This data set contains two ASCII text files; one providing above-ground biomass, productivity, and bioelement concentration data for a derived savanna at Canas (10.4 N 85.1 W Elevation 45 m) in northwestern Costa Rica, and the other providing climate data from the La Pacifica weather station near Canas and rom other sources. Monthly dynamics of above-ground plant matter were monitored from July 1969 to June 1970 using harvest procedures within an exclosure to restrict grazing. The climate data are available from three time periods: 1951-1960, 1963, and 1969-1970. The climate is characterized by a dry season from late November to April, with little seasonal differences in temperature. The Canas study site is dominated almost exclusively by Hyparrhenia rufa, a perennial grass of African origin introduced extensively throughout the tropics. The original vegetation cover was closed semideciduous forest. The study area was deforested and converted to a grass savanna around January 1947, 22.5 years before the start of the present study. Light grazing by cattle and horses is accompanied by burning of the Canas savanna annually between December and April. Above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) was estimated by two methods: maximum standing crop of herbaceous shoot tissue (peak live + dead matter) (968 g/m2/year); and the sum of monthly estimates of shoot production (including estimated mortality) (1,387 g/m2/year). End-of-season (November, 1969) live root biomass estimates of 1,220 g/m2 at 0-20 cm depth and 2,254 g/m2 at 0-100 cm depth are available in the literature.

This data set contains four ASCII text files for a 260-hectare humid Trachypogon savanna at the Estacion Biologica de Los Llanos, Calabozo, Venezuela (8.93 N, -67.42 W, Elevation 98 m). Two data files contain monthly estimates of above-ground biomass for the period January 1969 to October 1969, one file for each treatment (burned and unburned plots). These files also provide one estimate of below-ground biomass. Another NPP data file contains monthly estimates of above- and below-ground biomass, LAI, and nitrogen content of living and dead leaves and stems and below-ground biomass for an unburned area of the Calabozo savanna for March 1986 to April 1987. The fourth data file contains precipitation and maximum/minimum temperature data from a nearby weather station at Estacion Biologica de Los Llanos (8.88 N, -67.32 W, Elevation 86 m) for the period 1968-1986. Harvest methods were used to estimate above- and below-ground biomass. Total NPP (above- plus below-ground productivity) was estimated at 682 g/m2/yr for unburned and 755 g/m2/yr for burned grassland plots in 1969. Later TNPP estimates (1986/87) for the unburned grassland ranged from 823 to 1,310 g/m2/yr.Revision Notes: Only the documentation for this data set has been modified. The data files have been checked for accuracy and are identical to those originally published in 1998.

This data set includes five ASCII files (.txt format). Three files contain above- and below-ground biomass and net primary productivity (NPP) data, one file for each tropical forest study site near San Carlos de Rio Negro, Venezuela. The study sites are located along an ecosystem gradient from riverine to lateritic hill: Tall Amazon Caatinga forest on coarse sandy spodosols close to river level; Bana vegetation on sandy soils less prone to flooding; and Tierra Firme mixed forest on clay oxisols of higher ground. Bioelement concentrations are also provided. The other two files contain climate data from a weather station in San Carlos village.ANPP for the Tierra Firme forest is estimated at 1,590 g/m2/year, including woody biomass increment of 600 g/m2/year, and BNPP values in the range of 201-1,117 g/m2/year, suggesting a minimum estimate of TNPP of 1,800-2,700 g/m2/year. ANPP of a nearby cut-and-burned oxisol plot attained 1,940 g/m2 in the fifth year following clearing. ANPP of Tall Amazon Caatinga is estimated at 1,150 g/m2/year, with root turnover of 120 g/m2/year, giving a minimum estimate of TNPP of 1,270 g/m2/year. TNPP estimate for Bana vegetation, based on annual litterfall accumulation plus root production, is 478 g/m2/year.

