DOI: 10.5061/dryad.w9ghx3fzd
title: Arboreal microclimates across Philippines elevation gradient

description: The dataset provides microclimate time series for climate loggers in the
 canopy, the understory, and inside Asplenium bird's nest ferns along
 an elevation gradient spanning 900 m to 1900 m on Mt. Banahaw, the
 Philippines. Trait characteristics were additionally collected for the
 ferns in which microclimate were monitored.
description: The data were collected along an elevation gradient spanning 900
 m to 1900 m a.s.l. on Mount Banahaw in southern Luzon, the Philippines.
 The gradient is characterized by dipterocarp and montane rainforest from
 900 m to 1700 m and mossy and <em>Pinus</em> forest above 1700
 m a.s.l. Microclimate Data We
 monitored temperature in the understory, canopy, and inside BNFs every 200
 m in elevation using temperature data loggers (Maxim Hygrochron ibutton
 Model DS1923; http://www.maxim-ic.com/). We placed a pair of temperature loggers in four to five trees per elevation. In each tree, loggers were placed in the upper canopy, which varied across elevations and transects from an average of 11.75 m to 18.75 m, and directly below, suspended 1 m above the ground (hereafter ‘understory’). Paired canopy-understory loggers were separated by a minimum of 100 m to reduce spatial autocorrelation. Along two 50 m transects at each elevation from 900 m to 1700 m, we quantified the abundance and the vertical distribution of BNFs by counting all BNFs that were visible from the transect and recording their height above ground using a laser distance meter (Leica Geosystems, Leica Disto D2; http://www.leica-geosystems.ca). We then calculated relative height of each BNF by dividing the height above ground by the average canopy height of the given elevation and transect. Average canopy height was obtained by surveying a total of 59 canopy trees for heights (14 trees at 900 m, five at 1100 m, 13 at 1300 m, five at 1500 m, 11 at 1700 m, five at 1900 m and six at 2100 m elevation). We randomly selected a subset of 50 BNFs along one of the surveyed transects at each elevation for which we monitored microclimates. Data loggers were placed under detritus at the center of each fern. For these BNFs, we collected additional data on their habitat and morphological characteristics, including canopy cover (directly above fern), aspect, average length of the five longest fronds, fern size, and number of leaves. Fern size was measured as the width multiplied by the height of the humus-root ball. Data loggers recorded temperature at 15–20-minute intervals from May through September 2011 for canopy and understory microhabitats and June through August 2011 for BNF microhabitats. Habitat and morphological measurements and microclimate data were obtained for 50 BNFs. Due to technical malfunctions of data loggers, elevations were not represented equally (900 m: n = 8; 1100 m: n = 16; 1300 m: n = 15; 1500 m: n = 10; 1700 m: n = 1). Precipitation data Precipitation data was collected at 1100 m a.s.l.
description: # Asplenium bird's nest fern microclimates
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w9ghx3fzd](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w9ghx3fzd) ## Description of the data and file structure Microclimate data were collected in the canopy, understory, and inside Asplenium bird's nest ferns (BNFs) to understand the extent to which BNFs buffer microclimates across an elevation gradient. Additionally, BNF characteristics were collected to determine if BNF morphology influences microclimate buffering capacity. ### Files and variables #### File: BNF\_char\_clean.csv **Description:** Bird's nest fern characteristics. NA indicates data that was not collected. ##### Variables * Survey.Number: survey ID number * ID.Number: bird's nest fern ID as elevation, transect number, BNF number (e.g., 900TR1BNF1 corresponds to 900 m elevation, transect 1, BNF 1) * Date: date in MM/DD/YYYY formate * Type: type of microhabitat * Elevation..m.: elevation above sea level * Transect.Number: transect number * Canopy.Cover.1: first canopy cover measurement (canopy cover measurements were taken using a spherical densiometer) * Canopy.Cover.2: second canopy cover measurement * Canopy.Cover.3: third canopy cover measurement * Canopy.Cover.4: fourth canopy cover measurement * Canopy.Cover.Average: fifth canopy cover measurement * Height.of.fern..cm.: height of fern root ball (cm) * Width.of.fern..cm.: width of fern * X..of.Leaves: number of leaves * Leaf.Length.1..cm.: length of leaf one of five longest fronds * Leaf.Length.2..cm.: length of leaf two of five longest fronds * Leaf.Length.3..cm.: length of leaf three of five longest fronds * Leaf.Length.4..cm.: length of leaf four of five longest fronds * Leaf.Length.5..cm.: length of leaf five of five longest fronds * Height.Above.Ground..m.: height of fern above the ground (m) * Height.of.Tree..m.: height of tree that the fern is in (m) * lon: longitude (epsg:4326) * lat: latitude (epsg:4326) * aspect: topographic aspect in radians (calculated from DEM) * leafLength_avg: average leaf length of the five longest leaves * size: size of fern (width x height) #### File: Philippines\_Rainfall\_Banahao\_CampData.csv **Description:** Daily rainfall at 1100 m a.s.l ##### Variables * Date: date in MM/DD/YYYY format * AVG_precip: precipitation for each day (cm) #### File: Philippines.BNF.compiled.dataset.csv **Description:** Microclimate data for climate loggers placed inside bird's nest ferns ##### Variables * elev: elevation (m) * site: ID of the bird's nest fern that the microclimate logger was placed in (associated with BNF ID number from BNF characteristics dataset) * micro: microhabitat type * DateTime: date and time in MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM format * Local.time: time in HH:MM:SS format * Local.date: date in DD:MM:YYYY format * julian: julian day * year: year * month: month * day: day * hour: hour * minute: minute * Temp: temperature in degrees celsius * Hum: % relative humidity #### File: Philippines.treeground.compiled.dataset.csv **Description:** Microclimate data for microclimate loggers placed in the canopy and in the understory. Understory loggers were approximately 1 m above the ground. ##### Variables * elev: elevation * site: transect ID number * micro: microhabitat type (either canopy or ground) * DateTime: date and time in MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM format * Local.time: time in HH:MM:SS format * Local.date: date in MM/DD/YYYY format * julian: julian day * year: year * month: month * day: day * hour: hour * minute: minute * Temp: temperature in degrees celsius * Hum: % relative humidity ## Code/software CSV files can be viewed in any text editor or in Microsoft excel.