DOI: 10.5061/dryad.f1q5870
title: Data from: Shifting species and functional diversity due to abrupt changes in water availability in tropical dry forests

description: Recent insights show that tropical forests are shifting in species
 composition, possibly due to changing environmental conditions. However,
 we still poorly understand the forest response to different environmental
 change drivers, which limits our ability to predict the future of tropical
 forests. Although some studies have evaluated drought effects on tree
 communities, we know little about the influence of increased water
 availability. Here, we evaluated how an increase in water availability
 caused by an artificial reservoir affected temporal changes in forest
 structure, species and functional diversity, and community‐weighted mean
 traits. Furthermore, we evaluated how demographical groups (recruits,
 survivors and trees that died) contributed to these temporal changes in
 tropical dry forests. We present data for the dynamics of forest change
 over a 10‐year period for 120 permanent plots that were far from the
 water’s edge before reservoir construction and are now close to the
 water’s edge (0–60 m). Plots close to the water’s edge had an abrupt
 increase in water availability, while distant plots did not. Plots close
 to the water’s edge showed an increase in species and functional
 diversity, and in the abundance of species with traits associated with low
 drought resistance (i.e., evergreen species with simple leaves and low
 wood density), whereas plots far from the water’s edge did not change.
 Changes in overall community metrics were mainly due to recruits rather
 than to survivors or dead trees. Overall stand basal area did not change
 because growth and recruitment were balanced by mortality. Synthesis. Our
 results showed that tropical dry forests can respond quickly to abrupt
 changes in environmental conditions. Temporal changes in vegetation
 metrics due to increased water availability were mainly attributed to
 recruits, suggesting that these effects are lasting and may become
 stronger over time. The lack of increase in basal area towards the water’s
 edge, and the shift towards higher abundance of soft‐wooded species, could
 reduce the carbon stored and increase the forest’s vulnerability to
 extreme weather events. Further “accidental” large‐scale field experiments
 like ours could provide more insights into forest responses and resilience
 to global change.
description: Data from Raymundo et
 al. (2018)1- Soil_moisture: Soil
 moisture of plots close (0) and far (10) from water's edge, in dry
 (D) and rainy (R) season, before and after the reservoir construction in
 two tropical dry forests in Brazil. Transects and Slope (degrees) are
 given. 2- Net_changes: Forest structure, species and functional diversity
 metrics and community weighted mean (CMW) per plot in t0 and t10 of two
 patches of tropical dry forests. Transects (Trans.); Distance (Distance);
 Longitude (x.); Latitude (y); Number of individuals (NI); basal area (BA);
 species richness (S); rarefied species richness (Srar); functional
 richness (Fric); Functional dispersion (Fdis); and community weighted mean
 of specific leaf area (SLA), wood density (WD), deciduousness (Dec) and
 compound leaves (Comp). Plot distance to the water edge (m), transects and
 Slope (degrees) are given. 3- Demographic groups: Forest structure,
 species and functional diversity metrics and community weighted mean (CMW)
 per plot of Recruits (R), Dead trees (D) and survivors (S) in two patches
 of tropical dry forests. Longitude (x.); Latitude (y); Number of
 individuals (NI); basal area (BA); species richness (S); rarefied species
 richness (Srar); functional richness (Fric); Functional dispersion (Fdis);
 and community weighted mean of specific leaf area (SLA), wood density
 (WD), deciduousness (Dec) and compound leaves (Comp). Plot distance to the
 water edge (m), transects and Slope (degrees) are
 given.