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.

由于林冠附生植物采样难度高且鉴定工作的后勤保障繁杂，当前量化热带附生植物（tropical epiphytes）的调查数量十分有限。尽管森林林冠蕴含极为丰富的生物多样性与生物量，但相关研究仍存在显著的知识缺口。针对马德拉斯火山（Volcán Maderas），学界已开展多项生态学与分类学研究项目。然而针对维管附生植物（vascular epiphytes），此前仍缺乏带地理参照（georeferenced）的精准空间描述，也未形成标准化的物种丰富度记录体系。本数据集提供了维管附生植物区系及其空间分布的详细定性与定量评估。这些数据揭示了沿海拔梯度分布的关键植物群落，可用于监测并解析植物应对干旱环境的适应策略。