Multi-scale vascular plant community data across a woody encroachment gradient in sub-Mediterranean grassland–shrubland mosaics

This dataset contains multi-scale vascular plant community data collected across a woody encroachment gradient in sub-Mediterranean grassland–shrubland mosaics in the northern Iberian Peninsula. Vegetation data were recorded in 144 plots distributed across four study sites and six nested spatial scales: 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 m². The dataset includes presence–absence matrices of vascular plant species for each spatial scale and plot, functional trait data for the selected plant traits, Ecological Indicator Values for Europe (EIVE) for the recorded species, and plot-level woody cover values. It also includes final summary tables with community-level metrics calculated for each plot and spatial scale, including community-weighted means of functional traits, community mean ecological indicator values, and woody cover information. These data were used to assess how spatial scale and woody cover jointly affect species richness, functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity, phylogenetic–functional decoupling and community ecological affinities along a grassland–shrubland gradient.