<br>Tropical rainforests play a powerful role in mediating the global climate through the exchange and storage of carbon and water. Climate change is expected to generate higher atmospheric water demand in many areas, potentially increasing the rate of evaporation. In this study, we show that higher evaporative demand may in fact lead to lower fluxes of water from tropical rainforests and a reduced capacity of these forests to store carbon.</br> The record contains meteorological and forest inventory data in addition to data on soil water potential, sapflow measurements and tree hydraulic vulnerability measures from Robson Creek and Cow Bay study sites in Far North Queensland. The measurements occurred over a period of two years form 2019 to 2020.

This dataset presents the demographic monitoring (growth and survival) of 81 tree species based on repeated stem measurement data from 20, 0.5 ha (100 m x 50 m) permanent moist forest plots in northern Queensland, Australia from 1971 to 2019, as well as four additional plots of 0.1 to 1 ha whose monitoring began in the 2000s. The plots have a rainfall range of 1200 to over 6000 mm, represent eleven vegetation types, six parent materials, and range from 15 m to 1500 m above sea level. Except for minor disturbances associated with selective logging on two plots, the plots were established in old growth forest and all plots have thereafter been protected. Plots were regularly censused and at each census the diameter at breast height (DBH) of all stems ≥10 cm DBH were recorded. We only report the data for the 81 species studied in Bauman et al. 2022 (Nature), here. We also provide the climatology of these plots as well as the temperature, vapour pressure deficit, and maximum climatological water deficit of all intervals separating consecutive censuses, as used in the analyses of Bauman et al. 2022.