Bird Community and Herbivory Data from a Modified Rainforest in Borneo

Borneo hosts a dataset from 24 sites measuring bird community richness, predation rates on dummy caterpillars, and herbivory rates across a forest quality gradient. The data was collected by Adam Fraser from Imperial College London as part of the SAFE research project to investigate tritrophic cascades. It includes measurements from caged and control plots to assess the impact of vertebrate exclusion.

Use Cases

• Modeling tritrophic cascades based on forest quality, bird richness, and predation rates.
• Analyzing the relationship between vertebrate exclusion and herbivory rates.
• Studying functional redundancy in predatory species across habitat gradients.
• Investigating the impact of avian predators on invertebrate populations and plant damage.

Strengths

• Data collected from 24 distinct sampling sites across a forest quality gradient.
• Includes paired experimental treatments (caged vs. control) at each location.
• Analysis uses piecewise structural equation modeling, suggesting a structured analytical approach.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

SAFE research project, Imperial College London.

Collection Method

Field surveys and experimental exclusions at 24 sites, measuring bird communities, predation with dummy caterpillars, and leaf herbivory.

Geography

Modified lowland tropical rainforest in Borneo.