Soil respiration and climate data from El Tallonal in Arecibo, Puerto Rico (2011-2014)

This data publication contains hourly measurements of soil respiration and climatic variables in the air and soil collected from 2011 to 2014 in a private forest reserve ("El Tallonal") in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. We measured hourly soil respiration from March 2011 until April 2014 using a Li-Cor LI-8100 infrared gas analyzer, along with an 8150 multiplexer system connected to six automated chambers (Long-Term Chamber 8100-104, Li-Cor Biosciences, Lincoln NE, USA). From November 2012 until April 2014, we collected hourly data from six soil temperature sensors at 5 centimeter (cm) depth and six volumetric soil moisture sensors from 0 cm to 10 cm depth, each within 0.5 meter (m) distance of each soil respiration chamber (TMC-50HD; S-SMD-M005; Onset Computer Corporation, Bourne, MA, USA). Additionally, from January 2013 until April 2014, a 25-m scaffolding tower on-site was equipped with sensors measuring hourly canopy air temperature, relative humidity (RH), and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) (S-THB-M002; S-LIA-M003; Onset Computer Corporation, Bourne, MA, USA). In summary, our observational dataset is comprised of approximately 3 years of hourly soil respiration data, as well as approximately concurrent one-year measurements of hourly soil and canopy climate data.
We conducted high-frequency automated soil respiration measurements in this forest to better understand the magnitude of this carbon flux from the ecosystem, as well as to determine relationships with climatic variables. These data were collected as part of Omar Gutiérrez del Arroyo's Master of Science Thesis (2014) at the Biology Department of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras.
These data were published on 02/24/2020. Minor metadata updates were made on 04/25/2023.