Shortgrass prairie (Colorado, USA) and northern mixedgrass prairie (Wyoming, USA) species traits

These data support Mueller et al. 2023, entitled "Coordination of leaf, root, and seed traits shows the importance of whole plant economics in two semiarid grasslands." Uncertainty persists within trait-based ecology, partly because few studies assess multiple axes of functional variation and their effect on plant performance. For 55 species from two semiarid grasslands, we quantified: i) covariation between economic traits of leaves and absorptive roots, ii) covariation among economic traits, plant height, leaf size, and seed mass, and iii) relationships between these traits and species' abundance. Pairs of analogous leaf and root traits were at least weakly positively correlated (e.g., SLA and SRL). Two pairs of such traits, N content and DMC of leaves and roots, were at least moderately correlated (r>0.5) whether species were grouped by site, taxonomic group and growth form, or life history. Root diameter was positively correlated with seed mass for all groups of species except annuals and monocots. Species with higher LDMC tended to be more abundant (r=0.63). Annuals with larger seeds were more abundant (r=0.69). Compared to global-scale syntheses with many observations from mesic ecosystems, we observed stronger correlations between analogous leaf and root traits, weaker correlations between SLA and leaf N, and stronger correlations between SRL and root N. In dry grasslands, plant persistence may require coordination of above- and belowground traits, and dense tissues may facilitate dominance.

本数据集支撑Mueller等人2023年发表的题为《叶片、根系与种子性状的协同性揭示两种半干旱草原的整株植物经济谱重要性》("Coordination of leaf, root, and seed traits shows the importance of whole plant economics in two semiarid grasslands")的研究。基于性状的生态学领域仍存在诸多不确定性，部分原因在于鲜有研究同时评估功能变异的多个维度及其对植物表现的影响。本研究针对来自两处半干旱草原的55个植物物种，量化了以下内容：① 叶片与吸收根的经济性状间的协同变异；② 经济性状、株高、叶面积以及种子质量之间的协同变异；③ 上述性状与物种多度之间的关联。成对的对应叶片与根系性状至少存在弱正相关（例如比叶面积（SLA）与比根长（SRL））。叶片与根系的氮含量、干物质含量（DMC）这两对性状，无论按样地、分类群、生长型还是生活史对物种进行分组，均至少存在中度相关（相关系数r>0.5）。除一年生植物和单子叶植物类群外，所有物种类群的根系直径均与种子质量呈正相关。叶干物质含量（LDMC）更高的物种往往多度更高（相关系数r=0.63）。种子更大的一年生植物多度更高（相关系数r=0.69）。相较于基于中生生态系统大量观测数据构建的全球尺度综合研究，本研究观测到对应叶片与根系性状间的相关性更强，比叶面积与叶片氮含量间的相关性更弱，而比根长与根系氮含量间的相关性更强。在干旱草原中，植物的存续可能需要地上与地下性状的协同配合，而致密的组织可能有助于物种占据优势地位。