FORAST Data Base: FORAST.readme file
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               World Data Center A- Paleoclimatology
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NOTE: PLEASE CITE ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTOR WHEN USING THIS DATA!!!!!

CONTRIBUTORS:  S.B. McLaughlin, T. Boden, et al., 
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

NAME OF DATA SET:  FORAST Data Base
LAST UPDATE:  5/96 Cossdating check by Henri Grissino-Mayer
(Original Receipt by WDC-A Paleo 8/94)
GEOGRAPHIC REGION: Eastern United States
PERIOD OF RECORD: 1830 - 1984
LIST OF FILES:  Site.dat, Species.dat, ringwidth.dat, compete.dat,
(text versions of original FORAST database files), for-rwl.zip
(pkzip compressed files of FORAST data in .RWL decadal format),
fortxt.zip (pkzip compressed files of FORAST crossdating analysis
from COFECHA), forast.readme.

DESCRIPTION:
This data set contains tree-ring measurements collected for the
FORAST (Forest Responses to Anthropogenic Stress) Project.  
Provided are the original database files in text format, and
.RWL decadal format measurement files which have been crossdated
and corrected as needed.  Crossdating analysis for each site is 
stored as a text file with the .txt file extension.  The .RWL and 
.txt files are stored in the pkzip compressed files for-rwl.zip 
and fortxt.zip.

FORAST was designed to 1) Determine whether evidence of recent 
alteration of long-term growth patterns of several species of
eastern U.S. forest trees was apparent in tree-ring chronologies
from within the region, and 2) to identify environmental
variables which were temporally and spatially correlated with
and, hence, plausible contributors to any observed changes.
The project was supported principally by the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, with additional support from the U.S. National 
Park Service. 

Cores were collected from over 7,000 trees in 17 eastern U.S.
states by the project investigators and a group of collaborative
researchers.  The sampling design was to include mature, healthy,
and successful individuals (canopy dominants or co-dominants) at
minimally disturbed sites.  For complete details of the study design,
consult the primary reference.  Stand and soil characteristics and 
competition indices measured by the FORAST investigators are included
in the files archived at the WDC for Paleoclimatology.  Environmental 
variables such as temperature and precipitation, and anthropogenic 
variables, such as soil metals, atmospheric gas concentrations, and pollutant
emissions, were also recorded by for the FORAST project.  These climatic 
and anthropogenic variables are outside of the discipline area of the 
World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, and therefore only the tree 
and stand variables are archived here.  For further information on FORAST,
or the anthropogenic data accumulated for the study, contact ORNL,
the Principal Investigators, or the original reference.

Original Reference:

McLaughlin, et al, 1986, FORAST Data Base Documentation,
Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 2748,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA.