Overcoming obstacles to sharing data on tree allometric equations

Abstract

IntroductionAdvances in ecology face the complexity of ecosystems with dynamics longer than a single scientist’s career. In forestry and REDD+ practice, in particular, our ability to understand forest ecosystem dynamics and to manage them for mitigation and adaptation strongly relies on the combination of long-term research efforts and on data sharing. However, data collected by many measurement campaigns are regularly lost because of a lack of capacity to archive and maintain such information. Much progress would be achieved by encouraging researchers to provide access to primary data or publish “data-papers” (Chavan and Penev 2011; Cifuentes Jara et al. 2013; Fady et al. 2014).Archiving, sharing, and harmonizing data among researchers allows replication of analyses among researchers and thus ensures consistency of measurements over time and, ultimately, measurement accuracy (IPCC 2006). For allometric equations in particular, data sharing avoids the duplication of expensive and time- ...