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January 20, 2026Open Access

Tracking a decade of change: insights from long-term monitoring of an old-growth temperate rainforest on Chiloé Island, Chile

ÁGÁlvaro GutiérrezInstitute of Ecology and Biodiversity FMFernanda Montero-SilvaInstitute of Ecology and Biodiversity AGAurora GaxiolaPontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Key Points

To establish a long-term demographic baseline for an old-growth temperate rainforest on Chiloé Island and assess its ecological dynamics over time.
Utilized a 1-ha permanent plot for monitoring forest dynamics.
Conducted censuses in 2014 and 2024 to gather data.
Employed a standardized census protocol for data consistency.
Forest exhibits abundant regeneration but high mortality rates of large trees.
Data indicates significant biomass accumulation in remaining large trees.
Establishes first long-term demographic baseline for these temperate rainforests.

Abstract

Key Message Southern temperate rainforests harbor exceptional endemic biodiversity and large carbon stocks but remain underrepresented in global monitoring networks. Here, we present a dataset and standardized census protocol from a 1-ha permanent plot in an old-growth temperate rainforest in Chiloé, Chile. The data obtained in two censuses (2014, 2024) reveal that the forest has abundant regeneration but offsets high mortality and biomass accumulation in large trees. This dataset establishes the first long-term demographic baseline for these forests, enabling future censuses to assess how warming and drying trends may alter tree recruitment, growth, and mortality dynamics. Dataset access is at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17398246 and metadata are available at: https://metadata-afs.nancy.inra.fr/geonetwork/srv/fre/catalog.search#/metadata/7a3e9aca-9125-4ab3-a072-10b034eb122b .

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