Data from: Plant diversity in giant panda habitat

<p>Understanding the relative importance of the factors driving the patterns of biodi-<br> versity is a key research topic in community ecology and biogeography. However, the <br> main drivers of plant species diversity in montane forests are still not clear. In addi-<br> tion, most existing studies make no distinction between direct and indirect effects of <br> environmental factors and spatial constraints on plant biodiversity. Using data from <br> 107 montane forest plots in Sichuan Giant Panda habitat, China, we quantified the <br> direct and indirect effects of abiotic environmental factors, spatial constraints, and <br> plant functional traits on plant community diversity. Our results showed significant <br> correlations between abiotic environmental factors and trees (r = .10, p value = .001), <br> shrubs (r = .19, p value = .001), or overall plant diversity (r = .18, p value = .001) in mon-<br> tane forests. Spatial constraints also showed significant correlations with trees and <br> shrubs. However, no significant correlations were found between functional traits <br> and plant community diversity. Moreover, the diversity (richness and abundance) of <br> shrubs, trees, and plant communities was directly affected by precipitation, latitude, <br> and altitude. Mean annual temperature (MAT) had no direct effect on the richness of <br> tree and plant communities. Further, MAT and precipitation indirectly affected plant <br> communities  via  the  tree  canopy.  The  results  revealed  a  stronger  direct  effect  on <br> montane plant diversity than indirect effect, suggesting that single-species models <br> may be adequate for forecasting the impacts of climate factors in these communities. <br> The shifting of tree canopy coverage might be a potential indicator for trends of plant <br> diversity under climate change.</p>