This data set contains three ASCII files (.txt format). One file provides net primary productivity (NPP) data for the moist lowland tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. NPP estimates are based on field measurements of litterfall accumulation, tree growth and mortality, and herbivory. Above-ground biomass and LAI are also reported. The other two files provide climate data recorded onsite.Annual litterfall accumulation (leaf + twig + other litterfall) averaged 1,064 g/m2/year, excluding losses to herbivory, on the central plateau of the island and in the Lutz catchment (1969-1979) and 1,246 g/m2/year at Poacher's Peninsula (1986-1990). Herbivory due to insects (about 50 g/m2/year) was estimated from leaf litterfall (1974-1977) by measuring holes and gaps in fallen leaves. An additional 30 g/m2/year may be lost to vertebrate herbivores which leave no identifiable traces in litter traps. Coarse wood litterfall due to tree damage may represent an additional 46 g/m2/year. Above-ground biomass averaged 27,425 g/m2 based on inventory data collected every 5 years from 1985 to 2000 and allometric regression equations. Tree growth of 554 g/m2/year was based on above-ground biomass changes during the three census intervals. Tree mortality of 2-3% was estimated by recording dead or missing trees (1982-1990). LAI of 7.3 was based on the average area of leaves that fell per area of ground per year. Overall, above-ground NPP for Barro Colorado Island was estimated at 1,800 g/m2/year.

This data set contains three ASCII files (.txt format). One file provides net primary productivity (NPP) data for the moist lowland tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. NPP estimates are based on field measurements of litterfall accumulation, tree growth and mortality, and herbivory. Above-ground biomass and LAI are also reported. The other two files provide climate data recorded onsite.Annual litterfall accumulation (leaf + twig + other litterfall) averaged 1,064 g/m2/year, excluding losses to herbivory, on the central plateau of the island and in the Lutz catchment (1969-1979) and 1,246 g/m2/year at Poacher's Peninsula (1986-1990). Herbivory due to insects (about 50 g/m2/year) was estimated from leaf litterfall (1974-1977) by measuring holes and gaps in fallen leaves. An additional 30 g/m2/year may be lost to vertebrate herbivores which leave no identifiable traces in litter traps. Coarse wood litterfall due to tree damage may represent an additional 46 g/m2/year. Above-ground biomass averaged 27,425 g/m2 based on inventory data collected every 5 years from 1985 to 2000 and allometric regression equations. Tree growth of 554 g/m2/year was based on above-ground biomass changes during the three census intervals. Tree mortality of 2-3% was estimated by recording dead or missing trees (1982-1990). LAI of 7.3 was based on the average area of leaves that fell per area of ground per year. Overall, above-ground NPP for Barro Colorado Island was estimated at 1,800 g/m2/year.

This data set contains two ASCII files (.txt format). One file contains monthly productivity data measured on an arid dwarf-shrub steppe in northern Patagonia, Argentina from August 1980 to March 1982. The second file contains climate data recorded at a weather station set up onsite for the duration of the NPP study.Dynamics of above-ground biomass, dead matter, and litter were monitored at Pampa de Leman (-45.43 S, -69.83 W, Elevation 400 m) at monthly or bi-monthly intervals in a 1.5-hectare exclosure area protected from sheep grazing. The vegetative community is dominated by the dwarf shrub Nassauvia glomerulosa, with two grasses (Poa dusenii and Hordeum comosum).Annual above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) of 78 g/m2/yr was estimated from the sum of the increase in above-ground biomass, dead matter, and litter.

