Trees, shrubs and herbs of the coastal Myrtaceae swamp forest (Región de La Araucanía, Chile): a dataset

Abstract

Species lists are fundamental for knowledge of species diversity in regions subject to intense anthropogenic pressure, especially in poorly studied ecosystems. The dataset comes from an inventory conducted in 30 fragments of Myrtaceae swamp forest located in an agroforestry matrix landscape of the Coastal of La Araucanía region in Chile. The data collection was carried out using line transect sampling, which was traced through the core of each fragment oriented towards its longest axis. The dataset provides a record of 56 species (24 trees, 17 herbs and 15 shrubs) including accidental epiphytes (n=7), hemiparasites (n=4), host (n=10), and additionally woody debris (n=36).This study represents a landscape-scale sample of the swamp forest, which is distributed in a dispersed pattern over a large stretch of Chile. The data were collected from 30 forest patches (from 0.05 to 936 ha) located on the coast of the Araucanía. The database includes the presence of 56 species of vascular plants in 357 records. The main novelty of this contribution is the systematic classification of species under six traits, never before reported in the same database: (i) condition (coarse Woody debris, fallen log, live, snag), (ii) habit (herb, shrub, tree), (iii) growth microhabitat (e.g. tree trunk, branch, main trunk crotch), (iv) growth form (accidental epiphyte, hemiparasite, terricolous, vegetative), (v) host species (as appropriate), and (vi) relative location of the species in the sampled patch and surrounding areas (core, border, matrix). Species not previously observed in these forests were: Gavilea spp., Hieracium spp., Lophosoria quadripinnata, Berberis actinacantha, Gaultheria phillyreifolia, Ovidia pillo-pillo, Amomyrtus meli y Caldcluvia paniculata. Several of these ecosystem traits are indeed new reports for these type of forests (e.g. accidental epiphytes, fallen logs, species-host relationship), at the same time, more frequent data (i.e. species composition, habit), are found in different contributions, making the comprehensive process of analysis difficult. Accordingly, the database is made available in this manuscript.