This dataset measures colour and estimates body size of ant species collected across four vertical strata: subterranean, ground, understory and canopy in lowland tropical rainforest. Ants were collected using different trapping techniques in each stratum; baited traps were used in the subterranean, understory and canopy strata and Winkler extractions were used to collect ground ants. The colour of each ant species was classified categorically by eye using a set pre-determined colours. A single dominant colour was assigned for each species, this was determined as the modal colour across all body parts and individuals for each species. Each colour was linked to a set of RGB (red, green and blue) values which were extracted from the original colour wheel using the image editing software paint.NET (v.4.0.3); RGB values for each colour were converted into HSV (hue, saturation and value) format. Body size of each species was estimated by measuring Weber’s length. Accompanying the ant species data set are four additional data files: 1) data set measuring intraspecific variation in colour, 2) data set measuring intraspecific variation in Weber’s length, 3) data set measuring soil temperature, and 4) data set measuring UVB radiation at 5 m vertical intervals from the ground to the canopy. This data is a contribution from the UK NERC-funded Biodiversity And Land-use Impacts on Tropical Ecosystem Function (BALI) consortium. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/c0f65bf5-3cb0-41ab-be3d-982490cecba9

This dataset contains the results from a metabarcoding study of terrestrial leech blood meals to detect differences in the diets of two leech species, Haemadipsa picta and Haemadipsa sumatrana. Mammal taxa were identified using metabarcoding of 16s rRNA and comparisons of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) to a curated reference database from NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) GenBank. All leeches were collected from the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems project (SAFE; www.SAFEproject.net) as part of the NERC Human Modified tropical Forest Programme and the LOMBOK consortia (Land-use Options for Maintaining BiOdiversity & eKosystem functions). Leech samples were collected at different sites across a habitat gradient, to assess these invertebrates as molecular sampling tools for mammals. Individuals were pooled before amplicon sequencing with Illumina MiSeq 150-200bp x2. The resultant raw sequences were filtered and clustered at 97%, curated and then assigned to the reference database using BLAST and MEGAN programmes. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/3affed0d-fe6f-4916-89e3-e672639191e5

Data are presented for Above ground Carbon Density (ACD) estimated from a series of forest census surveys which took place from 1992 – 2016 in a mixture of logged and unlogged tropical lowland dipterocarp forest in the Ulu Segama Forest Reserve (USFR) and Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA), Sabah, Malaysia. Additional data on logging method, coupe and year of logging is also presented. The USFR comprises of forested land divided into coupes that were each logged once, between 1972 and 1993 using either ‘tractor’ or ‘high-lead’ methods. Between 1993 and 2004, forest restoration treatments were carried out, including climber cutting and tree planting, annually across logging coupes within the USFR. The data-set was compiled from census carried out in three independent plot networks. The first led by researchers from the Universities of Dundee, Aberdeen and Nottingham. The second led by researchers from the University of Aberdeen. The third through the INnoprise FAce PROject INFAPRO project. Between 1992 and 2016 a forest census survey was carried out on at least two occasions in 553 forest plots to determine the rate of ACD accumulation and understand the impact of forest restoration treatments on ACD accumulation. Tree stem diameter, height and identity measurements at each plot were collected by project members and research assistants employed by the SouthEast Asian Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP). The ACD carbon estimation and modelling was led by researchers from the Universities of Dundee, ETH Zurich and Aberdeen. The data were compiled and submitted by researchers from the University of Dundee and ETH Zurich. Funding for the establishment of the original plot networks was provided by the EU-funded INDFORSUS project (ER-BIC18T960102), from New England Electric Systems, National Geographic Society and the Garden Club of America, and from Face the Future Foundation. Funding for the repeated measurements was provided by the NERC ‘Spatio-TEmporal Dynamics of Forest Response to ENSO Drought (STEED)’ (NERC grant reference NE/P004806/1) and the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland funded project ‘Changing species diversity and biomass accumulation in conserved and regenerating tropical forests: two decades on’. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/a75e6371-a931-4676-9199-d1f5af565ab2

This data represents a survey of all the large trees in permanent forest plots in Danum Valley and Sepilok Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia to determine whether they were dead or alive in 2019. The data consist of individual tree ids, which can be linked back to the plot inventory data, status and some details about the mode of death. Additional data for Danum Valley is available through the ForestGEO portal. Additional data for Sepilok reserve is available through forestplots website. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/cfbf27e7-44ce-404c-ab0a-0b079b18fd4f

