Data flow

This R-markdown document visualises ancillary data for forest ecosystems within the ICOS network. To come to this report, the data was collected and processed as follows:

  1. Data collection following the instruction documents as published on the ICOS-ETC website: https://tinyurl.com/3h73hxkz. Data submission occurs via BADM to ETC.

  2. ETC always performs data quality checks (e.g. missing data, outliers, consistency with instructions,… ).

  3. Twice per year, ETC aggregates all data (flux, meteo, ancillary,…) collected within the ICOS network. For forest ancillary data, the general aggregation rule for all variable groups is to (1) average values within plots and (2) average (+/- StDev) these averages across groups. Statistics like min, max and percentiles are based on the values from (1) and thus represents the spatial heterogeneity within the target area.
    These aggregations are published on the carbon portal as the L2 archive, which can be downloaded here: https://tinyurl.com/3p6dz3fe

  4. End users can unzip the downloaded L2 archive folder and find all .csv data products, as well as .pdf and BIF.csv documents describing the content of these products. The BIF ancillary file “ICOSETC_CC-Xxx_ANCILLARY_L2.csv” serves as the input file for this document.

  5. ETC made an online BIF to BIFTAB converter available, which results in more digestable .csv files per variable group: https://tinyurl.com/55h63sbd. Carefully follow the 4 steps by switching back and forth between the colab.research tab and the google.drive tab in your browser.

  6. These BIFTAB files are the direct input files for the graphs in this document, at least for variable GRP_LAI and GRP_LITTERPNT. Variables from GRP_TREE and GRP_AGB (understory) are currently under revision and are aggregated slightly differently in this document, hence data tables are included in this version of the report.

  7. Please cite and acknowledge ICOS if you make use of this data in any possible way.

GRP_TREE data at stand level

Species, DBH, tree height and health status is measured for all trees in CPs (every 3 years - 2000m²/CP) and SP-Is (every 10 years - 700m²/CP). Biomass is calculated for each individual tree via a species-specific allometric relation determined on site, from a nearby site or based on the literature. Biomass (tons/ha), basal area (m²wood/ha) and tree density (#/ha) at stand level is here represented for the most common species (contribute >5% to the total stand).

Specific note for SE-Nor: The site faced a clearcut in November 2022 and trees were replanted in May 2024.

Species Year Plot PlotYear Biomass_TonsPerHa BasalArea_m2PerHa Density_TreesPerHa SPP_PERC
.Total 2018 SP SP_2018 212.78 34.87 537.14 100.01
.Total 2018 CP CP_2018 172.59 30.40 433.00 100.00
.Total 2021 CP CP_2021 205.01 35.32 484.00 100.00
.Total 2022 CP CP_2022 207.51 35.68 485.00 100.00
Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn. 2018 SP SP_2018 2.54 0.45 13.57 2.53
Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn. 2021 CP CP_2021 1.30 0.23 4.00 0.83
Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn. 2022 CP CP_2022 1.37 0.24 4.00 0.82
Betula pendula Roth 2018 SP SP_2018 0.69 0.11 1.43 0.27
Betula pubescens Ehrh. 2018 SP SP_2018 4.47 0.80 27.86 5.19
Betula pubescens Ehrh. 2018 CP CP_2018 0.67 0.11 4.00 0.92
Betula pubescens Ehrh. 2021 CP CP_2021 1.79 0.31 8.00 1.65
Betula pubescens Ehrh. 2022 CP CP_2022 1.80 0.31 8.00 1.65
Picea abies (L.) H.Karst. 2018 SP SP_2018 85.86 13.27 295.00 54.92
Picea abies (L.) H.Karst. 2018 CP CP_2018 45.49 7.48 190.00 43.88
Picea abies (L.) H.Karst. 2021 CP CP_2021 49.87 8.08 199.00 41.12
Picea abies (L.) H.Karst. 2022 CP CP_2022 50.85 8.19 200.00 41.24
Pinus sylvestris L. 2018 SP SP_2018 119.20 20.24 198.57 36.97
Pinus sylvestris L. 2018 CP CP_2018 126.43 22.81 239.00 55.20
Pinus sylvestris L. 2021 CP CP_2021 152.05 26.70 273.00 56.40
Pinus sylvestris L. 2022 CP CP_2022 153.49 26.94 273.00 56.29
Sorbus aucuparia L. 2018 SP SP_2018 0.02 0.00 0.71 0.13



















GRP_TREE data at individual level

DBH and tree height at individual level is here represented for the most common species (contribute >5% to the total stand).







GRP_AGB - Understory

In addition to the TREE data (DBH >5cm), above ground biomass is determined for 5 understory plant types (moss, herbs, ferns, shrubs and saplings). As detailed in the instruction document, this is done at 5 specific locations per CP. Measurements are first averaged within plots and then averaged across plots. This understory data is currently not yet included in the published L2 data on the carbon portal. Hence, extra details can be found below.

Year AGB_PTYPE Mean_kg_per_m2 STDEV Minimum Maximum 25.quantile 50.quantile 75.quantile STATISTIC_NUMBER
2019 Herb 0.023 0.012 0.015 0.032 0.019 0.023 0.028 2
2019 Moss 0.031 0.012 0.022 0.040 0.026 0.031 0.035 2
2019 Sapling 0.001 0.002 0.000 0.003 0.001 0.001 0.002 2
2019 Shrub 0.061 0.011 0.053 0.069 0.057 0.061 0.065 2
2019 YearTotal 0.116 0.016 0.105 0.128 0.111 0.116 0.122 2
2021 Herb 0.014 0.008 0.009 0.019 0.011 0.014 0.017 2
2021 Moss 0.016 0.008 0.011 0.022 0.014 0.016 0.019 2
2021 Sapling 0.001 0.002 0.000 0.003 0.001 0.001 0.002 2
2021 Shrub 0.128 0.001 0.127 0.128 0.127 0.128 0.128 2
2021 YearTotal 0.160 0.016 0.148 0.171 0.154 0.160 0.165 2
2022 Ferns 0.018 0.023 0.002 0.034 0.010 0.018 0.026 2
2022 Herb 0.008 0.002 0.006 0.009 0.007 0.008 0.009 2
2022 Moss 0.372 0.047 0.338 0.405 0.355 0.372 0.389 2
2022 Sapling 0.002 0.002 0.000 0.003 0.001 0.002 0.002 2
2022 Shrub 0.083 0.019 0.070 0.096 0.076 0.083 0.089 2
2022 YearTotal 0.482 0.039 0.454 0.509 0.468 0.482 0.496 2



GRP_GAI

Green Area Index is estimated either with digital hemispherical photography (DHP) at 9 standard locations per CP or with a ceptometer in 25 locations per CP. Values are first averaged within plots and then averaged across plots to come to a single value per observation date.



GRP_LITTERPNT

Litter is only collected in Class1 sites.


If you have questions or suggestions about the above output and/or graphs, please contact , , , and