Data from: Solar irradiance as the proximate cue for flowering in a tropical moist forest

We compared flowering times predicted by six possible proximate cues involving seasonal changes in rainfall and irradiance and flowering times observed over 30 years of weekly censuses for 19 tree and liana species from Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. Hypotheses concerning variation in the timing and intensity of rainfall failed to predict flowering times in any species. In contrast, 10 to 12 weeks of consistent high levels of irradiance predicted flowering times well for eight species, and six or seven weeks of rapidly increasing levels of irradiance predicted flowering times well for two species. None of the six possible proximate cues predicted flowering times adequately for the nine remaining species. We conclude that high and increasing levels of irradiance are the proximate cues for flowering in many BCI species. The seasonal movements of the Intertropical Convergence Zone cause strong seasonal changes in cloud cover, atmospheric transmissivity and irradiance reaching the BCI forest. Inter-annual variation in the timing of movements of the Intertropical Convergence Zone is the most likely cause of inter-annual variation in the timing of flowering in these species. Much work remains to be done as the physiological mechanisms linking flowering and irradiance are unknown and the proximate cues for flowering remain to be identified for many other BCI species.Daily Rainfall on Barro Colorado Island, PanamaDaily_rainfall.txt holds two variables. The variable "ndays" is the date expressed as the integer number of days since 1 January 1980. The variable "rain" is daily rainfall in mm.Daily_Rainfall.txtDaily Solar Radiation on Barro Colorado Island, PanamaThe file Daily_Solar_Radiation.txt holds two variables. The variable "ndays" is the date expressed as the integer number of days since 1 January 1980. The variable "MJm2" is daily solar irradiance in megajoules per meter square.Daily_Solar_Radiation.txtMean Census Dates for 200 litter traps located on Barro Colorado Island, Panama.CensusMeanDates.txt holds three variables. The variable "census" is an integer representing a weekly census of 200 litter traps. The variable "date.mean" is the average date the 200 traps were visited in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format. The variable "ndays" is the same average date expressed as the integer number of days since 1 January 1980.CensusMeanDates.txtMedian_First_CensusThe file Median_First_Census.txt holds three variables. The variable "sp" is a four-letter mnemonic that represents one of the 19 study species. The variable "yr" is the calendar year of flowering. The variable "census" is the median first census flowers were recorded for the species and year.R scripts used to complete analyses.The file "Rscripts.zip" holds seven R scripts used to complete analyses of median first flowering censuses for 19 species on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Each R script includes extensive documentation. It should be possible to run these scripts after placing the files Daily_Rainfall.txt, Daily_Solar_Radiation.txt, CensusMeanDates.txt and Median_First_Census.txt in a directory and updating the setwd() commands. The R scripts will save several gigabytes of new files to the same directory.Rscripts.zi