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A network of more than 130 permanent vegetation plots provides long-term information on patterns and rates of forest succession in most of the major forest zones of the Pacific Northwest. The plot network extends from the coast to the Cascades in western Oregon and Washington and east to ponderosa pine forests in the Oregon Cascades. Most of the permanent plots were established during two intervals: from 1910 to 1948, and from 1970 to 1989. The earlier plots were established by U.S. Forest Service researchers to quantify timber growth in young stands of important commercial species and to help answer other applied forestry questions. The more recent period of plot establishment began under the Coniferous Forest Biome program of the International Biological Program during the 1970s, and continued under the Long-term Ecological Research program. A broader set of objectives motivated plot establishment since 1970, especially quantification of composition, structure, and population and ecosystem dynamics of natural forests. Plots have one of three spatial arrangements: (1) contiguous rectangles subjectively placed within an area of homogeneous forest; (2) circular plots subjectively placed within an area of homogeneous forest; and (3) circular plots systematically located on long transects to sample an entire watershed, ridge, or reserve. Rectangular study areas are mostly 1.0 ha or 0.4 ha (1.0 ac) in size (slope-corrected). Circular plots are 0.1 ha (0.247 ac), not corrected for slope. The tree stratum is the focus of work in closed-forest study areas. All trees larger than a minimum diameter (5 cm for most areas) are permanently tagged. Plots are censused every 5 or 6 years. Attributes measured or assessed at each census include tree diameter, tree vigor, and the condition of the crown and stem. The same attributes are recorded for trees (ingrowth) that have exceeded the minimum diameter since the previous census. In many plots tree locations are surveyed to provide a plot-specific x-y location. A mortality assessment is done for trees that have died since the previous census. The assessment characterizes rooting, stem, and crown condition, obvious signs of distress or disturbance, and the apparent predisposing and proximate causes of tree death. 

A network of more than 130 permanent vegetation plots provides long-term information on patterns and rates of forest succession in most of the major forest zones of the Pacific Northwest. The plot network extends from the coast to the Cascades in western Oregon and Washington and east to ponderosa pine forests in the Oregon Cascades. Most of the permanent plots were established during two intervals: from 1910 to 1948, and from 1970 to 1989. The earlier plots were established by U.S. Forest Service researchers to quantify timber growth in young stands of important commercial species and to help answer other applied forestry questions. The more recent period of plot establishment began under the Coniferous Forest Biome program of the International Biological Program during the 1970s, and continued under the Long-term Ecological Research program. A broader set of objectives motivated plot establishment since 1970, especially quantification of composition, structure, and population and ecosystem dynamics of natural forests. Plots have one of three spatial arrangements: (1) contiguous rectangles subjectively placed within an area of homogeneous forest; (2) circular plots subjectively placed within an area of homogeneous forest; and (3) circular plots systematically located on long transects to sample an entire watershed, ridge, or reserve. Rectangular study areas are mostly 1.0 ha or 0.4 ha (1.0 ac) in size (slope-corrected). Circular plots are 0.1 ha (0.247 ac), not corrected for slope. The tree stratum is the focus of work in closed-forest study areas. All trees larger than a minimum diameter (5 cm for most areas) are permanently tagged. Plots are censused every 5 or 6 years. Attributes measured or assessed at each census include tree diameter, tree vigor, and the condition of the crown and stem. The same attributes are recorded for trees (ingrowth) that have exceeded the minimum diameter since the previous census. In many plots tree locations are surveyed to provide a plot-specific x-y location. A mortality assessment is done for trees that have died since the previous census. The assessment characterizes rooting, stem, and crown condition, obvious signs of distress or disturbance, and the apparent predisposing and proximate causes of tree death. 

The current network of temperature measurement sites are designed to represent spatial variability of air and soil temperature in rugged mountain topography, and serve as second-level stations to capture specific microclimate temperatures in conjunction with a network of Benchmark Meteorological Stations (MS001). The air and soil thermograph network has been reduced from the historical network of 37 sites originally established. Currently there are 10 measurement sites with two of these sites measuring relative humidity in addition to air and soil temperature. An original network of 19 sites (RS01-RS19) were established during the International Biome Program in the early 1970's. Emphasis on phenology, plant moisture stress, and leaf nutrient content led to extending this network of air and soil temperature measurement. A plant community classification system (Dyrness et al., 1971) was used as a primary means of stratification, and a set of permanent vegetation plots (Reference Stands) was installed to represent forest communities with distinct vegetation and hypothesized different environments (Dyrness et al., 1974). A thermograph network was installed within the reference stands in the early 1970's (Zobel et al., 1974), and vegetation standing crop, tree growth and mortality, and plant succession were also measured. The majority of these sites were established to monitor micro-meteorological data under the canopy. The purpose of this network was to provide air and soil temperature data for modeling photosynthesis, respiration, phenology, and decomposition, and to measure environmental gradients. 

