Landform type mediates compositional change in a hurricane-disturbed sub-tropical forest

This data describes the species composition of trees over time in plots located within the Jardín Botánico and Bosque Estatal del Nuevo Milenio on the island of Puerto Rico.  The field sites were established in 1997 by Despiau Batista and the data collected in 1997 was used in Despiau Batista, 1997.  These field sites were revisited in 2005 with the new tree data being used by Lugo et al., 2005.  The species data from 1997 was compared to that of 2005 in Spicer et al., 2020 and the data included here are those used by Spicer et al.  The works of Despiau Batista (1997) and Lugo et al (2005) do not have associated DOI's.   

Despiau Batista A (1997) Distribución de las especies arbóreas de acuerdo al gradiente en topografía en el bosque de Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, luego de 60 años de abandono agrícola. Acta Científica 11:3–20

Lugo AE, Román Nunci E, Quiñones M, Marcano Vega H, Vicéns I (2005) El bosque estatal del nuevo milenio antes y después del huracán Georges. Acta Cientifica 19(1-3):83–105

Spicer RL, Lugo AE, and Ruhl N.  (2020) Landform types mediates compositional change in a hurricane disturbed sub-tropical forest.  Ecological Processes, 9, 26.  

Methods
The 1997 data was collected during June/July.  10 plots were randomly located within each of four different landform types (40 plots total).  All of these plots were located on a similar aspect facing southwest and ranged in elevation from 15-65m.  Plot size was consistent across the study (254 square meters) with two sites being rectangular and the rest being circular.  Trees were tagged, identified, and measured for height using a clinometer if they had a diameter at brest-height of greater than 4cm.  These sites were revisited in August/September 2005 and the species composition and height of trees within each plot were remeasured.