Understory Diversity in Chinese Broad-Leaved Plantations with Environmental Factors

A 132.0 KB dataset published by Zhiwei Ge on 2026-05-14. It contains research data on understory species and phylogenetic diversity across five broad-leaved plantation types in the subtropical–warm temperate transitional zone of eastern China. The data was collected using grid-based nested plots in Jiangsu, measuring vegetation, topography, and soil variables.

Use Cases

• Modeling the relationship between stand type and understory diversity based on described plantation types (mixed, pioneer pure, non-pioneer pure).
• Analyzing layer-specific drivers of biodiversity based on described topographic factors for shrubs and soil properties for herbs.
• Investigating phylogenetic conservatism in plantation understories based on described metrics (Faith’s PD, NRI, NTI).
• Informing regional plantation conservation strategies based on the study's stated objective.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a structured ecological study with grid-based nested plots across five core ecological zones.
• Includes both species diversity metrics (richness, Shannon, Simpson, Pielou) and phylogenetic diversity metrics (Faith’s PD, NRI, NTI).
• Explicitly compares diversity across three stand-type gradients: mixed forests, non-pioneer pure forests, and pioneer pure forests.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is small (132.0 KB), indicating limited scope or a summary presentation.

Provenance

Source

figshare, author Zhiwei Ge

Collection Method

Grid-based nested plot surveys, vegetation composition measurement, topographic and soil variable measurement, phylogenetic tree reconstruction.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 09:33:43; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Subtropical–warm temperate transitional zone of eastern China, specifically Jiangsu province.