From traits to flames: Leaf traits, plant strategies, and plant flammability across a moisture gradient in a frequently burned subtropical landscape

The distribution of plant functional traits across environmental gradients can reflect species’ adaptations to local abiotic conditions. Widely measured leaf traits such as leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) indicate different life history strategies and often respond predictably to gradients of stress and disturbance. Mounting evidence suggests that leaf traits also covary with measures of plant flammability. Yet, whether plant flammability and leaf traits covary synchronously across environmental gradients remains unclear. Here, we examined plant community composition, leaf morphological traits, and shoot flammability traits along gradients of water depth and burn frequency between seasonally inundated marl prairie and dry pine rockland on Long Pine Key (LPK) in Everglades National Park (ENP). We built generalized linear mixed models to test the strength and shape of trait-environment relationships between leaf morphological traits, shoot flam..., , # Data from: From traits to flames: Leaf traits, plant strategies, and plant flammability across a moisture gradient in a frequently burned subtropical landscape

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p37t](10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p37t)

## Description of the data and file structure

Plant community composition data were collected between 2018 and 2021  in Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park. Submodules were sampled 8-12 months after the prescribed burn. Composition is measured as percent cover in 1m^2^ submodules for a total of 272 submodules. 

We measured leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) for five healthy, sun-exposed individuals of each species between July and August 2021. Samples were taken from submodules representing each species’ primary habitat. LA was determined by scanning leaves in ImageJ; SLA (mm² mg⁻¹) and LDMC (%) were calculated from saturated and oven-dried masses. Trait values were averaged per species.

Shoot-level flammability ...,