DOI: 10.5061/dryad.p2ngf1w4j
title: Data on composition and structure of trees inside and outside of forests in Guanacaste, Costa Rica: comparisons among conservation areas, fencerows, and municipal parks

description: Many studies of tropical forest ecology occur in protected areas such as
 national parks.  We have a limited understanding of the
 composition and structure of trees in areas outside forests, such as urban
 areas or along roads. Here we report three datasets that are critical for
 understanding how tree communities differ in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Our
 data allow the user to contrast trees in three different land-use types
 that represent a rural to urban gradient: forests inside conservation
 areas (20 plots), fencerows (68 plots), and municipal parks (36
 parks).  We measured and identified trees &gt;7cm
 diameter in addition to collecting ancillary data such as plot area (in
 hectares) and canopy cover (in percent). We also collated information for
 each identified species on functional characteristics including: status as
 native to Guanacaste, Costa Rica, leaf habit (evergreen, deciduous, or
 other) and whether the tree species produces fruit that are edible for
 humans. Collectively, these data allow the user to calculate stand-level
 properties such as basal area and percentage of the tree community that is
 evergreen.
description: # Data on composition and structure of trees inside and outside of forests
 in Guanacaste, Costa Rica: comparisons among conservation areas,
 fencerows, and municipal parks Authors: Jennifer S. Powers, Finnegan K.
 Powers-Tiffin, Pooja Choksi, Forrest Flieschman, German Vargas, Justin
 Becknell,Catherine Hulshof, Michael J. O’Brien, Naomi Schwartz, Chris
 Smith-Martin, and David Medvigy This README file describes the data files
 used in the paper. For any questions please contact Jennifer Powers
 ([powers@umn.edu](mailto:powers@umn.edu)). The following files are
 included:
 **Meta_data_for_trees_along_rural_urban_gradients_Guanacaste_Costa_Rica.csv** Variable names and column descriptions: ``` site_identification unique identifier for each site, denotes both the type of site and site number variable the variable whose value is displayed in value value the corresponding value for the variable column ``` **Species_traits_for_trees_along_rural_urban_gradients_Guanacaste_Costa_Rica.csv** Variable names and column descriptions: ``` species_code species identifier that is the first three letters of genus and species name family species family binomial_name genus and species leaf_habit describes the leaf habits deciduous denotes whether the tree is deciduous (yes) or no native denotes whether the tree is native to Central America (yes) or no edible_fruit denotes whether the tree contains edible fruit for people (yes) or no region the tree's native region if not Central America ``` **Tree_stem_data_for_trees_along_rural_urban_gradients_Guanacaste_Costa_Rica.csv** Variable names and column descriptions: ``` site_identification unique identifier that denotes both the type of site and site number species species scientific name diameter_cm diameter of stem in cm multi-stem blank means it is not part of a multistem tree and a letter is a label for which stem it is part_of_fence denotes whether the tree is part of a fence or now REC_NO unique stem identifier species_code species identifier that is the first three letters of genus and species name land_use denotes fencerow, municipal park or national park ``` References: "Composition and structure of trees inside and outside of forests in Guanacaste, Costa Rica: comparisons among national parks, fencerows, and municipal parks". In preparation for submission to Biotropica. ---