One-hectare fine-scale dataset of a fynbos plant community in the Cape Floristic Region

Cape fynbos, which forms part of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa, a global biodiversity hotspot, is renowned for its high levels of plant species endemism and diversity. This extraordinary ecosystem, characterised by nutrient-poor soils and fire-adapted vegetation, is a treasure trove of endemic flora. However, this fragile system faces increasing threats from habitat loss, climate change, and invasive species. Pristine fynbos, naturally high in plant diversity and which forms a large part of the CFR, presents an ideal opportunity to gather fine-scale data on community assembly patterns. Most fynbos vegetation surveys use a plot size of about 100 m2, with no spatial structures within plots to demarcate individual subplots. Here, a groundbreaking dataset is presented that fully covers 1-hectare of pristine fynbos, systematically gridded into 50 × 50 subplots, each measuring 2 × 2 m, arranged evenly within a square-shaped survey site. Each plot was assigned a unique Y–X coordinate combination. For each plot, all plant species present were recorded, along with their total percentage covers and maximum height values. Total percentage covers were also recorded for bare soil, rock, and termite mounds. This dataset provides a valuable contribution to the field of fynbos ecology, as well as plant community ecology in general, and establishes a benchmark for future one-hectare surveys of similar fynbos vegetation types, delineating the fine-scale composition and structure of fynbos in the CFR. The dataset will be useful for a wide audience, including community and spatial ecologists, plant and environmental scientists, and biodiversity informaticians and statistical ecologists, offering ideal data for testing new metrics of diversity and compositional turnover. Data in Brief, Volume 59, April 2025, 111334: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2025.111334开普硬叶灌丛（Cape fynbos）作为南非开普植物区（Cape Floristic Region, CFR，全球生物多样性热点地区）的组成部分，以极高的植物物种特有性和多样性享誉全球。这一独特的生态系统以贫瘠土壤和适应火干扰的植被为特征，是特有植物的宝库。然而，这一脆弱的生态系统正面临栖息地丧失、气候变化与外来入侵物种日益加剧的威胁。未受干扰的原生硬叶灌丛天然拥有极高的植物多样性，且占据开普植物区的大片区域，为获取群落组装模式的精细尺度数据提供了理想的研究载体。目前绝大多数硬叶灌丛植被调查采用约100平方米的样地尺寸，且样地内未设置空间结构以划分独立的小样方。本研究发布了一套开创性数据集：其完整覆盖1公顷原生硬叶灌丛，将该区域系统网格化划分为50×50个小样方，每个小样方尺寸为2×2米，均匀分布于方形调查样地内。每个样方均配有唯一的Y-X坐标组合。针对每个样方，研究人员记录了所有现存植物物种及其总盖度、最大株高，同时还记录了裸土、岩石与白蚁丘的总盖度。本数据集为硬叶灌丛生态学乃至整体植物群落生态学领域提供了宝贵的研究资料，并为未来针对同类硬叶灌丛植被类型的1公顷级调查建立了基准，精准刻画了开普植物区内硬叶灌丛的精细尺度组成与结构。本数据集可服务于广泛的研究群体，包括群落与空间生态学家、植物与环境科学家、生物多样性信息学家与统计生态学家，为测试新型多样性与群落组成更替度量指标提供了理想的数据支撑。《数据简报》（Data in Brief）第59卷，2025年4月，文章编号111334：https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2025.111334