DOI: 10.5061/dryad.cvdncjt9z
title: Data from: Habitat differences in seed-dispersing vertebrates indicate dispersal limitation in tropical bracken-dominated deforested areas

description: Shifting agriculture and anthropogenic fires are among the main causes of
 deforestation in the tropics. After fire and land abandonment, vast
 deforested areas are commonly dominated by the bracken fern Pteridium for
 long periods. Although forest regeneration in bracken-dominated areas is
 mainly hindered by dispersal limitation, little is known about the role of
 seed-disperser communities in slow forest succession. Our objective was to
 unravel the differences in the properties of the seed-disperser
 communities between forests and bracken-dominated areas to assess their
 role in dispersal limitation to foster ecological restoration. We compared
 species richness, diversity, abundance, and composition of seed-dispersing
 birds, bats, and medium and large terrestrial mammals between forests and
 bracken-dominated areas in a montane forest of Bolivia. The species
 richness and diversity were similar for bats and higher for birds in
 bracken-dominated areas than in the forest, but species composition was
 different between both habitats and groups. Although species composition
 was similar between both habitats for terrestrial mammals, the abundance
 was higher in the forest than in bracken-dominated areas. Differences in
 species composition of seed-dispersing birds and bats could be one of the
 main causes of dispersal limitation in forest regeneration in tropical
 bracken-dominated areas. The few shared species in both habitats could
 explain the low seed rain of animal-dispersed forest tree species in
 bracken-dominated areas and the consequent hindered forest regeneration.
 Future studies relevant to natural forest regeneration should focus on
 analysing the effects of animal-attractants such as perches, artificial
 bat-roosts, and seedling transplants on disperser communities, seed
 dispersal effectiveness, and forest regeneration.
description: A field experiment was conducted in the tropical montane forest
 of Bolivia, where we compared the community properties of seed-dispersing
 birds, bats and medium and large terrestrial mammals between two habitats:
 forest and a fire-deforested habitat dominated by the bracken fern
 (<em>Pteridium esculentum subsp</em>. arachnoideum), hereafter
 bracken or bracken-dominated areas. The bird and bat data was obtained
 using mist-nets. The data of seed-dispersing medium and large terrestrial
 mammals was obtained using unbaited camera
 traps<strong>.</strong> See further details in the main
 document.
description: # Data from: Habitat differences in seed-dispersing vertebrates indicate
 dispersal limitation in tropical bracken-dominated deforested areas
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cvdncjt9z](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cvdncjt9z) A field experiment was conducted in the tropical montane forest of Bolivia, where we compared the community properties of seed-dispersing birds, bats and medium and large terrestrial mammals between two habitats: forest and a fire-deforested habitat dominated by the bracken fern (*Pteridium esculentum subsp.* arachnoideum), hereafter bracken or bracken-dominated areas. The bird and bat data was obtained using mist-nets. The data of seed-dispersing medium and large terrestrial mammals was obtained using camera traps. ## Description of the data and file structure **Time of data collection:** For birds and bats between March 2020 and June 2021 For medium and large terrestrial mammals between October 2020 and September 2022 **Geographic location of data collection:** The study was carried out on the eastern slope of the Andes, in the vicinity of Chulumani village, Sud Yungas, La Paz, Bolivia (16°24’ S, 67°31’ W). The study area is located in the tropical montane humid forest between 1,850 and 2,450 m a.s.l. **Data description** The data contains five csv tables, three with the community matrix of seed-dispersing birds, bats, and terrestrial mammals, respectively, one with the species full names and one with the site codes. **File 1:" seed_disp_bird_community.csv ":** Community matrix of frugivore birds trapped with mist-nets in the forest and in bracken-dominated areas at 8 sites in a tropical montane humid forest of Bolivia. Column 1: Species’ acronyms. See full names in the species_list_abbreviations file. Column 2-9: Sites in the forest (the names start with F) Column 10-17: Sites in the bracken-dominated areas (names start with B) Data corresponds to the number of individuals captured per site. **File 2:" "seed_disp_bat_community.csv":** Community matrix of seed-dispersing bats captured with mist-nets in the forest and in bracken-dominated areas at 7 sites in a tropical montane humid forest of Bolivia. Column 1: Species’ acronyms. See full names in the species_list_abbreviations file. Column 2-8: Sites in the forest (the names start with F) Column 9-15: Sites in the bracken-dominated areas (names start with B) Data corresponds to the number of individuals captured per site. **File 3:" "seed_disp_tmammal_community.csv":** Community matrix of seed-dispersing medium and large terrestrial mammals captured by camera-traps in the forest and in bracken-dominated areas at 5 sites in a tropical montane humid forest of Bolivia. Column 1: Species’ acronyms. See full names in the species_list_abbreviations file. Column 2-6: Sites in the forest (the names start with F) Column 7-11: Sites in the bracken-dominated areas (names start with B) Data corresponds to the relative abundance index of each species captured per site. **File 4:" “species_list_abbreviations.csv”:** Abbreviations, species list and abundance of seed dispersers in the forest and bracken-dominated areas organized from higher to lower abundance in bracken. For terrestrial mammals, relative abundance indexes (RAI) are shown. * Migratory birds. **Taxa:** including birds, bats and terrestrial mammals. **Abbreviation**: Species abbreviations (First three letters from the genus and three letters from the species). **Species**: Species list **Bracken:** Abundance (for birds and bats) and RAI (for medium and large terrestrial mammals) in bracken-dominated areas **Forest:** Abundance (for birds and bats) and RAI (for medium and large terrestrial mammals) in the forest **File 5:" “site_codes.csv”** **Sitecode:** Is the code of each site including F or B as the first letter to denote the habitat. **Habitat**: Forest vs Bracken **Site:** Code of each site **Methodological information:** See "Methods" section in the original publication for detailed information on data collection.