Data from: Species enrichment in tropical dry forest recovery: Successional patterns of seed rain attributes
Data files
Feb 20, 2026 version files 1.01 MB
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Data_seed_rain_Nizanda.xlsx
1 MB
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README.md
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Abstract
Propagule availability limits the successional recovery of tropical dry forest (TDF). Despite high resprouting potential in these regrowing forests, the floristic enrichment of communities with reduced seed banks largely depends on seeds of species absent from the site (i.e., allochthonous component). Successional development of vegetation structure and composition potentially shapes seed rain attributes by modifying attractiveness to dispersers or the dispersal of anemochorous seeds. We examined the successional and seasonal variation in seed rain richness and abundance across two contrasting components (autochthonous vs. allochthonous) and for subsets defined by dispersal mode, growth form, and successional guild. Monthly seed rain samples were collected over one year in a successional chronosequence (1–60 years). We used a Bayesian approach to model the responses of seed rain richness and abundance to age and season (wet vs. dry) by fitting generalized additive models, and a detrended correspondence analysis to assess the spatial autocorrelation of seed rain composition. Community-level seed rain abundance decreased as succession progressed, while community and autochthonous species richness increased. The allochthonous component of the seed rain responded to season, rather than age, with higher values in the dry season, as observed for most plant groups in the seed rain subsets. Dispersal modes shifted from anemochory to endozoochory, and from seeds of non-woody to seeds of woody species in later stages. The composition of seed rain exhibited strong spatial autocorrelation. The interplay of succession, seasonality, and landscape context shapes seed rain, thus confirming its important role in species enrichment during TDF regeneration.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.cc2fqz6mb
Description of the data and file structure
Data from: Species enrichment in tropical dry forest recovery: successional patterns of seed rain attributes
Gerardo Luis Cervantes-Jiménez, Valentina Sandoval-Granillo, Marco Antonio Romero-Romero, Diego García-Meza, and Jorge A. Meave
Journal of Plant Ecology
The data come from seed traps located in a successional chronosequence of secondary forest plots, aged 1-60, in Nizanda (16° 39’ 30” N, 95° 00’ 40” W), Oaxaca state, southern Mexico. These data are compiled in an Excel book with five pages.
Page 1, named “Species age”, contains the seed abundance for all study species and morphospecies recorded in the seed rain. Column "Species" contains the species or morphospecies recorded in the seed rain, column "Family" indicates botanical family, column “GF” indicates growth form (Tr = tree, Sh = shrub, Li = liana, Gr = graminoid, Fo = forb, Vi = vine), column “DS” indicates dispersal syndrome (An = anemochorous, Au = autochorous, Ba = barochorous, En = endozoochorous, Zo = zoochorous). Subsequent columns indicate plot successional age (1, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 19, 21, 33, 39, 43, 60). Dashes were placed when no growth form or dispersal syndrome could be associated with the seed species in question.
Page 2, named “Species month”, contains seed abundance data for all our study species and morphospecies by sampling month. Again, column "Species" contains the species or morphospecies recorded in the seed rain, column "Family" indicates botanical family, column “GF” indicates growth form (Tr = tree, Sh = shrub, Li = liana, Gr = graminoid, Fo = forb, Vi = vine), column “DS” indicates dispersal syndrome (An = anemochorous, Au = autochorous, Ba = barochorous, En = endozoochorous, Zo = zoochorous). Subsequent columns indicate the sampling month. Dashes were placed when no growth form or dispersal syndrome could be associated with the seed species in question.
Page 3, named “Species month age”, contains a seed abundance matrix with columns “Age” (successional age), “Season” (dry or wet), and the rest of the columns correspond to each species or morphospecies recorded in the seed rain.
Page 4, named “q0 richness”, shows the estimated Hill diversity of order q = 0 for each seed group. Column “Age” indicates successional age, “qD0” indicates estimated richness, “Season” indicates either dry or wet season, and “Seed group” indicates the seed categorization for the three seed bank components (community, allochthonous, and autochthonous), dispersal syndromes, growth forms, successional guilds, and woodiness (woody, non-woody).
Page 5, named “seed abundance”, contains seed abundance and raw richness data according to successional age (column “Age”), month (column “Month”), trap identification (“Trap”), season (column “Season”), and seed groups (Column "Seed group) according to community components (autochthonous and allochthonous), dispersal syndrome (anemochorous, zoochorous and endozoochorous), growth form (tree, shrub, liana, graminoid, forb, vine), successional guild (pioneer = pioneer tree species, mature = mature forest tree especies), and woodiness (woody, non-woody).
Files and variables
File: Data_seed_rain_Nizanda.xlsx
Description: Excel Book with five pages
Variables: Seed species richness, species abundances, successional age, season