Cloud forests of the Orinoco River Basin (Colombia): Variation in vegetation and soil macrofauna composition along the hydrometeorological gradient

We present vegetation, soil macrofauna, soil, hydrometeorological and topographical data collected from Tropical Montane Cloud Forests in the Orinoco River basin. Specifically, from the municipality of Chámeza, department of Casanare, Colombia. These data sets were used to evaluate how vegetation and soil macrofauna diversity vary along the 1700–2200 m a.s.l. elevation range. Within this elevation range, we have previously described a hydrometeorological gradient largely driven by a fog incidence increase with elevation. Vegetation data were collected for all individuals with a diameter at breast height (DBH) > 5 cm in four vegetation plots (5 x 50 m; total: 0.1 ha) every 100 m in altitude between 1700–2200 m a.s.l. From each plot, we obtained three soil monoliths from the organic layer and three from the mineral horizon, and manually extracted their soil macrofauna, and soil samples for determining pH, organic matter content, and soil texture, among others in a soil laboratory. Topo..., Vegetation data
On each transect, we delimited four plots of 5 x 50 m (250 m2) with a minimum distance between plots of 200 m. The four plots per elevation covered 0.1 ha. In each plot, we marked all trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH > 5 cm regardless of their height, with traffic reflective yellow paint and an aluminum numbered tag. At the beginning of the wet season (March 2021) we collected botanical specimens with a telescopic tree pruner. Samples were pressed inside newspaper sheets and piled up. Then, the piles were tied up, bagged, and wet with 70% alcohol. In the Forest Herbarium of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas (UDBC) these samples were oven-dried, quarantined, and identified to the most detailed taxonomic level possible.
The data set has species abundance data per plot.
Soil macrofauna data
Soil macrofauna was collected in April 2021, one month after the beginning of the wet season, following the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility method (TSB..., All files are in .csv format so they do not need any particular software to be read.