The dataset contains data on bird communities and habitat collected between 1997 and 1999 from Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India, related to the following two publications:

1. Raman, T. R. S., Joshi, N. V. & Sukumar, R. 2005. Tropical rainforest bird community structure in relation to altitude, tree species composition, and null models in the Western Ghats, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 102: 145-157. https://archive.org/details/journalofbomb10222005bomb/page/145/mode/2up
2. Raman, T. R. S. & Sukumar, R. 2002. Responses of tropical rainforest birds to abandoned plantations, edges, and logged forest in the Western Ghats, India. Animal Conservation 5: 201-216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1367943002002251

GEOGRAPHICAL AREA: Kalakad-Mundathurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), 895 km² sanctuary located between 8°25′ to 8°53′ N and 77°10′ to 77°35′ E in Tamil Nadu state in the Western Ghats mountain range of India.

TAXONOMIC SCOPE: Birds, trees

Supplementary information

The Appendix of Raman and Sukumar (2002) is included in the dataset as an open document format word (ODT) file.

Three Tables from Raman et al. (2005) are included in the dataset as an open document format worksheet (ODS) file.

Bird data are from 5-minute variable radius point count surveys along points distributed along 21 transects (14 in rainforests and 7 in plantations or plantation-rainforest edges). The methods for bird and vegetation/habitat sampling are as described in the above publications and in this doctoral thesis: Raman, T. R. S. 2001. Community ecology and conservation of mid-elevation tropical rainforest bird communities in the southern Western Ghats, India. PhD thesis, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Further details are available in the usage notes below, reproduced from the README.TXT file.

Besides the README.TXT file, Besides this file (README.TXT), it contains the following comma-delimited text files with data in columns as explained below.

1) 01_Transects.csv: This file contains details of transect in mature rainforests and plantations and plantation-forest edges
TNo: Unique ID number or name of a 600 m long line transect
Tcode: Code used for transect in related publications: A to N in Raman et al. (2005), others in Raman and Sukumar 2002.
Type: Description of type of site
Refer: Indicated whether data from this transect was used in either of the two publications or both
LatitudeN: Approximate latitude in decimal degrees North of the midpoint of the transect
LongitudeE: Approximate longitude in decimal degrees East of the midpoint of the transect
AltimeterAvg: Average of altimeter readings (in metres above sea level) taken at 25 points spaced at 25 intervals along the transect
LocationDetails: Description of location

2) 02_KMTRBIRD.csv: This file contains the data on birds from 5 minute variable radius point count surveys
TNo: Unique ID number or name of a 600 m long line transect
Date: Date of survey of the specified point
StTime: Start time of the point count
Pt: ID of the surveyed point along the 600 m long transect. Most transects started at A1 and had points marked every 25 m in 100 m chunks: A1...A4, B1...B4, ... upto F1...F4, after which it ended with X at the 600 m point. Alphabet codes may vary on longer trails and in some trails the numbers 1-25 were used to mark the points.  
Time: Specific time of observation
Spcode: Code used for bird species name
Species: English common name (India) of the bird species as used in the Ebird India portal in 2022.
No: Number of individuals detected
RD: Radial distance of the detected bird from the centre of the point in metres in the following radial distance classes: 0: 0-5 m; 5: 5-10 m, 10: 10-15 m, 15: 15-20 m; 20: 20-30 m; 30: 30-40 m; 40: 40-50 m; 50: >50 m)
HSF: Code indicating H = heard; S = seen; F = flying under the canopy (UC) or less than 5 m over the canopy (OC)
Remark: Notes and remarks (includes some codes: *: in mixed species flock; E: detected within the point sampling area while entering;  X: detected within point sampling area while leaving;  diff/DIFF/DF: different detection from conspecific; detected on the same point; GP: flock; CC: counter-calling individuals)

3) 03_Birdnames.csv: This file contains bird species codes and matching common and scientific names
Spcode: Code used for bird species name
Species: English common name (India) of the bird species as used in the Ebird India portal in 2022.
ScientificName: Scientific name of bird species (following the Clements classification) as used in the Ebird India portal (https://ebird.org/india)

4) 04_KMTRPCQs.csv: This file contains data from point-centred quarter (PCQ) data. Thirteen PCQ plots, with successive plots spaced 50 m apart along the central trail or transect, were measured in each site, giving a sample of 52 trees per site. The plot centres were located about 10 m off the trail into the forest interior. PCQ plots were not measured in 3 transects where data from 5 m radius plots were used for trees: T10, T12, and P6. Data on species and GBH of 4 trees from 13 circular plots along these transects are included in this file. For circular plot data see treeplots.csv
TNo: Unique ID number or name of a 600 m long line transect
Pt: ID of the surveyed point along the 600 m long transect (note: PCQ point was located in the forest/plantation 10 m away from trail alternating to the left or right of the transect).
TreeNo: Number indicating 1-4 trees recorded at each point-centred quarter (PCQ) point
TreeSpp: Tree species code name
GBH: Girth at breast height (1.5 m) of tree in centimetres
Distance: Distance in metres of the centre of tree trunk from the PCQ sampling point (NA = Not Available)

5) 05_Treenames.csv: This file contains codes and scientific names of tree species
TreeCode: Code for tree species
TreeScientificName: Scientific name of tree species
Notes: Notes, if any (NA = Not available)

