DOI: 10.5061/dryad.ngf1vhj59
title: Data from: Shifts in functional group community diversity of threatened mesic forests with changing fire regimes

description: Changing fire regimes, including increased fire severity, may impact plant
 community recovery, altering structure and composition, potentially
 causing a state change. For threatened wet sclerophyll forests, mesic
 forests which contain both dry sclerophyll and rainforest elements, this
 could mean a shift to a more fire-prone species composition. We
 investigate how species and functional group diversity responses differ
 across a gradient of fire severity and how recovery changes with time
 since fire in a mesic forest community. We hypothesize that increased fire
 severity can lead to reduced diversity and altered
 composition. We surveyed plant species cover and abundance three
 years post-fire at sites with different fire severities (moderate, high,
 or extreme) during the 2019/2020 Australian megafires, and sampled
 adjacent unburnt sites as controls. We calculated species and functional
 type beta diversity indices across a fire severity gradient. Our
 data showed a hump-shaped relationship between plant diversity and fire
 severity three years post-fire. Species richness was highest at moderately
 burnt sites and lower in unburnt and extremely burnt sites. Species
 composition also differed, with unburnt sites containing more
 rainforest-restricted species. Increased fire severity may reduce
 community-level diversity. The distinct compositional difference between
 recently burnt and long-unburnt sites suggests how fire regimes may drive
 shifts in wet sclerophyll forest states. The differences identified three
 years post-fire indicate that recovery may be slow, with extremely burnt
 sites potentially taking the longest.
description: # Data from: Shifts in functional group community diversity of threatened
 mesic forests with changing fire regimes
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ngf1vhj59](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ngf1vhj59) ## Description of the data and file structure The dataset contains all raw data used in the manuscript ‘Shifts in functional group community diversity of threatened mesic forests with changing fire regimes’. The data is in the format of a csv. #### File: Data_for_Shifts_in_functional_group_community_diversity_of_threatened_mesic_forests_with_changing_fire_regimes.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * SiteNo: Unique site codes, equivalent to previous NSW BioNet surveys (NSW Government Environment and Heritage, 2021). * Severity: Fire severity determined from GEEBAM (Google Earth Engine Burnt Area Map), as outlined in the methods of the paper (Department of Planning and Environment, 2020). Unburnt, Moderate, High, Extreme. * YearsPostFire: Number of years between 2019-2020 Megafires and surveys (1 or 3 years). * Vegetation: Threatened ecological community. Upland Basalt = Upland Basalt Eucalypt Forests of the Sydney Basin Bioregion (Department of the Environment, 2022b), STIF = Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion (Department of the Environment, 2022a). * SubplotID: Plots and transects at each site. T= 50 metre Canopy transect, 1 to 5 = 5x5 metre plots along the 50m transect for groundcover and shrublayer. * ScientificName: Species name. * FunctionalGroup: As outlined in the methods of the paper. First character = resprouting ability (resprouter (R) or fire-killed (K)); Second character = seed storage (Soil (S), canopy (C) or transient (T)); third character = seed/spore size (Small (S) or large (L)). * Strata: Layer of strata plant occurs in, G = groundcover, S = shrublayer, C = canopy. * GrowthHabits: Habit of the plant using codes from NSW BioNet (NSW Government Environment and Heritage, 2021). D = Other Grass, E = Fern and fern allies, F = Forb, G = Tussock Grass, H = Hummock Grass, K = Epiphyte, L = Vine, Q = Tree fern, R = Rush, S = Shrub, T = Tree, V = Sedge, X = Xanthorrhoea. Missing values are included as NA. * PercentCover:    Percent of 5x5 metre plot covered by species in the shrublayer or groundcover, or of the 50 metre transect in the canopy. * Abundance: Count of individuals per species per plot for shrublayer and per transect for canopy. Missing values are included as NA. * ReproductiveProp: Proportion of individuals per species in the plot that were reproductive (flowering/fruiting). Missing values are included as NA. ## Software R Studio version 4.3.0 was used for all data analysis (RStudio Team 2015). ## **References** Department of Planning and Environment 2020. Google Earth Engine Burnt Area Map (GEEBAM). The Seed Initiative. Department of the Environment. 2022a. *Turpentine-Ironbark Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion* [Online]. Canberra: Department of the Environment. Available: [https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicshowcommunity.pl?id=38](https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicshowcommunity.pl?id=38) [Accessed 8 March 2022]. Department of the Environment. 2022b. *Upland Basalt Eucalypt Forests of the Sydney Basin Bioregion* [Online]. Canberra: Department of the Environment. Available: [https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicshowcommunity.pl?id=60](https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicshowcommunity.pl?id=60) [Accessed 8 March 2022]. NSW Government Environment and Heritage 2021. BioNet Atlas. Available: [https://atlas.bionet.nsw.gov.au/](https://atlas.bionet.nsw.gov.au/) Rstudio Team. 2015. *RStudio: Integrated development for R* [Online]. Boston, MA: RStudio, Inc. Available: [http://www.rstudio.com/](http://www.rstudio.com/) [Accessed 22 March 2020].