Tree height allometry data for 5109 trees in twenty-four small ForestGEO plots in Panama, 2011-2020.

This dataset includes tree height and trunk diameter data collected between 2011 and 2020 for size-stratified and spatially stratified samples of trees in 24 ForestGEO plots in central Panama. The plots include the 5.96 ha San Lorenzo (Sherman) plot (https://forestgeo.si.edu/sites/neotropics/san-lorenzo) as well as 23 1-ha plots that are part of the ForestGEO Panama small plots (https://forestgeo.si.edu/sites/neotropics/panama-small-plots). Tree height data were collected on trees on which dendrometers were placed. Thus, palm trees were generally excluded as they do not grow in diameter. On the 1-ha plots, the samples included trees ≥ 40 cm dbh (diameter at breast height, 1.3 m, or above buttresses) in the entire plot, trees 20-40 cm dbh in four 20 x 20 m subplots centered at (30,30),(30,70),(70,30), and (70,70) (coordinates in m relative to the southwest corner of the plot), and trees 10-20 cm dbh in four 10 x 10 m subplots centered within the 20x20s. In the San Lorenzo (formerly Sherman) plot, the sample includes trees ≥ 80 cm DBH in the entire plot, trees 40-80 cm dbh in twenty 40 x 40 m subplots, trees 20-40 cm dbh in twenty 20 x 20 m subplots centered within the 40 x 40 m subplots, and trees 10-20 cm dbh in twenty 10 x 10 m subplots centered within the 40 x 40 m subplots. Tree heights were measured with a Nikon forestry laser rangefinder using the sine method as defined by Larjavaara and Muller-Landau (2013). For each tree, species identity and local plot coordinates were taken from the main census data (e.g., Condit et al. 2019). Quantitative observations of crown intactness (0 to 4), crown illumination index (1 to 5), and liana cover (0 to 4) were taken at the same time that heights were measured. More information about the study sites can be found in Muller-Landau et al. (2024) and Condit et al. (2013). For the Sherman (San Lorenzo) plot, DBH values come from the 2011 dendrometer census; the dates given are for the height measurements. For the P08 and P09 plots, the liana cover values are from 2012. In all other cases, all data for a given tree all from the date given. Author contributions: PR and PV conducted the field work; HM designed the study and supervised the field work and data cleaning.Acknowledgments:Juan Camilo Osorio-Ospina assisted in data cleaning and in the preparation of this data publication.References:Condit, R., B. M. J. Engelbrecht, D. Pino, R. Perez, and B. L. Turner. 2013. Species distributions in response to individual soil nutrients and seasonal drought across a community of tropical trees. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, 110: 5064-5068. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1218042110).Condit, R., R. Pérez, S. Aguilar, and S. Lao. 2019. Census data from 65 tree plots in Panama, 1994-2015. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.15146/mdpr-pm59.Larjavaara, M., and H. C. Muller-Landau. 2013. Measuring tree height: a quantitative comparison of two common field methods in a moist tropical forest. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12071Muller-Landau, H. C., C. Piponiot, F. Mello, S. Aguilar, S. Lao, D. Mitre, and R. Condit. 2024. Chapter 54 -Forest Biomass Carbon Stocks and Fluxes in a Broader Context: Insights and Opportunities Associated with the Central Panama Plot Network. In The First 100 Years of Research on Barro Colorado: Plant and Ecosystem Science, ed. H. C. Muller-Landau and S. J. Wright. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.268807907<br>