Tree inventory data from permanent plots in French forest reserves.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Forestry
• Environmental Science

Background:

• A national monitoring program for French forest reserves has been established to assess forest ecosystem health and structure.
• Previous monitoring efforts often lacked comprehensive data on dead wood and the full tree life cycle.
• Strict forest reserves and long-unmanaged forests are key components of this monitoring network.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the first round of data from a national forest reserve monitoring program in France.
• To provide a detailed dataset focusing on dead wood and all tree life stages.
• To establish a baseline for monitoring forest ecosystem changes, including impacts of climate change.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 9538 permanent plots across 111 study sites in mainland France and Corsica.
• Employed a combination of fixed-area inventory, transect lines, and fixed-angle plot methods.
• Measured tree location, species, diameter at breast height (DBH), microhabitats, decay stage, and seedling cover.

Main Results:

• The dataset covers a wide range of ecological conditions, though Mediterranean forests are underrepresented.
• 68% of plots are in strict forest reserves, and 24.7% are in forests unmanaged for at least 50 years.
• Detailed measurements capture the entire tree life cycle, from seedlings to decomposed dead wood.

Conclusions:

• The presented dataset offers valuable insights into forest structure and dead wood dynamics in French reserves.
• This monitoring network is crucial for tracking forest ecosystem changes and informing conservation strategies.
• Data is available for non-commercial scientific use under a CC BY SA 4.0 license.