Data from: Habitat differences in seed-dispersing vertebrates indicate dispersal limitation in tropical bracken-dominated deforested areas
Data files
Mar 05, 2024 version files 9.66 KB
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README.md
4.07 KB
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seed_disp_bat_community.csv
495 B
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seed_disp_bird_community.csv
1.57 KB
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seed_disp_tmammal_community.csv
679 B
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site_codes.csv
239 B
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species_list_abbreviations.csv
2.60 KB
Abstract
Shifting agriculture and anthropogenic fires are among the main causes of deforestation in the tropics. After fire and land abandonment, vast deforested areas are commonly dominated by the bracken fern Pteridium for long periods. Although forest regeneration in bracken-dominated areas is mainly hindered by dispersal limitation, little is known about the role of seed-disperser communities in slow forest succession. Our objective was to unravel the differences in the properties of the seed-disperser communities between forests and bracken-dominated areas to assess their role in dispersal limitation to foster ecological restoration. We compared species richness, diversity, abundance, and composition of seed-dispersing birds, bats, and medium and large terrestrial mammals between forests and bracken-dominated areas in a montane forest of Bolivia. The species richness and diversity were similar for bats and higher for birds in bracken-dominated areas than in the forest, but species composition was different between both habitats and groups. Although species composition was similar between both habitats for terrestrial mammals, the abundance was higher in the forest than in bracken-dominated areas. Differences in species composition of seed-dispersing birds and bats could be one of the main causes of dispersal limitation in forest regeneration in tropical bracken-dominated areas. The few shared species in both habitats could explain the low seed rain of animal-dispersed forest tree species in bracken-dominated areas and the consequent hindered forest regeneration. Future studies relevant to natural forest regeneration should focus on analysing the effects of animal-attractants such as perches, artificial bat-roosts, and seedling transplants on disperser communities, seed dispersal effectiveness, and forest regeneration.
README: Data from: Habitat differences in seed-dispersing vertebrates indicate dispersal limitation in tropical bracken-dominated deforested areas
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cvdncjt9z
A field experiment was conducted in the tropical montane forest of Bolivia, where we compared the community properties of seed-dispersing birds, bats and medium and large terrestrial mammals between two habitats: forest and a fire-deforested habitat dominated by the bracken fern (Pteridium esculentum subsp. arachnoideum), hereafter bracken or bracken-dominated areas. The bird and bat data was obtained using mist-nets. The data of seed-dispersing medium and large terrestrial mammals was obtained using camera traps.
Description of the data and file structure
Time of data collection:
For birds and bats between March 2020 and June 2021
For medium and large terrestrial mammals between October 2020 and September 2022
Geographic location of data collection:
The study was carried out on the eastern slope of the Andes, in the vicinity of Chulumani village, Sud Yungas, La Paz, Bolivia (16°24’ S, 67°31’ W). The study area is located in the tropical montane humid forest between 1,850 and 2,450 m a.s.l.
Data description
The data contains five csv tables, three with the community matrix of seed-dispersing birds, bats, and terrestrial mammals, respectively, one with the species full names and one with the site codes.
File 1:" seed_disp_bird_community.csv ": Community matrix of frugivore birds trapped with mist-nets in the forest and in bracken-dominated areas at 8 sites in a tropical montane humid forest of Bolivia.
Column 1: Species’ acronyms. See full names in the species_list_abbreviations file.
Column 2-9: Sites in the forest (the names start with F)
Column 10-17: Sites in the bracken-dominated areas (names start with B)
Data corresponds to the number of individuals captured per site.
File 2:" "seed_disp_bat_community.csv": Community matrix of seed-dispersing bats captured with mist-nets in the forest and in bracken-dominated areas at 7 sites in a tropical montane humid forest of Bolivia.
Column 1: Species’ acronyms. See full names in the species_list_abbreviations file.
Column 2-8: Sites in the forest (the names start with F)
Column 9-15: Sites in the bracken-dominated areas (names start with B)
Data corresponds to the number of individuals captured per site.
File 3:" "seed_disp_tmammal_community.csv": Community matrix of seed-dispersing medium and large terrestrial mammals captured by camera-traps in the forest and in bracken-dominated areas at 5 sites in a tropical montane humid forest of Bolivia.
Column 1: Species’ acronyms. See full names in the species_list_abbreviations file.
Column 2-6: Sites in the forest (the names start with F)
Column 7-11: Sites in the bracken-dominated areas (names start with B)
Data corresponds to the relative abundance index of each species captured per site.
File 4:" “species_list_abbreviations.csv”: Abbreviations, species list and abundance of seed dispersers in the forest and bracken-dominated areas organized from higher to lower abundance in bracken. For terrestrial mammals, relative abundance indexes (RAI) are shown. * Migratory birds.
Taxa: including birds, bats and terrestrial mammals.
Abbreviation: Species abbreviations (First three letters from the genus and three letters from the species).
Species: Species list
Bracken: Abundance (for birds and bats) and RAI (for medium and large terrestrial mammals) in bracken-dominated areas
Forest: Abundance (for birds and bats) and RAI (for medium and large terrestrial mammals) in the forest
File 5:" “site_codes.csv”
Sitecode: Is the code of each site including F or B as the first letter to denote the habitat.
Habitat: Forest vs Bracken
Site: Code of each site
Methodological information:
See "Methods" section in the original publication for detailed information on data collection.
Methods
A field experiment was conducted in the tropical montane forest of Bolivia, where we compared the community properties of seed-dispersing birds, bats and medium and large terrestrial mammals between two habitats: forest and a fire-deforested habitat dominated by the bracken fern (Pteridium esculentum subsp. arachnoideum), hereafter bracken or bracken-dominated areas. The bird and bat data was obtained using mist-nets. The data of seed-dispersing medium and large terrestrial mammals was obtained using unbaited camera traps. See further details in the main document.