Plant Occurrence Data from: Plant Community Structure in Tropical Rain Forest Fragments of the Western Ghats, India

Study Extent

The present study was conducted in five tropical wet evergreen forest fragments located on the Valparai plateau (Fig. 1): Akkamalai (AK, 2600 ha), Upper Manamboli (UM, 100 ha), Lower Manamboli (LM, 100 ha), Tata Finlay (TF, 32 ha), and Injipara (IP, 18 ha).

Sampling

In each site, vegetation was sampled in randomly placed noncontiguous plots of 20 × 20 m located at least 50 m apart and at least 20 m into the fragment interior from the edges, major trails, or roads. We sampled 20 plots each in IP, TF, and LM, and 25 plots each in UM and AK. Within each plot, all trees ≥30cm girth at breast height (gbh, at 1.3 m; corresponding to DBH of 9.55 cm) and lianas ≥1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) were identified to species, counted, and their girth/diameter measured. For multi-stemmed trees bole girths were measured separately, basal area calculated and summed. Each 20 x 20 m plot was divided into four 10 × 10 m quarters. For understory plants, 2 × 2 m quadrats were laid at the four corners of the 20 × 20 m plot (one in each of the corresponding four quarters) and all shrubs, undershrubs, herbs, ferns, and small twiners found within the quadrats were enumerated and identified. The regeneration sampling was done in a 5 × 5-m plot (0.0025 ha) placed at the outer corner of the first (south-west) quarter of the 20 x 20 m plot. Within each regeneration plot, we identified, counted and measured all tree saplings >1 cm diameter at breast height (dbh, at 1.3 m) and <9.55 cm dbh (equivalent to <30 cm girth at breast height, gbh). Woody shrubs of 1–9.55 cm dbh were alsorecorded in the regeneration plots (but these were excluded in the Osuri et al. 2017 analysis). For vegetatively propagating plants a clump of stems that is basally connected was considered as one individual. Canopy height was measured with a range finder and canopy closure was measured using a spherical densiometer.

Quality Control

Vouchers were identified with regional flora and confirmed with the Western Ghats collections available in the herbarium of Salim Ali School of Ecology, Pondicherry University, from our previous works in the region.

Method steps

1. Plant names were matched to current taxonomy using the species lookup tool on GBIF https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup

Trees, lianas, and understorey plants (angiosperms, gymnosperms)

1. Tracheophyta
   rank: phylum

1. Location/Study Area: Valparai Plateau, Tamil Nadu, India; Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India 2. GPS coordinates: Valparai Plateau (10°15'- 10°22'N, 76°52' - 76°59'E); Anamalai Tiger Reserve (10°12' - 10°35'N, 76°49' - 77°24'E)