Latex Oxidation Defenses in Muiratinga (Maquira sclerophylla) in Manaus, Brazil

Plant-derived latex is widely used in rubber production and plays important roles in ecological processes in the tropics. Although it is known that latex oxidation from the commercially important tree Hevea brasiliensis, results in latex browning, little is known about latex oxidation in highly diverse tropical ecosystems. Here we show that upon physical trunk damage, yellow latex released from the canopy tree Muiratinga (Maquira sclerophylla (Ducke) C.C. Berg) is rapidly and extensively oxidized to a black resin in the presence of air within 15-30 min. This data package contains images of stem latex oxidation (blocked under nitrogen) under air and nitrogen in the central Amazon. Images are included in the attached zip file in PNG and JPG file types. This data was referenced in the publication "Demonstration of a strict molecular oxygen requirement of yellow latex oxidation in the Central Amazon canopy tree Muiratinga" and figures used in the publication are available in this data package as TIF files in the folder "Paper figures." See the below field, Dataset References, for full citation. Videos of stem latex oxidation are available at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dtp978r0nt4iwbq/AAA-J7c4Ra8_-xhalsYtz8cCa?dl=0 This dataset was originally published on the NGEE Tropics Archive and is being mirrored on ESS-DIVE for long-term archival Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported as part of the Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments-Tropics (NGEE-Tropics) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biologicaland Environmental Research through contract No. DEAC0205CH11231 to LBNL, as part of DOE’s TerrestrialEcosystem Science Program. Additional funding for this research was provided by the Brazilian Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). We would like to thank the Forest Management (MF), Climate and Environment (CLIAMB) and Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere (LBA) programs at the National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) for logistical and infrastructure support during field measurements.