Seedling growth responses to experimental soil warming in a tropical forest, Panama, 2016-2022

Growth parameters for tree seedlings in a lowland tropical forest in Panama, subject to experimental soil warming. The experiment is situated at the Soil Warming Experiment in Lowland Tropical Rainforest (SWELTR) on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, where the whole soil profile is subject to warming by 4-degrees. Seedling species are Inga laurina, Ormosia macrocalyx, Tachigali versicolor, Lacmellea panamensis, Protium pittieri and Virola surinamensis. Data are seedling parameters: relative growth rates, height change over time, herbivory index, light-saturated photosynthesis (Amax), leaf chlorophyll concentration, light (photosynthetic photon flux density; PPFD). We also determined soil nutrient (N and P) mineralisation for the same period using in situ ion-exchange resins each month. Data were collected over the period 2016 to 2020, following 3 years of soil warming. Photosynthesis and leaf chlorophyll content index data were collected in field campaigns during 2019 and 2022, respectively. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/3a4aabba-e790-4ac3-b845-936790768330