Data from: Understory frog communities recover quickly during tropical forest regeneration

This dataset contains plot-level data on understory frog communities
sampled along a forest regeneration chronosequence in the lowland Chocó
forest near Hoja Blanca, Esmeraldas province, northwestern Ecuador.
Sampling was conducted within and around the privately managed Canandé
(14,000 ha) and Tesoro Escondido (1,800 ha) reserves. A total of 38 plots
(50 × 50 m; 2,500 m²) were established across a mosaic landscape,
including active pastures (n = 6), active cacao plantations (n = 6),
regenerating forests following pasture or cacao abandonment (0–37 years; n
= 18), and old-growth forest (n = 8). Plots ranged from 159 to 615 m
a.s.l. Regeneration time was determined from local land-use history
records and reserve acquisition data. Understory frogs were surveyed using
standardized visual encounter surveys with two person-hours per plot per
visit. Each plot was sampled six times between March 2022 and June 2023,
including both day and night sessions. Species abundances were pooled
across visits to obtain one value per species per plot. The dataset
includes (a) species abundance data per plot, and (b) associated
environmental predictors, including regeneration time, land-use legacy
(cacao or pasture), elevation, basal area, distance to the nearest forest
older than 40 years, and proportion of surrounding forest older than 40
years within a 500 m radius. The repository also includes the R script
used for statistical analyses.