Forest Census Plot on Barro Colorado Island
The 50-hectare permanent tree plot was established in 1980 in the tropical
moist forest of Barro Colorado Island (BCI) in Gatun Lake in central
Panama. Censuses have been carried out in 1981-1983, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010,
and 2015. In each census, all free-standing woody stems
at least 10 mm diameter at breast
height were identified, tagged, and mapped. Over 350,000
individual trees have been censused over 35 years.
Since 1994, over 50 one-hectare plots and smaller have been established in the Panama Canal watershed and elsewhere
where trees over 10 cm dbh were censused. For a list of the plots and some of their characteristics, click on:
Panama CTFS Plots.
Data from the eight censuses of the 50-ha plot, as well as data from the smaller plots, are available for download upon submission of a request for data access proposal.
To download the BCI Forest Dynamics Plot dataset, fill out the data request form after reading the Terms and Conditions of BCI Forest Dynamics Plot Data Use. Submission of this form indicates your compliance with the terms and conditions described.
Principal Investigators:
| Stephen Hubbell | Richard Condit | Robin Foster |
| shubbell@eeb.ucla.edu | conditr@gmail.com | rfoster@fieldmuseum.org |