storage in woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) and soils across a chronosequence of PNW riparian reforestatio...,