Data on litterfall production and meteorology at an old-growth tropical dry forest in northwestern Mexico

Abstract

Chronological measurements of litterfall production can be used for understanding ecosystem dynamics such as net primary production and carbon cycling in highly seasonal ecosystems such as tropical dry forests (TDF). This paper presents data on litterfall production and meteorology in an old-growth TDF. The data was generated within the Monte Mojino Reserve located in the Sierra de Alamos – Rio Cuchujaqui Natural Protected Area in northwestern México. For litterfall collection, twenty randomly placed litterfall traps were installed to collect monthly litterfall production across four full growing seasons (48 monthly collections). Meteorological data were obtained from an automatic micrometeorological station that recorded data in situ from January 2013 to March 2019. The database includes litterfall production [g m−2 month−1], monthly rainfall [mm], air temperature [°C], relative humidity [%] and photosynthetic active radiation [µmol m−2 s−1].

Keywords

• Ecology
• Litterfall
• Seasonally dry ecosystems
• Alamos Sonora