Historical tree phenology data across contrasting sites in the Congo Basin

Koen Hufkens; Elizabeth Kearsley; Piet Stoffelen; Steven B. Janssens; Camille Couralet; Margaret Kosmala; Emmanuel Kasongo Yakusu; Donatien Musepena; Dieu Merci Assumani; Nestor K. Luambua; Benjamin Toirambe; Jean Remy Makana; Corneille Ewango; Tom De Mil; Marijn Bauters; Wannes Hubau; Elasi Ramanzani Kitima; José Mbifo Ndiapo; Adelard Lonema Chuda; Andrew D. Richardson; Lisa Wingate; Bhély Angoboy Ilondea; Hans Beeckman; Jan Van den Bulcke; Pascal Boeckx; Hans Verbeeck

doi:10.1038/s41597-025-06542-z

Historical tree phenology data across contrasting sites in the Congo Basin

Koen Hufkens
, Elizabeth Kearsley
, Piet Stoffelen
, Steven B. Janssens
, Camille Couralet
, Margaret Kosmala
, Emmanuel Kasongo Yakusu
, Donatien Musepena
, Dieu Merci Assumani
, Nestor K. Luambua
, Benjamin Toirambe
, Jean Remy Makana
, Corneille Ewango
, Tom De Mil
, Marijn Bauters
, Wannes Hubau
, Elasi Ramanzani Kitima
, José Mbifo Ndiapo
, Adelard Lonema Chuda
, Andrew D. Richardson

Lisa Wingate, Bhély Angoboy Ilondea, Hans Beeckman, Jan Van den Bulcke, Pascal Boeckx, Hans Verbeeck

Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, School of

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We present a unique dataset of historical tropical tree phenology observations at two sites from different bioclimatic regions across the Congo Basin. We cover both the Atlantic Mayombe forest and the tropical forest in the central Congo Basin. To our knowledge this is the complete extant historical (1937–1957) phenology data across the Congo basin. The data contains ~10 million observations of 876 species, across 6339 individuals, and phenology metrics including leaf, flowering, and fruiting phenology. The data were recovered through expert transcription and validated community science based crowdsourcing. These data may provide a reference baseline and key information on how tree species are responding to a changing climate.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	221
Journal	Scientific Data
Volume	13
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-06542-z
State	Published - Dec 2026

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Statistics and Probability
Information Systems
Education
Computer Science Applications
Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty
Library and Information Sciences

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10.1038/s41597-025-06542-z

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Hufkens, K., Kearsley, E., Stoffelen, P., Janssens, S. B., Couralet, C., Kosmala, M., Yakusu, E. K., Musepena, D., Assumani, D. M., Luambua, N. K., Toirambe, B., Makana, J. R., Ewango, C., De Mil, T., Bauters, M., Hubau, W., Kitima, E. R., Ndiapo, J. M., Chuda, A. L., ... Verbeeck, H. (2026). Historical tree phenology data across contrasting sites in the Congo Basin. Scientific Data, 13(1), Article 221. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-06542-z

Hufkens, K, Kearsley, E, Stoffelen, P, Janssens, SB, Couralet, C, Kosmala, M, Yakusu, EK, Musepena, D, Assumani, DM, Luambua, NK, Toirambe, B, Makana, JR, Ewango, C, De Mil, T, Bauters, M, Hubau, W, Kitima, ER, Ndiapo, JM, Chuda, AL, Richardson, AD, Wingate, L, Ilondea, BA, Beeckman, H, Van den Bulcke, J, Boeckx, P & Verbeeck, H 2026, 'Historical tree phenology data across contrasting sites in the Congo Basin', Scientific Data, vol. 13, no. 1, 221. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-06542-z

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title = "Historical tree phenology data across contrasting sites in the Congo Basin",

abstract = "We present a unique dataset of historical tropical tree phenology observations at two sites from different bioclimatic regions across the Congo Basin. We cover both the Atlantic Mayombe forest and the tropical forest in the central Congo Basin. To our knowledge this is the complete extant historical (1937–1957) phenology data across the Congo basin. The data contains \textasciitilde{}10 million observations of 876 species, across 6339 individuals, and phenology metrics including leaf, flowering, and fruiting phenology. The data were recovered through expert transcription and validated community science based crowdsourcing. These data may provide a reference baseline and key information on how tree species are responding to a changing climate.",

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AU - Hufkens, Koen

AU - Kearsley, Elizabeth

AU - Stoffelen, Piet

AU - Janssens, Steven B.

AU - Couralet, Camille

AU - Kosmala, Margaret

AU - Yakusu, Emmanuel Kasongo

AU - Musepena, Donatien

AU - Assumani, Dieu Merci

AU - Luambua, Nestor K.

AU - Toirambe, Benjamin

AU - Makana, Jean Remy

AU - Ewango, Corneille

AU - De Mil, Tom

AU - Bauters, Marijn

AU - Hubau, Wannes

AU - Kitima, Elasi Ramanzani

AU - Ndiapo, José Mbifo

AU - Chuda, Adelard Lonema

AU - Richardson, Andrew D.

AU - Wingate, Lisa

AU - Ilondea, Bhély Angoboy

AU - Beeckman, Hans

AU - Van den Bulcke, Jan

AU - Boeckx, Pascal

AU - Verbeeck, Hans

PY - 2026/12

Y1 - 2026/12

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AB - We present a unique dataset of historical tropical tree phenology observations at two sites from different bioclimatic regions across the Congo Basin. We cover both the Atlantic Mayombe forest and the tropical forest in the central Congo Basin. To our knowledge this is the complete extant historical (1937–1957) phenology data across the Congo basin. The data contains ~10 million observations of 876 species, across 6339 individuals, and phenology metrics including leaf, flowering, and fruiting phenology. The data were recovered through expert transcription and validated community science based crowdsourcing. These data may provide a reference baseline and key information on how tree species are responding to a changing climate.

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Historical tree phenology data across contrasting sites in the Congo Basin

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