Secondary and plantation forests are the main alternative forests remaining after the deforestation of primary forests. Understanding the conservation value of secondary and plantation forests is important for biological conservation. To explore the impact of forest conversion on biodiversity, we compared multiple diversity metrics (taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity) and the community structure of small mammals in the primary, secondary, and plantation forests in Mt. Liangshan, Sichuan Province, China. The dataset describes the distribution, morphological traits, and other traits of small mammals.

The distribution data of small mammal were depends on whether we catch it or not in primary, secondary, and plantation forests. The morphological trait data of a species was calculated as the average value of all its captured individuals, and other trait data were compiled from Elton Traits 1.0