RAINFOR GEM Intensive Plots Manual (pdf) - University of Oxford

always be included whether or not they are free-standing 18 . Palms that have a diameter sufficient to be includedbut their main woody stem does not reach 1.3 m height should be excluded 19 .Trees count as inside a subplot if the stem base is inside (Phillips et al. 2009 specified “>50% of theroots”), even if most of the rest of the tree (and perhaps the POM) is outside. Make sure to include leaning treesand put separate tags on multi-stemmed trees (see Box 1). Tag buttress trees on the main stem (not buttresses)and stilt-rooted species where the stem begins above 1.6 m on the largest central root. Lianas that have amaximum diameter ≥10 cm but do not reach 1.6 m above the ground (not 1.3 m) receive no tag. If a stem hasbeen missed then go back and tag it as soon as possible, but tell Team two that a tree will be out of numericalorder (do not insert tree numbers like “62a” or “62.5” if a tree was missed by Team one between trees #62 and#63: use the next available number and make a note that this tree is out of number sequence). While doing this,Team one should check that there is flagging tape on all the corners and sides of each subplot (should have beencorrectly flagged while marking out the plot).Measuring a tree in Maliau Belian Plot, Malaysia (clearing off any loose bark, moss or anything else that might obstruct the diametertape and moving lianas and replacing afterwards). If it is not possible to move lianas like this and there is no appropriate liana-freePOM, use large tree-callipers or estimate the diameter as closely as possible where lianas are minimal.Team two follows, making the initial measurements of each stem. At each free-standing, tagged tree,write down tree number, Point of Measurement (POM), diameter at POM (DPOM) 20 , code for tree form (fromAppx. I) and an eyes-estimate of stem length (i.e. height 21 ; see §1.5). At each tagged liana, write down treenumber and the three POMs and other details listed in Box 1 (below). Also note the first and last trees in eachsubplot in the Comments field 22 . It can happen that a tree gets tagged and then, because of stem irregularities,the POM is rather high and the diameter is