This data set reports woody plant species abundances in a network of 96 sampling sites spread across 22 000 km 2 in the central Western Ghats region, Karnataka, India (74°15′–75°40′ E; 15°15′–13°30′ N). Due to its varied climate and diverse topography, the study area, which is part of the Western Ghats–Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot, supports a wide array of non‐equatorial tropical habitats including wet evergreen, moist and d...