MotivationThe BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community‐led open‐source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.Main types of variables includedThe database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record.Spatial location and grainBioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km2 (158 cm2) to 100 km2 (1,000,000,000,000 cm2).Time period and grainBioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year.Major taxa and level of measurementBioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates.Software format.csv and .SQL.

In an old-growth Pinus-Populus-Acer forest, treefall areas did not diverge from undisturbed control areas over a 12-yr period following windstorm disturbance. Woody plant populations sampled in 1984, 1992, and 1996 changed significantly over time, but changes in treefall areas did not differ from changes in control areas in plant species richness, composition, or vegetation structure. Preexisting tall shrubs and windfirm saplings cast heavy shade even where canopy trees blew down, preventing formation of deep lightgaps and limiting resource heterogeneity on the forest floor. Thus, in this forest, disturbance by moderate windstorm did not initiate the sort of patch dynamics that enriches diversity by admitting light-demanding species into the understory. The unresponsiveness of the understory, juxtaposed with heavy mortality to shade-intolerant species, suggests that moderate windstorms will neither initiate patch dynamics nor set back succession, but will instead hasten successional takeover by shade-tolerant trees in such forests.

Effects of ambient decreases in N deposition on forest N cycling remain unclear as soils recover from acidic deposition. To investigate, repeated soil sampling data were related to deposition, vegetation, and stream data, for 2000-2015 in North and South Buck Creek watersheds, in the Adirondack region of New York, USA. In 63 other Adirondack streams, NO 3 − concentrations were also compared between 2004-2005 and 2014-2015, and a link between soil calcium and stream NO 3 − was investigated using data from 387 Adirondack streams that were sampled in either 2003-2005 or 2010-2011. No trends in N export or NO 3 − concentrations were observed in either Buck watershed despite a 45% decrease in N deposition,although South Buck N export was 2 to 3 times higher than in North Buck, where 48% of deposited N was accounted for by accumulation in the upper soil. In marked contrast, the upper profile in South Buck showed a net loss of N. Increased decomposition appeared likely in South Buck as those soils are adjusted to lower levels of acidifying S deposition, whereas decomposition increases in North Buck were likely suppressed by high levels of natural organic acidity. Stream NO 3 − concentrations in Buck watersheds bracketed regional results and were consistent with the regional streams that showed no overall change in NO 3 − concentrations between 2004 and 2014. A negative correlation observed between NO 3 − concentration and watershed buffering capacity expressed as the ratio of Ca 2+ to SO 4 2− also suggested that stream NO 3 − concentrations were elevated where soil Ca depletion had occurred.

In an old‐growth Pinus–Populus–Acer forest, treefall areas did not diverge from undisturbed control areas over a 12‐yr period following windstorm disturbance. Woody plant populations sampled in 1984, 1992, and 1996 changed significantly over time, but changes in treefall areas did not differ from changes in control areas in plant species richness, composition, or vegetation structure. Preexisting tall shrubs and windfirm saplings cast heavy shade even where canopy trees blew down, preventing formation of deep lightgaps and limiting resource heterogeneity on the forest floor. Thus, in this forest, disturbance by moderate windstorm did not initiate the sort of patch dynamics that enriches diversity by admitting light‐demanding species into the understory. The unresponsiveness of the understory, juxtaposed with heavy mortality to shade‐intolerant species, suggests that moderate windstorms will neither initiate patch dynamics nor set back succession, but will instead hasten successional takeover by shade‐tolerant trees in such forests.

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