Liana species of the Barro Colorado Island 50-ha plot 2007 and 2017 censuses

Lianas are a common and diverse plant growth form in tropical forests,
where they add considerably to the vascular plant diversity. Lianas
contribute approximately 25% of the woody vascular plant species diversity
in tropical forests (Gentry 1991, Schnitzer & Bongers 2002), with
liana diversity varying systematically with forest mean annual rainfall
and rainfall seasonality (Schnitzer 2005, 2018, Swaine & Grace
2007, DeWalt et al. 2010, 2015, Parolari et al. 2020). However, liana
taxonomy and diversity have been described for relatively few tropical
forest communities, thus the proportion of diversity that lianas
contribute and how this diversity varies among forests is poorly
understood. Here we describe and release the species present in the 2007
and 2017 liana censuses of the Barro Colorado Island, Panama (BCI) 50-ha
plot. Our liana species dataset includes the current and former family,
genus, species, and authority for all liana stems 1 cm diameter or larger
that were rooted within the BCI 50-ha plot in either of the 2007 or 2017
censuses. Lianas were identified in the forest during the 2007 and 2017
censuses (Schnitzer et al. 2012, 2015, 2021, Schnitzer &
DeFilippis 2024). In 2023, we compared our species list to the Plants of
the World Online, a global list compiled by Kew Gardens to ensure that our
nomenclature was consistent with the most recent taxonomic changes (see
Schnitzer et al. 2024). Methods used for the liana census study were
published in Gerwing et al. 2006 and Schnitzer et al. 2008; see also
Parren et al. 2005, Schnitzer et al. 2006).  We found a total of
178 species distributed among 117,100 rooted individuals (1 cm diameter or
larger, excluding clonal stems) that were present in either the 2007 or
2017 liana censuses of the BCI 50-ha plot. We were able to positively
identify > 98% of these stems to species (Schnitzer et al. 2012,
2021). Liana species contributed 35% of the woody species (lianas, trees,
and shrubs 1 cm diameter or larger) using the tree and shrub data from the
2015 tree census (Condit et al. 2019). This liana species list, in
combination with the spatially explicit liana and tree stem datasets
(Condit et al. 2019, 2020, Schnitzer & DeFilippis 2024) provides a
unique opportunity to test conceptual questions on how lianas and trees
coexist in tropical forests (e.g., Schnitzer 2018, DeFilippis et al. in
review, Medina-Vega et al. in review, Mello et al. in review). We welcome
opportunities to collaborate with research groups interested in using this
dataset; however, the data are free to be used with no restrictions other
than citing this data paper and acknowledging NSF grants DEB-0613666 and
IOS 15-58093, which funded the 2007 and 2017 liana censuses.