DOI: 10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw6r
title: Data from: Influence of bracken fronds and leaf litter management on soil seed bank characteristics in a fire-disturbed tropical montane forest

description: The bracken fern Pteridium spp. dominates post-fire vegetation in tropical
 montane forests, where fronds, litter, allelopathy, and dispersal
 limitation hinder forest regeneration. However, this species’ effect on
 soil seed bank remains poorly understood. We investigated the effects of
 bracken fronds and litter on the abundance, richness, and species
 diversity of the soil seed bank in a tropical montane fire-deforested area
 in Bolivia. At eight study sites (1,800-2,350 m.a.s.l), soil samples were
 collected under five treatments: (a) fronds and litter intact (F+L+), (b)
 fronds intact and litter removed (F+L-), (c) fronds removed and litter
 intact (F-L+), (d) fronds and litter removed (F-L-), and (e) forest. Using
 the seedling emergence method, samples were assessed every 20 days over
 eight months (September 2021- May 2022). Compared to intact bracken,
 forest areas showed 2.6, 1.7, and 1.5-fold greater abundance, species
 richness, and diversity of zoochorous species, respectively. Among bracken
 treatments, abundance, richness, and diversity of zoochorous species
 decreased by 2.7, 2.6, and 2 times, respectively, when fronds and litter
 were removed, compared to the intact bracken treatment, but were not
 significantly different when only litter was removed. Our findings
 indicate that in bracken-dominated environments, fronds and litter improve
 microclimatic conditions, there by maintaining the viability of zoochorous
 species in the soil seed bank. The removal of litter without cutting
 fronds reduces light interception and seed trapping, while maintaining
 zoochorous seed germination capacity in the soil, and might be a better
 management strategy than removing fronds and litter to promote seedling
 recruitment from the soil seed bank. 
description: # Data from: Influence of bracken fronds and leaf litter management on
 soil seed bank characteristics in a fire-disturbed tropical montane forest
 Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw6r](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw6r) ##
 Description of the data and file structure The dataset contains the
 abundance, richness, and diversity of the soil seed bank among *Pteridium*
 spp. (bracken) management treatments in a field experiment at eight sites
 in the tropical montane forest of Bolivia. The soil samples were collected
 from the following treatments: (a) bracken fronds and litter intact
 (F+L+), (b) fronds intact and litter removed (F+L-), (c) fronds removed
 and litter intact (F-L+), (d) fronds and litter removed (F-L-), and (e)
 forest. The data was taken using the seedling emergence method over eight
 months. At the end of the experiment, all seedlings were collected, dried,
 and identified. Then, we calculated the total abundance, species richness,
 and species diversity using the inverse Simpson index in the soil seed
 bank by considering zoochorous and anemochorous species, separately, and
 all the species together. ### Files and variables #### File:
 SSB_habitats.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * Site: Site’ acronyms.
 See full names in the Site_codes file. * Habitat: FOR = forest and F1L1 =
 Uncontrolled bracken treatment (F1L1) * Ab_all: Abundance of all woody
 seedlings * Ab_zooc: Abundance of zoochorous woody seedlings *
 Ab_anemo: Abundance of anemochorous woody seedlings * Rich_all: Richness
 of all woody seedlings * Rich_zooc: Richness of zoochorous woody seedlings
 * Rich_anemo: Richness of anemochorous woody seedlings *
 Div_all: Diversity of all woody seedlings * Div_zooc: Diversity of
 zoochoorus woody seedlings * Div_anemo: Diversity of anemochorous woody
 seedlings #### File: SSB_bracken_treatments.csv **Description:**  #####
 Variables * Site: Site acronyms. See full names in the Site_codes file. *
 Treatment: Treatments refer to combinations of the presence (1) or absence
 (0) of bracken fronds (F) and litter (L), resulting in four experimental
 combinations: F1L1 (bracken fronds and litter present), F1L0 (bracken
 fronds present, litter removed), F0L1 (bracken fronds removed, litter
 present) and F0L0 (both bracken fronds and litter remove). *
 Ab_all: Abundance of all woody seedlings * Ab_zooc: Abundance of
 zoochorous woody seedlings * Ab_anemo: Abundance of anemochorous woody
 seedlings * Rich_all: Richness of all woody seedlings *
 Rich_zooc:  Richness of zoochorous woody seedlings * Rich_anemo: Richness
 of anemochorus woody seedlings * Div_all: Diversity of all woody seedlings
 * Div_zooc: Diversity of zoochorous woody seedlings * Div_anemo: Diversity
 of anemochorous woody seedlings #### File: Site_codes.csv
 **Description:**  ##### Variables * Site: Full name of each study site *
 Site_abreviation: Abbreviation of each site, derived from the first three
 to four letters of the site's full name. ## Code/software The dataset
 can be opened and explored using free software R version 4.4.1 (R Core
 Team, 2024).  ## Access information Other publicly accessible locations of
 the data: * Not published in any other public repository Data was derived
 from the following sources: * Data were collected directly by the authors
 during fieldwork