Primary saltmarsh succession on a tropical coral island in the south china sea: Human influences initiate and accelerate the process of succession

Saltmarsh represents a classic model of primary succession, yet the processes underlying its initiation and development, especially in response to human influences, remain poorly understood. We conducted annual vegetation surveys on a newly formed saltmarsh in the South China Sea and compared plant communities across tropical coral salt marshes exposed to varying levels of human influence. We also investigated the environmental factors and human activities shaping community compositions. Pioneer grass species rapidly colonized the site within one year following land reclamation, with a grass-to-shrub transition concurrently with dike construction, indicating a clear trajectory of species establishment and development. Land reclamation and biological invasion facilitated the early establishment of pioneer grasses, initiating primary saltmarsh succession. The accelerated transition to shrub-dominated communities was likely driven by dike construction and the introduction of stress-to..., We conducted annual vegetation surveys on a newly formed saltmarsh in the South China Sea and compared plant communities across tropical coral saltmarshes exposed to varying levels of human influence. We classified disturbance levels as high-disturbance (i.e., Yongshu Island), intermediate-disturbance (i.e., Chenhang Island and Guangjin Island), and low-disturbance (i.e., Dong Island)., # Primary saltmarsh succession on a tropical coral island in the south china sea: Human influences initiate and accelerate the process of succession

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.2v6wwq013 ](10.5061/dryad.2v6wwq013)

## Description of the data and file structure

A Plant species list on 8 sites of 4 islands that represent different levels of human disturbance is presented, where there are 38 plant species (i.e., 20 grass species and 18 shrub species) in total.

### Files and variables

#### File: sp-site\_data.csv

**Description:** The dataset con...,