Structure and composition of woodlands across Mozambique

This dataset contains quantitative measurements of woodland structure and composition sampled in twenty-seven different villages across three Districts in Mozambique, Africa. Data were collected from 431 plots where tree stem structure and composition, litter and grass biomass, coarse woody debris, and canopy cover data were recorded. Woodlands within seven villages in Mabalane District, Gaza Province, ten villages in Marrupa District, Niassa Province, and ten villages in Gurue District Zambezia Province were sampled. Data were collected in Mabalane between May-Sep 2014, Marrupa between May-Aug 2015, and Gurue between Sep-Dec 2015. This dataset was collected as part of the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) funded ACES project , which aims to understand how changing land use impacts on ecosystem services and human wellbeing of the rural poor in Mozambique. All data were quality assured by the lead author. When in the field, all teams were trained in data collection methods to ensure consistent robust measurements, and data were continually checked for errors as it was collected. All field teams had a translator to translate from the local language to Portuguese. All data were cleaned post digital entry by checking for extreme outliers in the dataset or unexpected values. Anomalous entries were corrected where possible, or were removed and treated as no record. All observations were recorded in Portuguese, and translated to English by the lead author. All of the data were collected electronically in the field for Marrupa and Gurue survey sites using tablets and ODK software. Wherever possible, pre-set answers or binary responses were used (e.g. has the plot been recently burned: true or false) to systematically record qualitative observations and avoid ambiguous results.