The Multi-Agency Ground Plot database: a repository for pan-Canadian forest ground plot data

The MAGPlot database is a collaborative project aimed at compiling a comprehensive database of forest ground plots within Canada from multiple sources to enhance data accessibility for forest research. The database synthesizes historical and current forest ground plot data from diverse sources, including Canada’s National Forest Inventory and ground plot programs across 12 Canadian jurisdictions: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Northwest-Territories, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Yukon. The main objectives of the project are to undertake quality checks on the contributed data, standardize and harmonize forest ground plot data into a common attribute schema, document the procedures, and present the data in a Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable format. The MAGPlot database ensures the compatibility and interoperability of the diverse datasets, allowing researchers to access reliable information for regional and national scale analyses. The approach to ingest the contributed data into the MAGPlot database was performed in two phases: (i) quality control of the contributed data, and (ii) harmonization of quality-controlled data into a consistent, standardized, pan-Canadian database. The harmonized dataset currently includes plot measurements collected from the 1920s to the 2020s, incorporating approximately 14 million tree measurements from over 52 000 sites.