High sensitivity of herbaceous legumes to freezing: insights from a multi-year snow removal study

Reductions in snow cover resulting from winter climate change are anticipated to increase the intensity of freezing exposure for overwintering herbaceous plants in many northern temperate regions. We examined whether herbaceous legumes, a key functional group responsible for increasing soil nitrogen inputs, are more sensitive to freezing than non-leguminous plants in northern temperate plant communities. We conducted snow removal experiments for three years in three herbaceous plant communities (a fallow area, an old field and a restored prairie) and recorded plant cover and biomass responses. For all three years, there were substantial decreases in legume biomass in response to snow removal for the fallow area (reductions of 70%, 90% and 50%; primarily Melilotus albus and M. officinalis) and old field (reductions of 50%, 60% and 50%; primarily Trifolium pratense and Lotus corniculatus), whereas there were no consistent significant reductions in biomass across years for the other herbac..., , , # High sensitivity of herbaceous legumes to freezing: insights from a multi-year snow removal study

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xwdbrv1nw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xwdbrv1nw)

## **Description of the data and file structure**

**Dataset Overview:**

This dataset contains the data used to generate figures and tables in Rycroft and Henry (2025), which tested the hypothesis that herbaceous legumes are more sensitive to freezing than non-leguminous plants in northern temperate plant communities. The study was conducted within three herbaceous plant communities: an old field, a restored tallgrass prairie, and a fallow area. Legume species investigated at each site were: old field –red clover (*Trifolium pratense* L.) and bird’s-foot trefoil (*Lotus corniculatus* L.); tallgrass prairie –showy tick-trefoil (*Desmodium canadense* (L.) DC.); and fallow –white sweet clover (*Melilotus albus* Medik.) and yellow sweet clover (*Melilotus officinalis* (L.) Pall.), with Melilotus spp. pooled...

冬季气候变化引发的积雪覆盖缩减，预计将加剧众多北温带地区越冬草本植物（overwintering herbaceous plants）的冻害胁迫（freezing exposure）。本研究旨在探究：作为提升土壤氮素输入（soil nitrogen inputs）的关键功能群（functional group），草本豆科植物是否比北温带植物群落中的非豆科植物对冻害更为敏感。我们在三类草本植物群落（撂荒地、旧农田及恢复性高草草原（restored tallgrass prairie））开展了为期三年的除雪实验（snow removal experiments），记录了植物盖度（plant cover）与生物量（biomass）的响应变化。三年观测期内，撂荒地样地（优势物种为白香草木樨*Melilotus albus*与黄香草木樨*Melilotus officinalis*）的豆科植物生物量因除雪出现显著下降（降幅分别为70%、90%与50%），旧农田样地（优势物种为红三叶*Trifolium pratense*与百脉根*Lotus corniculatus*）的豆科植物生物量降幅分别为50%、60%与50%；而其余草本植物的生物量在各年间未出现一致的显著下降……
# 草本豆科植物对冻害的高敏感性：基于多年除雪实验的研究启示

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xwdbrv1nw

## 数据与文件结构说明

### 数据集概述
本数据集包含Rycroft与Henry（2025）研究中用于生成图表与表格的全部原始数据，该研究验证了"北温带植物群落中草本豆科植物较非豆科植物对冻害更为敏感"这一假说。本研究共设置三类草本植物群落样地：旧农田（old field）、恢复性高草草原（restored tallgrass prairie）及撂荒地（fallow area）。各调查样地的目标豆科物种如下：旧农田样地——红三叶（*Trifolium pratense* L.）与百脉根（*Lotus corniculatus* L.）；恢复性高草草原样地——显脉山蚂蝗（*Desmodium canadense* (L.) DC.）；撂荒地样地——白香草木樨（*Melilotus albus* Medik.）与黄香草木樨（*Melilotus officinalis* (L.) Pall.），其中草木樨属（*Melilotus* spp.）物种数据合并处理……