Data for: Have humans living within the Greater Cape Floristic Region been using the same plant species through time?
Description
archaeological_data: The data is a summary of all plant species found within 18 archaeological sites within the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR). Plant species with a known range within the GCFR that were found in three sites that fall outside of the GCFR were also included. In total, 205 unique plant species (that occur within the GCFR) were recorded. historical_data: Eleven resources that capture human use of indigenous plant species (that occur within the GCFR) are summarized in this data set. In total 672 plant species with a known range within the GCFR are captured in this data set. Explanation of column headers for each data set: FOR BOTH DATA SETS: Species.name.in.original.text: The plant species name as recorded by the authors. Current.Scientific.name: The new scientific name is provided if the name has changed since the original publication. Family: The plant family in which the plant species occur Genus: The genus of the plant species GCFR: The occurrence of the plant species within the GCFR either: not listed or yes References: The publication in which the plant species is mentioned. FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATABASE: age.arc.layer: The age of the archaeological layer in which the plant species was recorded Min.age: The minimum age of the archaeological layer in which the plant species was recorded Max.age: The maximum age of the archaeological layer in which the plant species was recorded Site: The name of the archaeological site in which the plant species was found Location: Location of the archaeological site FOR CONTEMPORARY DATABASE: Use: A use category was assigned to each plant species depending on the recorded use by humans Part: Part of the plant used by humans Method of preparation: Details of how the plant is prepared for human use Type: The type of use the plant is utilized by Page.reference: The page number of the reference book that mentions that specific use of the plant by humans The SANBI red data list (www.http://redlist.sanbi.org/) and Manning and Goldblatt, (2012) and Snijman (2013) were used to verify plant species name changes and distribution range within the GCFR.