Biodiversity and ecosystem services in Brazilian anthropogenic landscapes

This dataset comprises data on biodiversity taxa and ecosystem functions sampled in five patches of riparian forest that represent a chronosequence of restoration in Central Brazil. The patches are in different areas (referred to as sites) surrounding the reservoir of the Volta Grande hydroelectric power plant (HPP) on the Rio Grande River in southeastern Brazil (20°01'54" S, 48°13'17" W). The study sites are in a highly anthropogenic matrix formed mainly by grassland and sugarcane plantations. Four of the five sites have been reforested and have different ages (10 and 20 years) and widths (30 and 100 m), and one site is a 30-year-old, 400-m-wide, and naturally restored secondary forest, here considered as a reference site. Most of the original riparian vegetation in the study area was removed and flooded during the construction of the reservoir in 1974. At each of the five sites, we randomly installed four plots, each 1600 m2. Biodiversity and environmental samplings were performed monthly between March 2013 and January 2014. Every month, we sampled distinct ecosystem functions, all of which are important for ecosystem multifunctionality, which included: litter (leaf and miscellaneous) production and decomposition; litter nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations; soil pH and available phosphorus; and indexes of litter-quality and soil fertility. To disentangle the effects of distinct biodiversity taxa on ecosystem functions, we divided them into two levels: taxonomic biodiversity (animal and plant species richness, including seed rain; abundance; and diversity) and functional biodiversity (animal and plant functional groups), for a total of 67 biodiversity variables). To use this data get in contact with the main owner, Dr. Yasmine Antonini ([e-mail]).