Tree species abundance data from Uppangala Permanent Sample Plot, since 1989, Western Ghats, India.

Data set on demography of trees monitored over 20 years in Uppangala permanent sample plot (UPSP) in undisturbed, old-growth wet evergreen Dipterocarp forest located within the Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary in India's Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. During 1989–1990, all trees ≥30 cm girth at breast height (gbh) were sampled in five north–south transects 20 m wide and 180–370 m long covering a total area of 3.12 ha. In 1992–1993, additional rectangular plots were established, bringing the total area sampled to 5.07 ha. In all, 3870 trees were identified, tagged, mapped, and provided with permanent dendrometer bands. Since then, the sampled area has been regularly censused at 3–5-year intervals, recording tree recruitment, mortality, and growth. We present data from censuses conducted in 1990–1993, 1994, 1997–1998, 2001–2002, 2007, and 2010. These data have been used to study the natural forest dynamics and to calibrate spatially explicit simulation models.