Data and code from: Unravelling the drivers of island species richness in tropical savannas

Despite their ecological and conservation relevance and their potential to advance our understanding of species–habitat relationships, natural island habitats in seasonal tropical terrestrial systems remain inadequately explored. In particular, the processes governing species diversity in these environments are still poorly understood. Here, we examine how island size, geographical isolation, and habitat heterogeneity and availability affect species richness in campos de murundus—literally “fields of earth mounds”—a distinctive ecosystem within South American tropical savannas. Our study targets three major biological groups that dominate and structure murundu communities—trees, herbs, and termites—and is based on an extensive inventory of these taxa across 373 murundu islands sampled within eleven 1-ha plots distributed throughout the vast seasonal floodplains of east-central Brazil. Bayesian mixed-effects models indicated that tree and herb species richness increased with murundu isla..., , # Data and code from: Unravelling the drivers of island species richness in tropical savannas Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.612jm64kr](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.612jm64kr) ## Description of the data and file structure In this study, we investigated the predictors of species richness of three biological groups (trees, herbs, and termites) in insular environments of tropical hyperseasonal savannas, namely *campos de murundus* (literally “earth mound fields”). Data were collected from eleven discontinuous plots of 1 hectare each, covering a total sampled area of 11 hectares. Within these plots, 373 murundus (earth mounds) were mapped and sampled. For each murundu, all vascular plants were recorded and identified, excluding grasses and sedges. Plants were grouped into two categories based on stem diameter measured 30 cm above the ground: (i) trees (trees, shrubs, palms, and lianas with a diameter ≥ 3 cm) and (ii) herbs (sub-shrubs and herbs with a diameter < 3 cm). Tree data were recor..., ,