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Tallo: A global tree allometry and crown architecture database.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Jucker, T; Fischer, FJ; Chave, J; Coomes, DA; Caspersen, J; Ali, A; Loubota Panzou, GJ; Feldpausch, TR; Falster, D; Usoltsev, VA; Adu-Bredu, S ...
Published in: Global change biology
September 2022

Data capturing multiple axes of tree size and shape, such as a tree's stem diameter, height and crown size, underpin a wide range of ecological research-from developing and testing theory on forest structure and dynamics, to estimating forest carbon stocks and their uncertainties, and integrating remote sensing imagery into forest monitoring programmes. However, these data can be surprisingly hard to come by, particularly for certain regions of the world and for specific taxonomic groups, posing a real barrier to progress in these fields. To overcome this challenge, we developed the Tallo database, a collection of 498,838 georeferenced and taxonomically standardized records of individual trees for which stem diameter, height and/or crown radius have been measured. These data were collected at 61,856 globally distributed sites, spanning all major forested and non-forested biomes. The majority of trees in the database are identified to species (88%), and collectively Tallo includes data for 5163 species distributed across 1453 genera and 187 plant families. The database is publicly archived under a CC-BY 4.0 licence and can be access from: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6637599. To demonstrate its value, here we present three case studies that highlight how the Tallo database can be used to address a range of theoretical and applied questions in ecology-from testing the predictions of metabolic scaling theory, to exploring the limits of tree allometric plasticity along environmental gradients and modelling global variation in maximum attainable tree height. In doing so, we provide a key resource for field ecologists, remote sensing researchers and the modelling community working together to better understand the role that trees play in regulating the terrestrial carbon cycle.

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Published In

Global change biology

DOI

EISSN

1365-2486

ISSN

1354-1013

Publication Date

September 2022

Volume

28

Issue

17

Start / End Page

5254 / 5268

Related Subject Headings

  • Trees
  • Forests
  • Ecosystem
  • Ecology
  • Carbon Cycle
  • Carbon
  • Biomass
  • 41 Environmental sciences
  • 37 Earth sciences
  • 31 Biological sciences
 

Citation

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Jucker, T., Fischer, F. J., Chave, J., Coomes, D. A., Caspersen, J., Ali, A., … Zavala, M. A. (2022). Tallo: A global tree allometry and crown architecture database. Global Change Biology, 28(17), 5254–5268. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16302
Jucker, Tommaso, Fabian Jörg Fischer, Jérôme Chave, David A. Coomes, John Caspersen, Arshad Ali, Grace Jopaul Loubota Panzou, et al. “Tallo: A global tree allometry and crown architecture database.Global Change Biology 28, no. 17 (September 2022): 5254–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16302.
Jucker T, Fischer FJ, Chave J, Coomes DA, Caspersen J, Ali A, et al. Tallo: A global tree allometry and crown architecture database. Global change biology. 2022 Sep;28(17):5254–68.
Jucker, Tommaso, et al. “Tallo: A global tree allometry and crown architecture database.Global Change Biology, vol. 28, no. 17, Sept. 2022, pp. 5254–68. Epmc, doi:10.1111/gcb.16302.
Jucker T, Fischer FJ, Chave J, Coomes DA, Caspersen J, Ali A, Loubota Panzou GJ, Feldpausch TR, Falster D, Usoltsev VA, Adu-Bredu S, Alves LF, Aminpour M, Angoboy IB, Anten NPR, Antin C, Askari Y, Muñoz R, Ayyappan N, Balvanera P, Banin L, Barbier N, Battles JJ, Beeckman H, Bocko YE, Bond-Lamberty B, Bongers F, Bowers S, Brade T, van Breugel M, Chantrain A, Chaudhary R, Dai J, Dalponte M, Dimobe K, Domec J-C, Doucet J-L, Duursma RA, Enríquez M, van Ewijk KY, Farfán-Rios W, Fayolle A, Forni E, Forrester DI, Gilani H, Godlee JL, Gourlet-Fleury S, Haeni M, Hall JS, He J-K, Hemp A, Hernández-Stefanoni JL, Higgins SI, Holdaway RJ, Hussain K, Hutley LB, Ichie T, Iida Y, Jiang H-S, Joshi PR, Kaboli H, Larsary MK, Kenzo T, Kloeppel BD, Kohyama T, Kunwar S, Kuyah S, Kvasnica J, Lin S, Lines ER, Liu H, Lorimer C, Loumeto J-J, Malhi Y, Marshall PL, Mattsson E, Matula R, Meave JA, Mensah S, Mi X, Momo S, Moncrieff GR, Mora F, Nissanka SP, O’Hara KL, Pearce S, Pelissier R, Peri PL, Ploton P, Poorter L, Pour MJ, Pourbabaei H, Dupuy-Rada JM, Ribeiro SC, Ryan C, Sanaei A, Sanger J, Schlund M, Sellan G, Shenkin A, Sonké B, Sterck FJ, Svátek M, Takagi K, Trugman AT, Ullah F, Vadeboncoeur MA, Valipour A, Vanderwel MC, Vovides AG, Wang W, Wang L-Q, Wirth C, Woods M, Xiang W, Ximenes FDA, Xu Y, Yamada T, Zavala MA. Tallo: A global tree allometry and crown architecture database. Global change biology. 2022 Sep;28(17):5254–5268.
Journal cover image

Published In

Global change biology

DOI

EISSN

1365-2486

ISSN

1354-1013

Publication Date

September 2022

Volume

28

Issue

17

Start / End Page

5254 / 5268

Related Subject Headings

  • Trees
  • Forests
  • Ecosystem
  • Ecology
  • Carbon Cycle
  • Carbon
  • Biomass
  • 41 Environmental sciences
  • 37 Earth sciences
  • 31 Biological sciences