A new Vegetation-Plot Database for the Coastal Forests of Kenya

Abstract

Biodiversity data based on standardised sampling designs are key to ecosystem conservation. Data of this sort have been lacking for the Kenyan coastal forests despite being biodiversity hotspots. Here, we introduce the Kenyan Coastal Forests Vegetation-Plot Database (GIVD ID: AF-KE-001), consisting of data from 158 plots, subdivided into 3,160 subplots, across 25 forests. All plots include data on tree identity, diameter and height. Abundance of shrubs is presented for 316 subplots. We recorded 600 taxa belonging to 80 families, 549 of which identified to species and 51 to genus level. Species richness per forest site varied between 43 and 195 species; mean diameter between 13.0 ± 9.8 and 30.7 ± 20.7 cm; and mean tree height between 5.49 ± 3.99 and 12.29 ± 10.61 m. This is the first plot-level database of plant communities across Kenyan coastal forests. It will be highly valuable for analysing biodiversity patterns and assessing future changes in this ecosystem. Taxonomic reference: African Plant Database (African Plant Database version 3.4.0). Abbreviations: DBH = diameter at breast height; GIVD = Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases; KECF-VPD = Kenyan Coastal Forests Vegetation Plot Database.