Forest Dynamics in an Extremely Diverse Tree Community: A Permanent Large Census Plot in Amazonian Ecuador

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9806828FosterThis research project is the establishment of first large-scale and detailed census plot of a forest in the Amazon Basin. It will serve as the baseline for long term studies of tree growth, populations, forest composition and diversity, and how these respond to changes in climate in what appears to be the world's most species-rich forest. We are completing the inventory of trees and shrubs in 25 hectares of hyper-diverse rainforest in Yasuni National Park in eastern Ecuador. Other funds allowed us to establish the plot and initiate the census. The tree mapping, measuring, labeling, and computer data entry of each individual is now nearly complete for the approximately 150,000 trees in the plot. The current funds allow us to finish the much more difficult task of identification in the field of the more than 1,000 species of trees, most of which have never been studied before. The Ecuador plot is part of a broader program of large and permanent inventories in key tropical forest sites. There are now 12 such forest dynamics plots around the world, strategically placed to represent a wide range of climates and soils, and already yielding important information on tropical forest resources, forest management, and effects of climate change. The data is made available to and widely used by scientists throughout the world as well as in the host country. This is the first such plot in the continent of South America.