Data for: Specialized feeding behavior of an endangered primate enhances forest health in China
Data files
Jan 05, 2026 version files 3.35 MB
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Meteorological_data_of_branches_pruned_quadrats.zip
2.03 MB
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Raw_Data-Biomass_of_Usnea_longissima_in_five_habitats.xlsx
1.21 MB
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Raw_Data-Growth_rate_of_lichen_under_the_simulated_behavior_of_monkey_foraging.xls
48.64 KB
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Raw_Data-Harm_of_Unsea_longissima_on_trees.xlsx
20.94 KB
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Raw_Data-Lichen_dispersal_experiment.xlsx
28.24 KB
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README.md
12.47 KB
Abstract
This dataset contains raw data for the research work entitled "Specialized feeding behavior of an Endangered primate enhances forest health in China," submitted to Ecology and Evolution. This dataset documents the ecological interactions between the endangered Yunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti) and the lichen Usnea longissima, with a specific focus on forest health dynamics in China. The data is structured into five distinct components:
1) Vegetation Health: Temporal monitoring of unhealthy branch proportions and lichen cover over 15 months.
2) Microclimate: Meteorological records including solar radiation, temperature, and humidity across canopy gaps of five varying sizes over one year. Data is recorded every 30 minutes.
3) Biomass Distribution: Comparative biomass surveys of U. longissima across historical and current habitats with different local extinction timelines (0–40 years).
4) Dispersal Mechanics: Measurements of lichen thallus dispersal length and frequency in and out of habitats.
5) Growth Metrics: Growth rates of lichen under simulated foraging behaviors (cutting) and five varying canopy light conditions.
Key variables include biological measurements, environmental indices, and experimental treatment codes. To address ethical conservation concerns and protect the location of these endangered species, geographic coordinates for quadrats have been generalized to a precision of 0.1 decimal degrees. No negative impact was caused to any animals during the data collection process. This dataset provides significant reuse potential for research in disturbance ecology, primate habitat conservation, and lichen physiology, independent of the associated primary article.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0p2ngf2fn
Description of the data and file structure
These data sets contain raw data for the research work entitled "Specialized feeding behavior of an Endangered primate enhances forest health in China," submitted to Ecology and Evolution.
1) "Raw_Data-Harm_of_Unsea_longissima_on_trees.xlsx" is the raw data for Figure 3-Temporal progression of unhealthy branch proportions in control and U. longissima-covered groups under varied treatments.
2) "Meteorological_data_of_branches_pruned_quadrats.zip" is the raw data for Figure 4-Simulated experiment to measure how the solar, heat, and water conditions vary with the size of canopy gaps.
3) "Raw_Data-Biomass_of_Usnea_longissima_in_five_habitats.xlsx" is the raw data for Figure 5A-The biomass of U. longissima in the current habitats was significantly lower than in historical habitats; "Raw_Data-Lichen_dispersal_experiment.xlsx" is the raw data for Figure 5B&5C. The length of dispersal thallus was not significantly different between the control area and the habitat, and much more U. longissima were collected on the ground in the monkeys’ habitat than in the control area.
4) "Raw Data-Lichen dispersal experiment.xlsx" is the raw data for lichen dispersal measurement.
5) "Raw_Data-Growth_rate_of_lichen_under_the_simulated_behavior_of_monkey_foraging.xls" is the raw data for Figure 6-Growth rate of U.longissima increases with the size of canopy gaps, and the consumed thallus has a significantly higher growth rate than the unconsumed ones.
Data structure and variables are shown in Table 1. Relative experimental efforts descriptions are shown in the main text of the research work.
Table 1: Data Structure and Variables Definition of the Dataset
| File name | Pages | Variables and definitions | Merged cells and “n/a” values |
| Raw Data-Harm of Unsea longissima on trees | One page is contained in this .xlsx file. | There are six variables: "Treatment," "Cover lichen or not," "Number of branches," "Circumference of branches (cm)," "Length of branches (m)," and "Record time." The "Record time" includes six time points: August 12, 2018; November 6, 2018; February 18, 2019; May 16, 2019; August 9, 2019; and November 7, 2019. At each time point, the health status of the experimental branches was recorded. | There are merged cells denoting the location of quadrats. We generalized the precision of geographic coordinates by reducing the number of decimal places included in the coordinates to 0.1 decimal degrees. And “n/a” represents not applicable. |
| Meteorological data of branches pruned quadrants | Two folders are contained in this .zip file. In the folder named “Solar radiation”, five .xlsx files are contained, named “Quadrat A, Quadrat B, Quadrat C, Quadrat D, Quadrat E”, where A, B, C, D, E represent the size of canopy gaps: A is the original size, B is 1.125 times to A, C is 1.25 times to A, D is 1.5 times to A and E is 2 times to A. Each file contains only one page. In the folder named “Temperature and Humidity”, also five .csv files sharing the sames with last folder are contained, and the meaning of the names is the same as the last folder. Each file contains only one page. | In the “Solar radiation” folder, three variables are contained in each file, which are “No., Time, Channel 1(KLux)”. “No.” represents the record sequence, “Time” is the record time, and “Channel 1(Klux)” is the value of solar radiation. In the “Temperature and Humidity” folder, three variables are contained in each file, which are“No., Time, temp °F, humi %”. “temp °F” represents the value of temperature, and “humi %” shows the value of humidity. | No merged cell nor “n/a” value is contained. |
| Raw Data-Biomass of Usnea longissima in five habitats | Five pages are contained in this .xlsx file. The five pages named “Lasha Shan H-0, Jiayan H-10, Yuanbao Shan H-20, Tianzi Shan H-30, and Tianchi&Xi Shan H-40” are habitats where the studied Yunnan snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus bieti locally respectively vanished 0 years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, and 40 years. | There are nine variables in each of the five pages, which are” No.of Quadrat, No. of vegetation, Vegetation type, location of branch, No. of branch, Diameter of branch, Length of branch, location(inside、outside), Length of lichen(cm)”. “No. of Quadrat” and “No. of vegetation” are the ID codes of the quadrat and vegetation, “location of branch” and “No. of branch” are the ID codes of the sampled branches set in trees. “location (inside\outside)” is the location description of whether the sampled branch is in inside layer or outside layer of a tree. | There are no merged cells in this file. And “n/a” represents not applicable. |
| Raw Data-Growth rate of lichen under the simulated behavior of monkey foraging | One page is contained in this .xlsx file. | There are ten variables in this file, which are “Origin, cutorigin,1.125times, cut1.125times, 1.25times, cut1.25times, 1.5times, cut1.5times, 2times, cut2times”. The numbers 1.125, 1.25, 1.5, and 2 are the values denoting the widened times of canopy gaps to the original size. And “cut” mean cut the lichens short to simulate the monkey’s foraging behavior. | No merged cell nor “n/a” value is contained. |
Code/software
All data are in xlsx. format.