Plant diversity of eco-friendly and conventional guava farms in Thailand
Description
Eco-friendly practices support higher wild plant diversity than conventional practices in tropical fruit farms Piriya Hassa, Paweena Traiperm, and Alyssa B. Stewart The objective of this study was to assess plant diversity in tropical smallholdings, comparing eco-friendly and conventional guava farms in central Thailand. We conducted plant surveys across all seasons and quantified plant and flower communities (diversity and abundance) for all wild (weedy) and cultivated plant species observed on study farms. Meta data: - Row: row number - Year: year that data was collected - Month: month that data was collected - Date: date that data was collected - Farm ID: name of farm - Farm Type: type of farm (conventional or eco-friendly) - Field Layout: the field layout of each study farm was classified as either border polycropping (secondary crops were planted along the border of guava fields), intercropping (secondary crops were planted in rows between guava rows), or patchwork polycropping (diverse crops were planted in small fields directly adjacent to guava fields) - Plant Species: scientific name of plant - Plant Abundance: For cultivated plants, abundance was quantified as the number of plant individuals on the farm. For wild plants, abundance was quantified as the percent coverage across the farm. - Floral Abundance: estimated number of floral units for each plant species (Note: we did not estimate floral abundance for Poaceae or Cyperaceae) - Origin: plant origin (native or exotic or unknown) - Plant Type: plant type (cultivated or wild) - Field Size: size of study field in hectares - Season: season when data was collected (cool dry or hot dry or rainy) - Plant Habit: forb, graminoid, shrub, shrub-like, tree, or tree-like (further categorized as small or large)