ORNL DAAC Data Release - BioSCape Wetland Vegetation Plot Data & Foliar Trait and Spectroscopy Data

[ORNL - blancohl]

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC) released a series of new datasets for the Biodiversity Survey of the Cape (BioSCape) recently.

The Biodiversity Survey of the Cape (BioSCape) Project is an international collaboration between South Africa and the United States to study biodiversity in South Africa’s Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR). The GCFR was selected due to two exceptional hotspots of both terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity. The GCFR is listed among the World’s 200 Significant Ecoregions. The BioSCape is an integrated field and airborne campaign occurring in 2023. The campaign will collect UV/visible to short wavelength infrared (UVSWIR) and thermal imaging spectroscopy and laser altimetry LiDAR data over terrestrial and aquatic targets using four airborne instruments: Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer - Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG), Portable Remote Imaging SpectroMeter (PRISM), Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS), and Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer (HyTES). The anticipated airborne data set is unique in its size and scope and unprecedented in its instrument combination and level of detail. These airborne data will be accompanied by a range of biodiversity-related field observations. BioSCape’s primary objective is to understand the structure, function, and composition of the region’s ecosystems, and to learn about how and why they are changing in time and space.

More information about these datasets and the project can be found on the NASA Earthdata BioSCape project page.


BioSCape Estuary Wetland Vegetation Plot Data and Habitat Extents, South Africa
This dataset provides vegetation information for 64 coastal wetland plots and coastal wetland extent maps for three habitat classes in 84 estuaries in South Africa. The vegetation plot data include vegetation species occurrence, percent cover, salinity, representative vegetation heights, porewater salinity, and ground temperature. In situ plot data were collected between October 27 and November 10, 2023, in Swartvlei Estuary, Wilderness Lakes, Knynsa Estuary, and Langebaan Lagoon within lands administered by the South African National Parks. The habitat extent maps were created for 84 estuaries across the Greater Cape Floristic Region. The classification is a single point in time representing the growing season when the plot data were collected (December 2023-January 2024). The habitat extent data were created with PlanetScope satellite classified with a U-Net semantic segmentation algorithm. The habitats classified are salt marsh, submerged aquatic vegetation, and reeds & sedges. Plot and habitat data were collected and created to inform analysis of the imaging spectroscopy and LiDAR data collected as part of the BioSCape field campaign. The data are provided in cloud optimized GeoTIFF, comma separated values, and geopackage formats.

Foliar Trait and Spectroscopy Data, Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa
This dataset holds foliar trait measurements, species-level life history traits, visible-near infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy, and vegetation survey data for plant communities within the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) of South Africa. Foliar traits measurements were made between 2010 and 2014. Releve surveys data include plots from 1966 to 2014. Trait collection efforts extended over 5.8% of the GCFR's total area, where measurements were made for 1,327 species from 99 families. The trait dataset comprises 135,325 leaf and twig structural measurements, 7,513 canopy measurements and 11,950 elemental/isotopic measurements. The spectroscopy dataset contains 3,205 VNIR spectral measurements (450-949 nm) of 1,181 species from 96 families. These data contribute to research initiatives such as the Biodiversity Survey of the Cape (BioSCape) project and help understand this ecosystem from a trait-based perspective. The data are provided in comma separated values (CSV) format.

Citations:
Campbell, A., Adam, E., Fatoyinbo, L., Jensen, D. J., Simard, M., Smith, K., Thakali, P., Barrenblit, A., Naidoo, L., van Deventer, H., & Stovall, A. (2025). BioSCape Estuary Wetland Vegetation Plot Data and Habitat Extents, South Africa (Version 1). ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2441

Frye, H., Aiello-Lammens, M. E., Euston-Brown, D., Jones, C. S., Kilroy Mollmann, H., Merow, C., Slingsby, J. A., van der Merwe, H., Turner, R., Wilson, A. M., &amp; Silander Jr, J. A. (2026). <i>Foliar Trait and Spectroscopy Data, Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa</i> (Version 1). ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2482