A dataset of bird checklist and community characteristics during breeding and wintering seasons in typical forest ecosystems of Dinghushan (2015–2018)

Abstract

Bird diversity and its community structure are important indicators for the long-term monitoring of biodiversity in ecosystems. Three typical forest vegetation types have been well preserved in Dinghushan National Nature Reserve, including the monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest, the mixed Pinus massoniana/broad-leaved forest and the Pinus massoniana coniferous forest. In particularly, the monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest has a conservation history of more than 400 years without any human disturbance. The dataset consists of organized data on the long-term monitoring of bird communities during breeding and wintering seasons from 2015 to 2018 in all three forest types. Field surveys recorded information such as bird species, number, time, distance, ground height, habitat type, activity substrate and behavior. Moreover, we carried out various data analyses of diversity index, evenness index, dominance index, similarity coefficient of bird community and occurrence frequency, individual number, as well as average density of bird species in different survey periods. The dataset includes a total of 89 species from 9 orders and 35 families. This dataset provides valuable information for future studies on bird communities, and for better understanding inter-species interaction between multiple groups of plants and animals. It is further expected to support the protection and management of forest ecosystems in this region.