BioSCape Vegetation Plot Surveys in South African Catchments

BioSCape vegetation plot survey data was collected at 36 sites across the Berg and Eerste River catchments in the Western Cape, South Africa. The dataset includes standardized plot surveys from 2022 and 2023 field seasons, with species identifications, fractional ground cover, vegetation dominance, and rarefaction counts. Data is provided by the ORNL_CLOUD organization in CSV format, with plot boundaries recorded in KML files.

Use Cases

• Analyzing plant species diversity and composition across 36 distinct sites using species identification records.
• Studying fractional ground cover and vegetation dominance patterns to assess ecosystem structure.
• Mapping the spatial distribution of vegetation communities using the provided KML polygon files for plot boundaries.
• Comparing interannual changes in vegetation between the 2022 and 2023 survey seasons.
• Calculating rarefaction counts from the 2023 data to standardize biodiversity metrics across plots.

Strengths

• Data collection followed standardized protocols designed by the BioSCape Leadership team for cross-site comparability.
• Each plot includes 42 species identifications from systematic transect sampling, providing detailed community records.
• The dataset covers two consecutive field seasons (2022 and 2023), enabling temporal analysis.

Limitations

• Column names and the exact row count are not specified in the available metadata.
• There is a conflict in the reported last updated date: one source states 2026-03-13, while another states 2023-11-11.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD organization, collected as part of the BioSCape field campaign.

Collection Method

Field surveys using circular 10m diameter plots, with species identified at 1-meter intervals along N-S and W-E transects.

Time Range

2022 to 2023

Freshness

2026-03-13 07:48:57.847958

Geography

Berg and Eerste River catchments, Western Cape, South Africa.