El Yunque National Forest Vegetation Monitoring Project data, 2019-2021

This data package includes data collected as part of the El Yunque National Forest (EYNF) Vegetation Monitoring Project, the first phase of which was conducted between January 2019 and April 2021 and is now completed. EYNF is coterminous with the Luquillo Experimental Forest. The project was implemented as a collaborative endeavor between the Amigos de El Yunque Foundation, the USDA Forest Service, and the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras Campus. Funding was provided by the Forest Service. It includes data for 40 0.1-ha circular plots located in secondary forest within the subtropical moist and wet life zones, ranging in elevation from approximately 100-600 m asl. Plots are classified into three groups based on combinations of their historical canopy cover and post-agricultural regeneration pathways. The first group corresponds to secondary forest plots with >50% canopy cover in 1936 that have continued to recover via passive natural regeneration (>50 P plots). The second group corresponds to secondary forest plots with <50% canopy cover in 1936 that have continued to recover via passive natural regeneration (<50 P plots). The third group corresponds to secondary forest plots that also had <50% cover in 1936 and experienced a combination of both assisted and passive natural regeneration (50 A+P plots). The assisted regeneration occurred up to the early 1980s. Since the 1980s this third group of plots has only undergone exclusively passive natural restoration. Eleven plots (total area = 1.1 ha) are classified as >50 P, 21 plots (total area = 2.1 ha) are classified as <50 P, and 8 plots (total area = 0.8 ha) as <50 A+P. There are two data sets. The first represents general plot and ground cover data for the 40 plots. The second represents tree composition, structure, biomass, and ecosystem service data for 4242 trees within the 40 plots. Data were collected using i-Tree Eco methodology.