6) 06_Habitat.csv: This file contains the main habitat data. Densities and basal areas of trees greater than 30 cm girth at breast height (GBH at 1.5 m) were estimated using the point-centred quarter method (PCQ). Thirteen PCQ plots, with successive plots spaced 50 m apart along the central trail or transect, were measured in each site, giving a sample of 52 trees per site. The plot centres were located about 10 m off the trail into the forest interior. At each of the 13 PCQ plots, 2 m radius plots were laid around the centre point to enumerate shrubs, bamboo culms, and cardamom clumps. In addition, the number of cane (Calamus sp.) plants was counted within a 5 m radius. Altitude, canopy and leaf litter variables were measured at 25 points, evenly spaced 25 m apart along the trail or transect in each site. (NOTE: PCQ plots were not measured in 3 transects where data from 5 m radius plots were used for trees: T10, T12, and P6. Data on species and GBH of 4 trees from 13 circular plots along these transects are included in this file. For circular plot data see treeplots.csv).
TNo: Unique ID number or name of a 600 m long line transect
Pt: ID of the surveyed point along the 600 m long transect (Note that habitat measurements were taken .
Altitude: Altitude reading taken by the point measured using a handheld altimeter in metres
CHT: Canopy height in metres measured by the point using an optical rangefinder
CRNK: Canopy rank measured by the point as: 0 = no canopy overhead, open to sky; 1 = canopy overhead with branches not touching and sky visible in between; 2 = canopy overlapping overhead but with sky visible; 3 = canopy overlapping and closed overhead with sky not visible through the leaves
CCOV: Percentage canopy cover (closure) measured by the point using a spherical densiometer
LITT: Leaf litter depth in centimetres (to nearest 0.5 cm) measured near the point using a wooden probe
VSTR: Number of vertical layers of foliage in eight vertical layers (= sum of next 8 columns)
0-1m: Foliage presence (1) or absence (0) in this vertical height interval in metres (within an imaginary vertical tube of 0.5 m radius around the observer)
1-2m: Foliage presence (1) or absence (0) in this vertical height interval in metres (within an imaginary vertical tube of 0.5 m radius around the observer)
2-4m: Foliage presence (1) or absence (0) in this vertical height interval in metres (within an imaginary vertical tube of 0.5 m radius around the observer)
4-8m: Foliage presence (1) or absence (0) in this vertical height interval in metres (within an imaginary vertical tube of 0.5 m radius around the observer)
8-16m :Foliage presence (1) or absence (0) in this vertical height interval in metres (within an imaginary vertical tube of 0.5 m radius around the observer)
16-24m :Foliage presence (1) or absence (0) in this vertical height interval in metres (within an imaginary vertical tube of 0.5 m radius around the observer)
24-32m :Foliage presence (1) or absence (0) in this vertical height interval in metres (within an imaginary vertical tube of 0.5 m radius around the observer)
32+m: Foliage presence (1) or absence (0) in this vertical height interval in metres (within an imaginary vertical tube of 0.5 m radius around the observer)
SHR: Number of shrubs in 2 m radius plot sampled about 10 m away from the trail (13 such plots in total at points spaced 50 m apart along the trail). (NA = Not Available)
CANE: Number of Calamus cane stems in 5 m radius plot sampled about 10 m away from the trail (13 such plots in total at points spaced 50 m apart along the trail). (NA = Not Available)
BAMB: Number of bamboo culms in 2 m radius plot sampled about 10 m away from the trail (13 such plots in total at points spaced 50 m apart along the trail). (NA = Not Available)
CARD: Number of cardamom clumps in 2 m radius plot sampled about 10 m away from the trail (13 such plots in total at points spaced 50 m apart along the trail). (NA = Not Available)

7) 07_treeplots.csv: This file  contains data from 5 m radius circular plots along 3 transects
TNo: Unique ID number or name of a 600 m long line transect
Plot: Plot number
Ntrees: Number of tree stems within the 5 m radius plot
Basalsqcm: Total basal area of all trees in the plot in square centimetres
BASA: Basal area of trees in cm^2/m^2 = m^2/ ha

8) 08_VegSummary.csv: This file contains averages of estimated habitat variables and number of resident bird species in the transects. Note: these numbers correspond to the analysis as it appeared in the publications in 2002 and 2005 (based on hand-calculated figures), but the values may vary slightly when computed from this dataset which was re-entered in electronic form in 2022.
Tno: Unique ID number or name of a 600 m long line transect
Tcode: Code used for transect in related publications: A to N in Raman et al. (2005), others in Raman and Sukumar 2002.
Type: Description of type of site
AltimeterAvg: Average of altimeter readings (in metres above sea level) taken at 25 points spaced at 25 intervals along the transect
CHT: Average canopy height in metres
CRNK: Average canopy rank
CCOV: Average canopy cover (canopy closure %)
LITT: Average leaf litter depth (cm0
VSTR: Average number of layers with foliage or vertical stratification
HHET: Horizontal heterogeneity (estimated as the CV of vertical stratification)
SHR: Average shrub density (numbers of stems per 2 m radius plot)
CANE: Average cane density (numbers of stems per 5 m radius plot)
BAMB: Average cane density (numbers of stems per 5 m radius plot)
TDEN: Average tree density (trees/hectare) estimated from point-centred quarter (PCQ) data
BASA: Basal area of trees (sq. m/ ha) estimated from PCQ data
TSPR: Number of tree species
CARD: Average cardamom density (numbers of clumps per 2 m radius plot)
CHET: Canopy heterogeneity (CV of canopy cover?)
resbsr: Number of resident bird species recorded along the transect