Links between leaf morphology and ecological strategy across secondary succession in a temperate deciduous forest (North Carolina, USA): Implications for the fossil record

The fossil record offers important opportunities to reconstruct plant community responses to past disturbance events. Yet, reconstructions are hindered by limited empirical evidence of successional variation in functional traits measurable on fossil leaves, including leaf morphology and δ13C. In addition, the role the leaf economic spectrum (LES) plays across succession within temperate deciduous forests is unresolved. Lastly, it is unclear to what degree disturbance confounds the leaf morphology-climate relationships utilized in paleoclimate proxies. We utilize a chronosequence spanning forest stands varied by time since logging (4, 21, 44, 94 years old), and one old-growth stand, in North Carolina. Leaf traits of woody non-monocot angiosperms (WNMA) leaves, including all trees and prominent understory plants, were measured to document patterns relating to the LES (e.g., leaf mass per area [LMA]), patterns of leaf morphology and δ13C, and the confounding influence on climatic estimates..., , # Data from: Links between leaf morphology and ecological strategy across secondary succession in a temperate deciduous forest (North Carolina, USA): Implications for the fossil record

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.3r2280gtq](10.5061/dryad.3r2280gtq)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains three data files. The first contains metadata and other data collected at the time of leaf collection, including the site the leaf was sampled in and the taxa it was sampled from. The second contains raw measurements of leaf morphology and the third contains diameter at breast height measurements of all trees with DBH equal to or greater than 10 cm in each study plot used for abundance-weighting trait values at a site-level. 

In each spreadsheet, a \"Headers\" tab exists and provides detail for the meaning of all column headers. 

### Files and variables

#### File: Leaf\_metadata.xlsx

**Description:** Metadata and other data collected at the time of leaf collection, incl...,