Effects of giant tortoises on plant communities, Espanola Island, Galapagos

Data from two related field studies of a reintroduced population of critically endangered giant tortoises on an arid island -- Espanola Island -- in the Galapagos Archipelago: 1) used fenced exclosures to examine effects of tortoise browsing on plant communities over an eight-year-long period and 2) vegetation mapped at the landscape-scale to examine change in woody plant cover in areas with varying densities of resident tortoises over a 15-year-long period.

本数据集包含针对加拉帕戈斯群岛（Galapagos Archipelago）干旱岛屿埃斯帕诺拉岛（Espanola Island）上一个重新引入的极危巨型陆龟种群的两项相关野外研究数据：1）通过设置围栏禁入区（fenced exclosures）开展为期8年的实验，以探究陆龟啃食对植物群落的影响；2）在景观尺度上开展植被制图工作，用以分析15年间不同陆龟栖息密度区域内木本植物覆盖度的变化情况。