Top-down drivers of savanna ecosystems promote bird foraging

These data are from a factoria experiment excluding large mammals and applying early and late dry season burns in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique.  Data include the abundance and richness of foraging granivorous and insectivorous birds as well as grass biomass, grass cover, grass richness, shrub abundance, Capparis erythrocarpos cover, and tree basal area.  Data are from 2023-2024. # Top-down drivers of savanna ecosystems promote bird foraging Access this dataset on Dryad ([doi.org](doi.org)) --- We have submitted our raw data (**jonata_data_dryad.csv**), primary dataset containing vegetation and bird abundance and richness across experimental treatments. ## Description of the data and file structure The ‘jonata_data_dryad’ dataset includes ecological data from the Gorongosa Savanna Ecology Experiment in Mozambique. The data include fire and large mammal presence treatment levels as well as data on vegetation and the abundance and richness of foraging granivorous and insectivorous birds. The experimental plots were 30 x 30 m and were either open or closed to large mammal herbivores. Crossed with the herbivore exclosure treatment was a fire treatment included early dry season (cold) and late dry season (hot) fires as well as unburned plots. The treatments were applied initially in 2021. In response, grass biomass, cover, and richness, shrub abundance and richness, and tree diameter were measured. Foraging insectivorous and granivorous bird surveys were completed monthly from April 2023-January 2024. Variable explanation: * **block**: Experimental block identifier. * **plot**: Plot identifier within each block. * **fire**: Fire treatment * Control = no fire * Cold = early dry-season fire (low-intensity fire) * Hot = late dry-season fire (high-intensity fire) * **exclosure**: Large mammals exclusion * Open = open plot, large mammals allowed * Closed = fenced plot, large mammals excluded * **month**: Month of sampling. * **year**: Year of sampling. * **tree_basal_area**: Basal area of trees (m²). * **grass_biomass**: Grass biomass (kg). * **grass_cover**: Cover of grasses (%). * **grass_richness**: Number of grass species (count). * **capparis_area**: Area covered by Capparis shrubs (m²) * **capparis_abun**: Abundance of Capparis individuals (count). * **shrub_abun_mean**: Mean abundance of shrubs (count). * **shrub_rich_mean**: Mean shrub species richness (count). * **abun_insectivore**: Abundance of insectivores birs (count). * **rich_insectivore**: Species richness of insectivores birds (count). * **abun_granivore**: Abundance of granivores birds (count per plot). * **rich_granivore**: Species richness of granivores birds (count). The ‘jon_sppaccumulation’ dataset includes minutes of survey time as sample periods (rows) and all the species observed in the experiment in columns. Values in cells are the abundance of each species during each sampling period. Birds were surveyed monthly from April 2023-January 2024. ## Key Information Data were collected in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, as part of a factorial experiment testing fire regimes and the presence of large mammals on savanna biodiversity.