The current network of temperature measurement sites are designed to represent spatial variability of air and soil temperature in rugged mountain topography, and serve as second-level stations to capture specific microclimate temperatures in conjunction with a network of Benchmark Meteorological Stations (MS001). The air and soil thermograph network has been reduced from the historical network of 37 sites originally established. Currently there are 10 measurement sites with two of these sites measuring relative humidity in addition to air and soil temperature. An original network of 19 sites (RS01-RS19) were established during the International Biome Program in the early 1970's. Emphasis on phenology, plant moisture stress, and leaf nutrient content led to extending this network of air and soil temperature measurement. A plant community classification system (Dyrness et al., 1971) was used as a primary means of stratification, and a set of permanent vegetation plots (Reference Stands) was installed to represent forest communities with distinct vegetation and hypothesized different environments (Dyrness et al., 1974). A thermograph network was installed within the reference stands in the early 1970's (Zobel et al., 1974), and vegetation standing crop, tree growth and mortality, and plant succession were also measured. The majority of these sites were established to monitor micro-meteorological data under the canopy. The purpose of this network was to provide air and soil temperature data for modeling photosynthesis, respiration, phenology, and decomposition, and to measure environmental gradients. 

The current network of temperature measurement sites are designed to represent spatial variability of air and soil temperature in rugged mountain topography, and serve as second-level stations to capture specific microclimate temperatures in conjunction with a network of Benchmark Meteorological Stations (MS001). The air and soil thermograph network has been reduced from the historical network of 37 sites originally established. Currently there are 10 measurement sites with two of these sites measuring relative humidity in addition to air and soil temperature. An original network of 19 sites (RS01-RS19) were established during the International Biome Program in the early 1970's. Emphasis on phenology, plant moisture stress, and leaf nutrient content led to extending this network of air and soil temperature measurement. A plant community classification system (Dyrness et al., 1971) was used as a primary means of stratification, and a set of permanent vegetation plots (Reference Stands) was installed to represent forest communities with distinct vegetation and hypothesized different environments (Dyrness et al., 1974). A thermograph network was installed within the reference stands in the early 1970's (Zobel et al., 1974), and vegetation standing crop, tree growth and mortality, and plant succession were also measured. The majority of these sites were established to monitor micro-meteorological data under the canopy. The purpose of this network was to provide air and soil temperature data for modeling photosynthesis, respiration, phenology, and decomposition, and to measure environmental gradients. 

ABSTRACT MotivationHere, we make available a second version of the BioTIME database, which compiles records of abundance estimates for species in sample events of ecological assemblages through time. The updated version expands version 1.0 of the database by doubling the number of studies and includes substantial additional curation to the taxonomic accuracy of the records, as well as the metadata. Moreover, we now provide an R package (BioTIMEr) to facilitate use of the database. Main Types of Variables IncludedThe database is composed of one main data table containing the abundance records and 11 metadata tables. The data are organised in a hierarchy of scales where 11,989,233 records are nested in 1,603,067 sample events, from 553,253 sampling locations, which are nested in 708 studies. A study is defined as a sampling methodology applied to an assemblage for a minimum of 2 years. Spatial Location and GrainSampling locations in BioTIME are distributed across the planet, including marine, terrestrial and freshwater realms. Spatial grain size and extent vary across studies depending on sampling methodology. We recommend gridding of sampling locations into areas of consistent size. Time Period and GrainThe earliest time series in BioTIME start in 1874, and the most recent records are from 2023. Temporal grain and duration vary across studies. We recommend doing sample‐level rarefaction to ensure consistent sampling effort through time before calculating any diversity metric. Major Taxa and Level of MeasurementThe database includes any eukaryotic taxa, with a combined total of 56,400 taxa. Software Formatcsv and. SQL.