Species richness and abundance of vascular epiphytes along an elevation gradient

Because of the difficulty in sampling and the logistics of identifying
canopy-dwelling plants, the number of inventories quantifying tropical
epiphytes is limited. This has resulted in a substantial gap in knowledge,
even though forest canopies contain significant biodiversity and forest
biomass. In the case of Volcán Maderas, multiple ecological and
taxonomic research initiatives have been conducted. However, for vascular
epiphytes, georeferenced specific spatial descriptions were lacking and a
standardized effort for documenting species richness was non-existent. We
provide a detailed qualitative and quantitative assessment of the vascular
epiphyte flora and its spatial distribution. These data shed light on
important plant assemblages across elevational gradients that can be used
for monitoring and understanding adaptive strategies to drought
conditions.