Our goal is to make all data from the UCSC Forest Ecology Research Plot available as quickly as possible, so that it is most useful to students and researchers from UCSC and elsewhere.

However, maintaining the plot requires raising funds, which is much easier if we can demonstrate the usefulness of the plot.  For that reason we ask that you (1) let us know how you are using the data, (2) acknowledge the source of our data (and the funding agencies that supported creating and maintaining the FERP), and (3) send us copies of any publications that are derived from UCSC-FERP data.

Access UCSC-FERP stem data: The full set of data from the first three censuses is available on Dryad as a .csv flat file (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6q573n64s).  Additionally, the data are available on the ForestGEO web site at https://forestgeo.si.edu/explore-data/uc-santa-cruz-termsconditionsrequest-forms.

Acceptable Use: Use of the dataset will be restricted to academic, research, government, or other not-for-profit professional purposes.

Citation: Professional ethics requires acknowledging the work of other scientists. Thus, the Data User will properly attribute the source of the data in any publications or in the metadata of any derived data products that were produced using the Data Set. Please cite the source of these data as:
Gilbert, G.S., S.G. Carvill, A.R. Krohn, and A.S. Jones. 2024. Three censuses of a mapped plot in coastal California mixed-evergreen and redwood forest.  Forests  15(1), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15010164

Consultation and Questions: Data users are strongly encouraged to consult with the Principal Investigator who collected these data for further information. Also, when appropriate, Data Users should consider including the Principal Investigator as a collaborator and/or co-author in the use of these data. The Principal Investigator can be reached at ggilbert@ucsc.edu.

Copies of articles: Data User will notify the Principal Investigator at ggilbert@ucsc.edu of any publication or derivative work based on the Data Set. The Data User will also provide the Principal Investigator of the UC Santa Cruz plot with a pdf of any publication(s) resulting from use of the Data Set.

Acknowledge our funding sources: Please acknowledge the funding that allowed the creation of the plot in any publications that arise from our data. The standard acknowledgment that we prefer is:  “The UCSC Forest Ecology Research Plot was made possible by National Science Foundation grants to Gregory S. Gilbert (DEB-0515520, DEB-084259, and DEB-1655896), by the Pepper-Giberson Chair Fund, the Robert Headley Presidential Chair for Integral Ecology and Environmental Justice, the UCSC Campus Natural Reserve, the University of California, the ForestGEO global network, and by the hard work of hundreds of UCSC students. We acknowledge that the land on which this research was conducted is the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, comprised of the descendants of indigenous people taken to missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista during Spanish colonization of the Central Coast, is today working hard to restore traditional stewardship practices on these lands and heal from historical trauma.”

Questions: Please direct any questions to UCSC-FERP Director Dr. Gregory Gilbert (ggilbert@ucsc.edu).