ForD is a global database of documented intermediate- to high- severity forest live biomass loss events and their drivers. Records were compiled from the primary scientific literature and represent individual mortality events with elevated live biomass loss (typically ≥15% standing dead trees) occurring after the year 2000.
This database was compiled as part of a global review of drivers of forest biomass loss:
Anderson-Teixeira et al. (in preparation). Global drivers and mitigation of live forest biomass loss. [Global Change Biology]. DOI: [placeholder]
ForD.csv contains records of forest biomass loss events from across the globe. Each row represents a documented mortality event at a single site. Fields include:
- Location: latitude and longitude (decimal degrees)
- Coordinate precision: how precisely the location is known
- DriverGroup: standardized driver category assigned from the primary proximate driver
- Citation key: Zotero-formatted key linking to the source study
- DOI: digital object identifier of the source study
See metadata.csv for full field definitions and data_procedure.md for the inclusion criteria and driver classification scheme used to compile the database.
Explore the records on an interactive map at https://ecoclimlab.github.io/ForD/, where each driver category can be shown or hidden. Records with DriverGroup "other" are not shown on the map. The map is a Shinylive app (source in app/) that runs entirely in the browser; it is rebuilt automatically whenever ForD.csv or the app changes on main. The first load can take several seconds.
The DriverGroup field assigns each record to one of the following categories based on its primary proximate driver:
| DriverGroup |
|---|
| heat and drought |
| storms |
| biotic disturbance |
| wildfire |
| fuelwood harvest |
| logging & forestry |
| long-term agriculture |
| shifting agriculture |
| mining & energy |
| settlements & infrastructure |
| permafrost thaw |
| other |
If you use this database, please cite:
Anderson-Teixeira et al. (in preparation). Global drivers and mitigation of live forest biomass loss. [Global Change Biology]. DOI: [placeholder]
This dataset is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).