Data from: Influence of bracken fronds and leaf litter management on soil seed bank characteristics in a fire-disturbed tropical montane forest
Data files
Nov 24, 2025 version files 5.65 KB
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README.md
3.34 KB
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Site_codes.csv
147 B
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SSB_bracken_treatments.csv
1.40 KB
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SSB_habitats.csv
762 B
Abstract
The bracken fern Pteridium spp. dominates post-fire vegetation in tropical montane forests, where fronds, litter, allelopathy, and dispersal limitation hinder forest regeneration. However, this species’ effect on soil seed bank remains poorly understood. We investigated the effects of bracken fronds and litter on the abundance, richness, and species diversity of the soil seed bank in a tropical montane fire-deforested area in Bolivia. At eight study sites (1,800-2,350 m.a.s.l), soil samples were collected under five treatments: (a) fronds and litter intact (F+L+), (b) fronds intact and litter removed (F+L-), (c) fronds removed and litter intact (F-L+), (d) fronds and litter removed (F-L-), and (e) forest. Using the seedling emergence method, samples were assessed every 20 days over eight months (September 2021- May 2022). Compared to intact bracken, forest areas showed 2.6, 1.7, and 1.5-fold greater abundance, species richness, and diversity of zoochorous species, respectively. Among bracken treatments, abundance, richness, and diversity of zoochorous species decreased by 2.7, 2.6, and 2 times, respectively, when fronds and litter were removed, compared to the intact bracken treatment, but were not significantly different when only litter was removed. Our findings indicate that in bracken-dominated environments, fronds and litter improve microclimatic conditions, there by maintaining the viability of zoochorous species in the soil seed bank. The removal of litter without cutting fronds reduces light interception and seed trapping, while maintaining zoochorous seed germination capacity in the soil, and might be a better management strategy than removing fronds and litter to promote seedling recruitment from the soil seed bank.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw6r
Description of the data and file structure
The dataset contains the abundance, richness, and diversity of the soil seed bank among Pteridium spp. (bracken) management treatments in a field experiment at eight sites in the tropical montane forest of Bolivia. The soil samples were collected from the following treatments: (a) bracken fronds and litter intact (F+L+), (b) fronds intact and litter removed (F+L-), (c) fronds removed and litter intact (F-L+), (d) fronds and litter removed (F-L-), and (e) forest. The data was taken using the seedling emergence method over eight months. At the end of the experiment, all seedlings were collected, dried, and identified. Then, we calculated the total abundance, species richness, and species diversity using the inverse Simpson index in the soil seed bank by considering zoochorous and anemochorous species, separately, and all the species together.
Files and variables
File: SSB_habitats.csv
Description:
Variables
- Site: Site’ acronyms. See full names in the Site_codes file.
- Habitat: FOR = forest and F1L1 = Uncontrolled bracken treatment (F1L1)
- Ab_all: Abundance of all woody seedlings
- Ab_zooc: Abundance of zoochorous woody seedlings
- Ab_anemo: Abundance of anemochorous woody seedlings
- Rich_all: Richness of all woody seedlings
- Rich_zooc: Richness of zoochorous woody seedlings
- Rich_anemo: Richness of anemochorous woody seedlings
- Div_all: Diversity of all woody seedlings
- Div_zooc: Diversity of zoochoorus woody seedlings
- Div_anemo: Diversity of anemochorous woody seedlings
File: SSB_bracken_treatments.csv
Description:
Variables
- Site: Site acronyms. See full names in the Site_codes file.
- Treatment: Treatments refer to combinations of the presence (1) or absence (0) of bracken fronds (F) and litter (L), resulting in four experimental combinations: F1L1 (bracken fronds and litter present), F1L0 (bracken fronds present, litter removed), F0L1 (bracken fronds removed, litter present) and F0L0 (both bracken fronds and litter remove).
- Ab_all: Abundance of all woody seedlings
- Ab_zooc: Abundance of zoochorous woody seedlings
- Ab_anemo: Abundance of anemochorous woody seedlings
- Rich_all: Richness of all woody seedlings
- Rich_zooc: Richness of zoochorous woody seedlings
- Rich_anemo: Richness of anemochorus woody seedlings
- Div_all: Diversity of all woody seedlings
- Div_zooc: Diversity of zoochorous woody seedlings
- Div_anemo: Diversity of anemochorous woody seedlings
File: Site_codes.csv
Description:
Variables
- Site: Full name of each study site
- Site_abreviation: Abbreviation of each site, derived from the first three to four letters of the site's full name.
Code/software
The dataset can be opened and explored using free software R version 4.4.1 (R Core Team, 2024).
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
- Not published in any other public repository
Data was derived from the following sources:
- Data were collected directly by the authors during fieldwork