Forest plant species inventory of Lama classified forest

The dataset is about the forest plant species inventory in the Lama Forest (South Benin). Data are collected in plots of a 100*100 meter size. The forest owes its name to the “Lama depression”, a notch in the sedimentary basin of southern Benin, which is exposed from the marls and clays of the Eocene and in which vertisols develop. It extends over 16,250 hectares, divided between the departments of the Atlantic (9,750 ha in Toffo) and Zou (6,500 ha in Zogbodomey). Between 1946 and 1986, human activity destroyed a large part of the natural forest by clearing and bushfires, then a management plan made it possible to preserve approximately 4,759 ha which now constitutes the "central core" ( CN). Arranged around this nucleus, new plantations must make it possible to protect it, while covering the needs for construction and heating wood. The forest is subject to a four-season subequatorial climate, with irregular rainfall (1,100 mm per year on average). Humidity remains very high in the dry season and night fog persists until late in the morning2. The altitude is 60 m on average3.