Data on composition and structure of trees inside and outside of forests in Guanacaste, Costa Rica: comparisons among conservation areas, fencerows, and municipal parks

Many studies of tropical forest ecology occur in protected areas such as national parks.  We have a limited understanding of the composition and structure of trees in areas outside forests, such as urban areas or along roads. Here we report three datasets that are critical for understanding how tree communities differ in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Our data allow the user to contrast trees in three different land-use types that represent a rural to urban gradient: forests inside conservation areas (20 plots), fencerows (68 plots), and municipal parks (36 parks).  We measured and identified trees >7cm diameter in addition to collecting ancillary data such as plot area (in hectares) and canopy cover (in percent). We also collated information for each identified species on functional characteristics including: status as native to Guanacaste, Costa Rica, leaf habit (evergreen, deciduous, or other) and whether the tree species produces fruit that are edible for humans. Collecti..., , # Data on composition and structure of trees inside and outside of forests in Guanacaste, Costa Rica: comparisons among conservation areas, fencerows, and municipal parks

Authors: Jennifer S. Powers, Finnegan K. Powers-Tiffin, Pooja Choksi, Forrest Flieschman, German Vargas, Justin Becknell,Catherine Hulshof, Michael J. O’Brien, Naomi Schwartz, Chris Smith-Martin, and David Medvigy

This README file describes the data files used in the paper. For any questions please contact Jennifer Powers ([[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])).

The following files are included:

**Meta_data_for_trees_along_rural_urban_gradients_Guanacaste_Costa_Rica.csv**

Variable names and column descriptions:

```
site_identification unique identifier for each site, denotes both the type of site and
site number
variable the variable whose value is displayed in value
value the corresponding value for the variable column
```

**Species_traits_for_trees_along_rural_urban_g...,