This data set contains three ASCII data files (.txt format), one for net primary production (NPP) component data and two for climate data. The NPP studies were conducted in a tropical montane forest in the Sierra de Merida at San Eusebio (8.62 N 71.35 W) in northwestern Venezuela. The forest is mostly primary in character, with some selective logging having taken place in the past. Biomass, litterfall, and nutrient content of above- and below-ground vegetation and soil were determined in 1973-1974.Standing stocks of biomass and nutrients are reported as the mean of 13 plots with contrasting soil types, slope, and relief. Litterfall is reported as the mean determined for 3 of these plots, measured bi-weekly over the course of one year. Root turnover was estimated by correlation with leaf litter turnover (13%), and woody turnover was estimated by assuming the system to be in steady-state. A minimum estimate of total NPP (1,497 g/m2/year) may be obtained by summing total litterfall (697 g/m2/year), woody turnover (480 g/m2/year), and fine root turnover (320 g/m2/year). The forest contains high mineral stores, accumulated especially in the woody compartment. N and P values are very high in the soil compartment.Long-term climate data are available for Merida (8.60 N 71.18 W), about 30 km southeast of the study site. Mean annual temperature is 18.9 C and mean annual precipitation is 1,752 mm, giving a humid/sub-humid climate. Short-term weather observation recorded at the study site are also provided in the data set.

This data set contains two ASCII files (.txt format). One file contains monthly productivity data measured on an arid dwarf-shrub steppe in northern Patagonia, Argentina from August 1980 to March 1982. The second file contains climate data recorded at a weather station set up onsite for the duration of the NPP study.Dynamics of above-ground biomass, dead matter, and litter were monitored at Pampa de Leman (-45.43 S, -69.83 W, Elevation 400 m) at monthly or bi-monthly intervals in a 1.5-hectare exclosure area protected from sheep grazing. The vegetative community is dominated by the dwarf shrub Nassauvia glomerulosa, with two grasses (Poa dusenii and Hordeum comosum).Annual above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) of 78 g/m2/yr was estimated from the sum of the increase in above-ground biomass, dead matter, and litter.

This data set contains three ASCII files (.txt format). Two files contain above- and below-ground biomass and productivity data for a desert grassland in the Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico, one file for an ungrazed treatment and the other for a light to moderately grazed treatment. The study site (32.60 N, -106.85 W, Elevation 1,350 m) is located in the Basin and Range geomorphic province at the northernmost extent of the Chihuahuan Desert, near the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, about 60-km northwest of El Paso, Texas. The third file contains climate data for the period 1954-1992 obtained from a weather station located near the study site (32.62 N, -106.73 W, Elevation 1,300 m).Dynamics of above-and below-ground plant biomass were monitored at roughly 2-week intervals during the growing season from 1970 to 1972. Data on above-ground live biomass, recent and old dead matter, and root-crown biomass are available for one to two replications of grazed and "ungrazed" (relatively undisturbed) treatments. Total below-ground biomass was also sampled. Data were collected as part of a coordinated study over 1-3 years at ten grassland sites of the central and western United States, under the US GrasslandBiome Project of the International Biological Program (IBP).Annual above-ground net primary production (ANPP) was estimated, conservatively, by summing peak biomass of individual species, and annual below-ground net primary production (BNPP) estimated as the sum of positive increments in total root biomass.

This NPP data set contains one ASCII file (.txt format). The data file contains above- and below-ground biomass, litterfall, LAI, vegetation/soil micro-nutrient content (P, K, Ca, Mg, etc.), and above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) estimates for transitional moist/dry tropical forests at Rio Lara (wet season site) and Rio Sabana (dry season site) in Darien Province, Panama. Field measurements were made in 1967 and 1968. No climate data are provided.Apart from litter quantity, most of the differences between these data reflect variations between the two plots sampled, rather than seasonal changes. Both plots were considered representative of the surrounding forest. The area was thought to have been forested for the previous 400 years, following abandonment of open savanna lands maintained by the Precolumbian Indians.Total annual leaf and branch fall averaged for the two sites was 1,137 g/m2/yr, representing a minimum ANPP estimate. Litter decomposition over the 9-month wet season was around 90%. LAI at both sites was high; however, the index for the dry site (10.6 m2/m2) was only half that of the wet season site (22.4 m2/m2).