Data comprise records of percent vegetation cover using a category known as the Braun-Blanquet scale from a survey of indicator vegetation species carried out in the Ankeniheny Zahamena forest corridor in Madagascar. In addition, scientific name, local name, family name and life form (fern, shrub, herb, grass, vine or tree) of vegetation was recorded.
Data were collected as part of a project funded by the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme under work package 4 P4GES project.
Publication date: 2017-03-03
This dataset is part of the following
Full materials and methods available from Supporting Information (Manual_ 1_Classical_Survey)
The estimation of percent cover has been used in the land use determination process. It consists of the evaluation of relative surface coverage of one species in a determined surface.
The percent (%) cover is estimated for the indicator species within a circle of 5m radius (area 78.54 m2) in which the inventory of trees with diameter at breast height (1.3 metres) of 5 to 10cm has been conducted. For each site, % cover was determined with a local botanist. The team uses a visual guide to estimate the % cover. It is recorded by using an 8 category scale known as the Braun-Blanquet scale.
Scale Cover
0 Not present
T Trace amount< 1%
1 1-5% cover
2 5-25% cover
3 25-50% cover
4 50-75% cover
5 75-95% cover
6 >95% cover
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3126-8192