Monitoring Forest Vegetation and Carbon Change in the Upper Guinea Forest (UGF) - Gola Forest National Park, Wonegizi-Wologizi Forest, Sapo National Park, Grebro-Krahn National Park

This database is a combination of sets of Plant data generated in the Upper Guinea Forest specifically in the Gola Forest National Park, Wonegizi-Wologizi Forest, Sapo National Park, Grebro-Krahn National Park and their buffer zones all in Liberia. The timeline for this database was planned for September 2022 to October 2024. This project was funded by USAID through Tetra Tech/West Africa Biodiversity and Low Emission Development and implemented by Reptile and Amphibian Program Sierra Leone (RAP-SL), under a project titled: “Building Capacity to Monitor Forest Vegetation and Carbon Change in the Upper Guinea Forest through Permanent Sample Plots”. This project is controlled and managed under project number: WABiLED-G-003-RAP-SL. At the Wonegizi-Wologizi forest which are at separate locations, two one-hectare permanent plots were sampled at the lowland forest of Wonegizi (1-ha) and the lowland forest of Wologizi (1-ha). At the Gola Forest National Park, two one-hectare permanent plots were sampled at the lowland rainforest at Timbah town about 4 km apart. At the lowland forest of Sapo National Park, 1-ha permanent plot was sampled at the Jalah town axes in the park. At Grebro-Krahn National Park, 1-ha permanent plot was sampled at the Deliyee axes in the park. Sixty temporal plots were sampled at the community fallows in five communities (twenty plots) around Gola Forest, five communities (twenty plots) around Wonegizi-Wologizi and five communities (twenty plots) around Sapo and Grebro-Krahn forest. All plots, followed Forest Plots methodology (www.forestplots.net). The one-hectare plot sizes were square of 100 x 100 m and Coordinates (latitude, longitude and altitude) of all plots were recorded at the four corners of each plot. Plots were selected based on physical and human factors like climate, altitude, and slopes. All permanent plots were located in well managed protected areas, and temporal plots in disturb and fallow land. Plot data was replicated independently using quadrants. Diameter of all trees in each permanent plot (DBH ≥ 10 cm (100 mm) were recorded with the help of a diameter tape and tagged with a continuous serial number. Tree height of 60 trees, ten trees per diameter class were measured DBH 10 – 20 cm, 21 – 30 cm, 31 – 40 cm, 41 – 50 cm, 51 – 60 cm and >60 cm with the help of a Forestry Pro II Rangefinder. Temporal plot data were collected in smaller plots of 20 x 50 m. Plots were selected base on the degree of forest used. Young growth