Datasets from: Local- and landscape-scale drivers of terrestrial herbaceous plant diversity along a tropical rainfall gradient in Western Ghats, India
Data files
Jan 18, 2023 version files 136.40 KB
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Herb_Species_Mudumalai_(2018-19).csv
15.84 KB
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Landscape_(Plot-level)_herb_data_Mudumalai_2018-19.csv
2.33 KB
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Local_(Subplot-level)_herb_data_Mudumalai_2018-19.csv
108.84 KB
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README.md
9.40 KB
Abstract
This data set contains information on local- and landscape-level terrestrial herbaceous plant diversity and critical abiotic factors along a 36-km East-West transect in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu India. Understory angiosperms with no above-ground wood (secondary cambial growth) were considered as herbaceous plants.
Methods
We collected this data through field surveys of understory plants for three seasons (onset of drought/dry season, end of drought, and rainy season) during December 2018 to November 2019 in the Mudumalai National Park and Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, India. The surveys were done in 13 one-ha forest-monitoring plots established during 1988–94 Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (IISc.).
Rainfall (mean annual precipitation) data was obtained by kriging data from 16 rain gauges along the landscape. Soil moisture (percentage soil water) was estimated using gravimetry. Gap Fraction (or canopy gap proportion, as a proxy to understory light availability) was estimated by analyzing canopy photographs taken using a fisheye lens fitted onto a cellphone. Soil samples were analyzed in Kerala Agricultural University (India) to estimate plot-level soil physico-chemical properties used in principal component analysis (PCA), the results of which (PCA axes) is provided in the second datasheet. Fire-frequency data (1990–2019) was recorded by IISc., since the establishment of the plots.
There are three worksheets: (1) “Herb_Species_Mudumalai (2018-19).csv” contains the list of all herbaceous plants, their families, and orders in 13 one-ha plots (627 subplots of dimensions 1m x 1m); (2) “Landscape (Plot-level) herb data_Mudumalai 2018-19.csv” contains landscape-level (13 one-ha plots) data of herbaceous diversity, rainfall, soil moisture, understory light (gap fraction), soil factors, fire frequency, and ground cover of all understory plants (annual and for three seasons: drought onset, drought end, and rainy); (3) “Local (Subplot-level) herb data_Mudumalai 2018-19.csv” contains local-level (600 subplots) data of herbaceous diversity, soil moisture, understory light, and ground cover of all understory plants (annual and for three seasons).
Usage notes
We used the software R (version 4.1.2) to open the data files.