This data set contains stacked detection matrices for 28 recorded mammal species across 115 sampling locations at the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) project site located in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Information for each camera trap sampling location, including spatial information and sampling effort is included. Data were collected in order to determine the contribution of carbon-based policies to biodiversity conservation in agricultural land-use mosaics. These data are essential to the development of the occupancy detection matrix. Data were collected in 2015 during a project which was included in the NERC Human-modified tropical forest (HMTF) Programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/62774180-ae72-4873-9482-e8be3935f533

This dataset contains records of exotic plant occurrence within 21 oil palm-dominated sites in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Within each site, exotic plants were recorded along 100m transects in up to four habitats that represented a gradient of disturbance. The four habitats included oil palm, forest-oil palm edge, disturbed forest and intact forest. In addition to exotic plant data, the dataset contains measurements of forest structure for each transect, including canopy cover and number of large native trees. These data were collected in order to examine the change in exotic species composition along a disturbance gradient from oil palm areas into intact rainforest remnants. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/372861ee-67c5-4bb3-b765-cf8c03c06199

This dataset consists of moth and dung beetle recapture, movement, and trait data from a mark-release-recapture experiment conducted within riparian forest reserves, in an oil palm landscape in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo conducted as part of the SAFE project (Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems). This resource includes information regarding the recapture frequency and movement behaviour of both moths and dung beetles with respect to three habitat types: riparian forest reserve, continuous forest, and oil palm plantation. These data were collected to assess the extent in which moths and dung beetles use riparian forest reserves, relative to the oil palm plantations, as movement corridors between continuous forest. Data was collected between 2016 and 2017, as part of the Land use Options of Maintaining BiOdiversity and eKosystem functions project (LOMBOK), a part of the Human Modified Tropical Forests Programme (HMTF) Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/4ca7f1ff-7bc4-4077-bc9c-96be1be3e655

This dataset contains measurements of herbivory occurrence and herbivory intensity within 21 oil palm dominated sites in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Within each site, herbivory measurements were recorded for Clidemia hirta and Melastoma spp. plants along two 100m transects, one at the forest-oil palm edge and the other in disturbed forest. In addition to herbivory measurement data, the dataset contains measurements of the number of reproductive organs, local density of C. hirta plants and local canopy cover. These data were collected in order to examine evidence for the roles of natural enemy release and biotic resistance in invasion of C. hirta within agricultural landscapes of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, where C. hirta co-occurs with native species of Melastomataceae. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/2e2e2970-eb78-4005-b271-7101e615186a

This code uses pathway modelling to look at correlations of exotic plant invasion in tropical rainforest remnants and continuous sites. Partial least squares path-modelling looks at correlations between latent variables that are informed by measured variables. The code examines the relative influence of landscape-level fragmentation, local forest disturbance, propagule pressure, soil characteristics and native community composition on invasion. The total native community is examined first. Then subsets of the native community are modelled separately, adult trees, tree saplings, tree seedlings and ground vegetation. The relationship between the native and exotic communities was tested in both directions. Full details about this application can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/adbf6d29-ee7b-4dd1-9730-11d2308d526c

The R code "carbon_stock_calculations.R" estimates aboveground carbon stocks for 49 plots in 14 fragmented forest sites and 4 continuous forest sites in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, using the vegetation dataset 'Vegetation and habitat data for fragmented and continuous forest sites in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, 2017'. The 14 fragmented sites were all in Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil-certified oil palm plantations, and are hereafter termed 'conservation set-asides'. The code also estimates the aboveground carbon stocks of oil palm plantations for comparison. The R code "analyses_and_figures.R" runs analyses and makes figures of aboveground carbon stocks and associated plant diversity for these sites, as presented in Fleiss et al. (2020) This R code was created in order to investigate the following: (1) to establish the value of conservation set-asides for increasing oil palm plantation aboveground carbon stocks; (2) to establish whether set-asides with high aboveground carbon stocks can have co-benefits for plant diversity; (3) to compare the carbon stocks and vegetation structure of conservation set-asides with that of continuous forest, including assessing tree regeneration potential by examining variation in seedling density; (4) to examine potential drivers of variation in aboveground carbon stocks of conservation set-asides (topography, degree of fragmentation, and soil parameters); (5) to scale-up the estimates of the aboveground carbon stocks of conservation set-asides, in order to predict average carbon stocks of oil palm plantations with and without set-asides, and for varying coverage of set-asides across the plantation. Full details about this application can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/9ff5cdca-b504-4994-8b07-5912ee6aff47