Field data on vegetation structure and effects of human use of the Dambos ecosystem in Northern Mozambique

The data content of this paper is related to the original research article entitled “Vegetation Structure and Effects of Human Use of the Dambo Ecosystem in Northern Mozambique” that was published in the Global Ecology and Conservation. Woody and grass vegetation was inventoried in the dambos wetlands of the Niassa National Reserve (NNR), the largest Protected Area (PA) in Mozambique and the third largest in Africa. The six dambos assessed were selected through Google Earth, MODIS satellite images and exploratory field visits. The selected dambos were surveyed using a two-stage systematic sampling procedure in which woody vegetation was inventoried by means of transects, and the grass was inventoried using quadratic sub-plots laid down within the transects. The woody vegetation survey included the identification of all individuals to the species level, measurement of total height and diameter at breast height (DBH). The grass vegetation survey consisted of measurement of the total height and species identification within sub-plots. Woody vegetation data in this article includes also estimation of total richness, absolute and relative abundance, dominance, frequency, species volume and successional stage of each species in the vertical structure. Estimation of richness and absolute dominance is also presented for the grass vegetation.