PELD do Oeste do Pará (POPA)/LTER of western Pará (POPA): Plant coverage and species composition from the permanent plots in the Alter do Chao Amazonian Savanna, Para, Brazil, during the rainy season of 2017

The dataset describes the vegetation cover of herbs, grasses, shrubs and trees, from 29 plots located in the Amazonian savannas near to Alter do Chao, Para, Brazil. Data were collected from April to August of 2017, during the rainy season. Each plot is comprised of four parallel transects of 250 m each, spread 50 m apart. Cover measurements were made every 2 m, with a 1 m tall thin metal stick, positioned perpendicular to the soil, totaling 500 points per plot. We recorded every live plant touching the metal stick, and identified them to the species or genus level. We also categorized the touches in two heights: below 2 m (< 2m) and larger than 2 m (> 2 m). As a result, we calculated the percentage of vegetation cover of each plant species (or category) per plot.