A first set (samples 1 and 2 in the data tables) comprising 23 beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees of different crown classes (dominant, co-dominant, intermediate, suppressed), aged 30 in average, was selected and felled in 1996-1997 in a compartment of the state forest of Hesse (NE France). The objective of the study was to establish equations relating the biomass and biomass increment of above and below-ground tree parts to easily measured tree parameters (diameter or girth at breast height in particular), and then to use these relations at the stand level to compare the carbon sequestration in trees to carbon fluxes. In two papers co-authored with ecophysiologists, the carbon sequestration in trees – biomass converted to carbon mass – was favorably compared to carbon fluxes (NPP) at tree and stand levels (1, 2). A more specific paper dealing with the distribution of biomass and biomass increment in the root system divided in root categories (coarse, small and fine) was published in 2001 (3).

Later on, in the period 2000-2003, an additional set of 38 beech trees (samples 3 to 7 in the data tables), aged 8-172 and of different crown classes, was selected in different compartments of the state forest of Hesse to establish generalized biomass and biomass increment equations and analyze how the distribution and allocation of biomass in trees change with age. A last paper deals with these issues and was published in 2018 (4).

More informations concerning the biomass data collected on the sampled beech trees in Hesse forest can be found in the sections “Material and Methods” of the third and fourth referenced papers.

Two data tables with corresponding headings tables are provided: - one for the entire tree sample (61 trees) with data on aboveground tree parts (bole, branches, twigs and leaves) and data on the root system considered as a whole for a subsample of 40 trees ("Beech biomass sample.csv", "Beech biomass headings.xlsx") - one devoted to the subsample of 40 trees with more detailed data on the root system divided into root categories (coarse, small and fine) ("Beech root biomass sample.xlsx", "Beech root biomass headings.xlsx")