DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rxwdbrv82
title: Data from: The structure of Leguminosae-Detarioideae dominant rain forest in Korup National Park, Cameroon

description: Background and aims – We studied a cluster of trees in the Leguminosae
 subfamily Detarioideae, to: (1) determine the size, structure, and tree
 species composition of this cluster; (2) map the size, shape, and
 structure of groups of individual Detarioideae tree species in the
 cluster; (3) hypothesize on the origin and maintenance of the
 cluster.  Location – Lowland rain forest in south Korup National
 Park, in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. Material and methods – Trees in
 permanent plots were recorded using standard plot enumeration techniques.
 Outside plots, single-species tree groups were recorded by a rapid
 technique. From this data, detailed maps of groups of trees were prepared.
 Key results – Detarioideae tree species occur co-dominant in a cluster of
 at least 32 km2 with an irregular shape. The cluster contained at least 42
 Detarioideae tree species; at least 29 of these occurred in groups ranging
 in size from 50 to 4000 m across, depending on the species. Groups usually
 had circular shapes, caused by ballistic seed dispersal. Each species was
 distributed discontinuously within the cluster, and each section of the
 cluster contained a specific set of Detarioideae species. The percentage
 of Detarioideae trees ≥ 60 cm stem diameter on 50 ha was up to 76% in
 Detarioideae-rich forest, to 6% in Detarioideae-poor forest. Of all trees
 in the centre of the cluster, 97.2% belonged to non-pioneer forest
 species, which indicates that disturbance levels were low during the past
 generations of trees. Conclusions – The forests in the
 Detarioideae cluster have not been subject to substantial human and
 natural impacts in historic or prehistoric times. Such forests are
 exceptional in Africa. Detarioideae clusters may indicate glacial
 age forest refuges, especially clusters that contain both many different
 Detarioideae species and some Detarioideae species endemic to the cluster.
description: The methods used for collection of the data are described in the
 main paper. They were based on the approaches of:
 Newbery, D. M., X. M. van der Burgt, and M. A. Moravie. 2004.
 Structure and inferred dynamics of a large grove of Microberlinia
 bisulcata trees in central African rain forest: the possible role of
 periods of multiple disturbance events. Journal of Tropical Ecology
 20:131-143.<br> Newbery, D. M., X. M. van der Burgt, M. Worbes, and
 G. B. Chuyong. 2013. Transient dominance in a central African rain forest.
 Ecological Monographs 83:339-382.
 <strong>Correction to Newbery et al. (2013).</strong>
 On page 343 of this article, the corner of the P-plot referred to was
 incorrect: it should read 'southwest' and not
 'southeast': The full co-ordinates of the
 <strong>SW</strong> corner of the P-plot are, accordingly: UTM
 32N, 0476438 E, 0553538 N, 96 m. In decimal degrees: 8.78745°E,
 5.00787°N.
description: Groups of <em>Microberlinia
 bisulcata</em><br> The file
 ‘Mb_mapped-groups.csv.txt’ contains the 1934 trees of
 <em>Microberlinia bisulcata</em> ≥ 10 cm stem diameter,
 recorded in the three known groups (or ‘groves’) in southern Korup. Some
 trees were located within two permanent plots, and the others were outside
 of them.<br> Plot: N = N group; O = O group; PE = P group,
 extensions to P plot; PNW = P group, NW plot; PG = P group, trees outside
 plots; PP = P group, P plot.<br> Long, Lat: Longitude and latitude
 co-ordinates (WGS84).<br> Tag: The tag number on the tree. Trees
 outside plots usually did not have a tag number. [‘NA’ indicates that the
 tree was not tagged.]<br> Dm: Stem diameter (cm), At: Height of
 measurement above ground (m). Date: Date of measurement.<br> Meth:
 Method used to measure stem diameter; C, Criterion 400 ranging laser
 instrument; B,<br> binocular comparison of stem width against a
 scale next to tree; R, Bitterlich Spiegel optical relascope; T, girth with
 steel tape. Distribution of
 <em>Tetraberlinia</em> spp.<br> The file
 ‘TT_transect_records.csv.txt’ contains 1563 records (Recnr) of the
 presence (= 1) or absence (= 0) of Tetraberlinia bifoliolata (Tb) and T.
 korupensis (Tk) trees, in 50-m segments along a set of line transects in
 southern Korup. Usually TT trees were mature individuals but sometimes
 they were smaller individuals, even seedlings. Long, Lat: Longitude and
 latitude coordinates (WGS84). Date: Date of recording.