Extreme warming coordinately shifts root and leaf traits of alpine plants towards conservatism

Climate change-induced shifts in plant functional traits can profoundly affect the stability of plant communities and ecosystem functions. However, the way in which leaf and root traits coordinate in response to climate extremes remains poorly understood. Here we measured sixteen leaf and root traits of ten dominant plant species from a Tibetan alpine grassland to explore whether extreme warming leads to coupled/decoupled responses of root and leaf traits. We found that extreme warming increased the investment in defensive traits of plant leaves, but this came at the expense of plant growth. Specifically, warming increased the concentration of defensive compounds (tannin) in leaves by 44.4% but decreased leaf mass by 12.3%. More importantly, we found that the changes in leaf and root traits in response to extreme warming were coupled, resulting in both systems adopting more conservative strategies. For instance, extreme warming reduced leaf area and simultaneously increased root tissue ..., Species culture and laboratory-controlled extreme warming experiment
In August 2020, a survey was conducted in the alpine meadows at Haibei Station to assess biomass and identify dominant species based on relative biomass abundance. From May to August 2021, seeds from over 30 common species were collected for germination. Based on survey and pre-experiment results, 10 dominant plant species were selected for the experiment, including 2 types of grasses (Stipa aliena and Elymus nutans), 2 types of sedges (Carex alatauensis and Carex buchananii), 2 types of legumes (Tibetia himalaica and Oxytropis ochrocephala), and 4 types of forbs (Saussurea superba, Saussurea nigrescens, Gentiana straminea and Aster diplostephioides), which together accounted for 48.54% of the total biomass.
In our laboratory-controlled extreme warming experiment, spanning one growing season (from May to September), we employed temperature gradient plates (Model GRD-1; Grant Scientific Inc., Cambridgeshire, UK) to appl..., , # Dataset for \"Extreme warming coordinately shifts root and leaf traits of alpine plants towards conservatism\"

#### File: New_data-Extreme_warming_coordinately_shifts_root_and_leaf_traits_of_alpine_plants_towards_conservatism_.xlsx

**Description:** This dataset contains leaf and root traits values of 10 species we chose in our research.

##### Variables

* Species: The Latin names of 10 species
* Genus: Genus of 10 species
* Family: Family of 10 species
* Treatment: Control (16℃) or Extreme warming (+4=20℃)
* LC: Leaf carbon content (%)
* LN: Leaf nitrogen content (%)
* LA: Leaf area (cm2)
* LM: Leaf mass (g)
* SLA: Specific leaf area (cm2 g-1)
* Photo: Net photosynthetic rate (µmol m-2 s-1)
* SPAD: Relative value of chlorophyll content in leaf (%)
* Lignin: Lignin content (mg g-1)
* Tannin: Tannin content (mg kg-1)
* SRL: Specific root length (m g-1)
* SRA: Specific root area (cm2 g-1)
* RTD: Root tissue density (g cm3)
* RC: Root carbon content (%)
* RN: Root nitrogen content (%)
* ..., , **Changes after Jun 19, 2025:**

In the previous version of the dataset (Jun 19, 2025), we identified inconsistencies in some variables (LC, LN, LA, LM, SLA, Lignin, RSR) compared to the experimental records. The data has now been corrected based on the experimental records, and a new version has been re-uploaded. An official Erratum has been issued through the journal (https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0413).

气候变化引发的植物功能性状变化，可深刻影响植物群落稳定性与生态系统功能。然而，叶片与根系性状如何协同响应气候极端事件，目前仍鲜有研究。本研究测定了青藏高原高寒草地10种优势植物的16项叶片与根系性状，以探究极端增温是否会引发根系与叶片性状的耦合/解偶联响应。我们发现，极端增温提升了植物叶片的防御性状投入，但这以植物生长为代价。具体而言，增温使叶片中防御化合物单宁的浓度提升了44.4%，同时使叶片干重降低了12.3%。更重要的是，我们发现叶片与根系性状对极端增温的响应呈现耦合效应，致使两个系统均采取更为保守的生存策略。例如，极端增温降低了叶面积，同时提升了根系组织……

### 物种培育与实验室控制极端增温实验
2020年8月，我们在海北站高寒草甸开展调查，基于相对生物量丰度评估生物量并确定优势物种。2021年5月至8月，我们收集了30余种常见植物的种子用于萌发实验。结合调查与预实验结果，最终选取10种优势植物开展本实验，包括2种禾本科植物（*Stipa aliena* 异针茅和*Elymus nutans* 垂穗披碱草）、2种莎草科植物（*Carex alatauensis* 阿拉善苔草和*Carex buchananii* 布坎南苔草）、2种豆科植物（*Tibetia himalaica* 喜马拉雅高山豆和*Oxytropis ochrocephala* 黄花棘豆）以及4种杂类草（*Saussurea superba* 美丽风毛菊、*Saussurea nigrescens* 黑紫风毛菊、*Gentiana straminea* 麻花艽和*Aster diplostephioides* 星毛紫菀），这10个物种合计占总生物量的48.54%。

本实验室控制的极端增温实验涵盖一个生长季（2021年5月至9月），我们采用温度梯度板（型号GRD-1；英国剑桥郡Grant Scientific公司生产）实施增温处理……

# 数据集：《极端增温协同调控高寒植物根系与叶片性状向保守策略转变》
#### 文件：New_data-Extreme_warming_coordinately_shifts_root_and_leaf_traits_of_alpine_plants_towards_conservatism_.xlsx

**数据集说明：** 本数据集包含本研究选取的10种植物的叶片与根系性状实测值。

##### 变量说明
* Species：10个物种的拉丁学名
* Genus：10个物种所属的属
* Family：10个物种所属的科
* Treatment：处理组，分为对照（16℃）与极端增温（+4℃，即20℃）
* LC：叶片碳含量（%）
* LN：叶片氮含量（%）
* LA：叶面积（cm²）
* LM：叶片干重（g）
* SLA：比叶面积（Specific leaf area, cm²·g⁻¹）
* Photo：净光合速率（μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹）
* SPAD：叶片叶绿素相对含量（%）
* Lignin：木质素含量（mg·g⁻¹）
* Tannin：单宁含量（mg·kg⁻¹）
* SRL：比根长（Specific root length, m·g⁻¹）
* SRA：比根面积（Specific root area, cm²·g⁻¹）
* RTD：根系组织密度（Root tissue density, g·cm⁻³）
* RC：根系碳含量（%）
* RN：根系氮含量（%）
* ……

### 2025年6月19日之后的更新说明
在本数据集2025年6月19日的旧版本中，部分变量（LC、LN、LA、LM、SLA、Lignin、RSR）的数值与实验原始记录存在不一致。目前我们已根据实验原始记录修正了相关数据，并重新上传了新版本数据集。期刊已正式发布勘误声明（https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0413）。