We ask you to read and abide by our Terms & Conditions of use for Barro Colorado Island's data. The data is freely available for download here, and we invite you to help us track the use of ForestGEO data by submitting a Data Request Form (access will be granted immediately upon submission of the Form).
The PIs have many years of experience working with the BCI plot data. Prospective data users are welcome to contact the PIs for help with context and other background information that may help interpret their research findings.
Data Request: Raising funds to continue censuses of the BCI 50 ha plot is easier if usefulness can be demonstrated. For this reason, we ask that users submit the data request form, which creates a record in our user database. The prospective investigator should resubmit the form for each substantially different project.
Non-transferability: So that we can vouch for the accuracy of the data, and so we get a record of every use, we ask that the prospective investigator not share the BCI data with other parties not included on the Request for Data Access Proposal.
Citation: Publications using the data should include the following citations:
Condit R., Perez, R., Aguilar, S., Lao, S., Foster, R., Hubbell, S.P. 2019. Complete data from the Barro Colorado 50-ha plot: 423617 trees, 35 years, 2019 version.
Condit, R. 1998. Tropical Forest Census Plots. Springer-Verlag and R. G. Landes Company, Berlin, Germany, and Georgetown, Texas.
Hubbell, S.P., R.B. Foster, S.T. O'Brien, K.E. Harms, R. Condit, B. Wechsler, S.J. Wright, and S. Loo de Lao. 1999. Light gap disturbances, recruitment limitation, and tree diversity in a neotropical forest. Science 283: 554-557.
Condit R., Perez, R., Aguilar, S., Lao, S., Foster, R., Hubbell, S.P. 2019. BCI 50-ha plot taxonomy, 2019 version.
Copies of articles: Copies of articles should be sent to the BCI Principal Investigators prior to submission. Unless otherwise agreed, the PIs will not be involved as collaborators. Once published, any manuscript making use of the BCI data should be sent to the PIs. Upon publication, a PDF copy of (or a link to) the article should also be sent to forestgeo@si.edu.
Acknowledgements: Publications should also include an acknowledgement of the support of the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the primary granting agencies that have supported the BCI plot:
"The BCI forest dynamics research project was made possible by National Science Foundation grants to Stephen P. Hubbell: DEB-0640386, DEB-0425651, DEB-0346488, DEB-0129874, DEB-00753102, DEB-9909347, DEB-9615226, DEB-9615226, DEB-9405933, DEB-9221033, DEB-9100058, DEB-8906869, DEB-8605042, DEB-8206992, DEB-7922197, support from the Forest Global Earth Observatory, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Small World Institute Fund, and numerous private individuals, and through the hard work of over 100 people from 10 countries over the past three decades. The plot project is part the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO), a global network of large-scale demographic tree plots."
Data Request: Raising funds to continue censuses of the carbon project is easier if usefulness can be demonstrated. For this reason, we ask that users submit the data request form, which creates a record in our user database. The prospective investigator should resubmit the form for each substantially different project.
Non-transferability: So that we can vouch for the accuracy of the data, and so we get a record of every use, we ask that the prospective investigator not share the dendrometer data with other parties not included on the Request for Data Access Proposal.
Citation: Publications using dendrometer data should include the following citations:
Muller-Landau, H. C., J. Q. Chambers, J. Chave, M. Kaspari, M. Keller, J.-R. Makana, Y. Malhi, P. R. Moorcroft, J. S. Powers, L. Cernusak, W. F. Laurance, E. Sayer, B. L. Turner, K. Winter, and S. J. Wright. 2006. Recommendations for advancing research on tropical forest carbon dynamics within the CTFS network. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
Copies of articles: Copies of articles should be sent to the Dr. Helene Muller-Landau (MullerH@si.edu) prior to submission. The PI(s) may want to be involved as collaborator, and reserves the right to request authorship. Once published, any manuscript making use of the data should be sent to the PI(s). Upon publication, a PDF copy of (or a link to) the article should also be sent to forestgeo@si.edu.
Acknowledgements: Publications should also include an acknowledgement of the support of the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the primary granting agencies that have supported this project:
"We thank Helene C. Muller-Landau for conceiving and supervising the BCI dendrometer census; Pablo Ramos, Paulino Villareal, and several short-term assistants for collecting the field data; KC Cushman, Richard Condit, and Suzanne Lao for cleaning and organizing the datasets; and the Smithsonian Institution's Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) and the HSBC Climate Partnership for funding."
