Capital and income breeders among herbs: how relative biomass allocation into a storage organ relates to clonal traits, phenology and environmental gradients

We measured biomass of rhizomes, aboveground stems, and leaves in 20 temperate herbaceous perennial species, each at two localities, establishing allometric relationships for pairs of organs. We correlated relative rhizome investment with clonal traits, environmental gradients and phenology, across species.Site species relevees.xlsxSpecies composition and abundance assessed at each site where a population of one or more of the 20 perennial study species was sampled prior to biomass measurement. We used this species composition information in combination with Ellenberg Indicator Values to estimate environmental conditions at each of 38 sites visited.Tab 1. All sitesFields: 1. Site numberThe number assigned to each site (1 to 38)2. Name of local town or villageThe name of the town or village nearest to the site3. GPS NPosition of site. Latitude (decimal degrees)4. GPS SPosition of site. Longitude (decimal degrees)5. Date of samplingDate on which each site was visited for excavation of the study species.6. Date of releveDate on which each site was visted for assesing herbaceous species composition in a quadrat7. Ellenberg Soil moistureMean of species-level Ellenberg indicator moisture values for the site8. Ellenberg Soil nutrientsMean of species-level Ellenberg indicator nutrients values for the site9. Name of the study species that was excavated for biomass measurement at each siteTabs 2-39 Herbaceous species composition in a quadrat at each siteFields:1. presenceThe number assigned to each herbaceous species in the quadrat2. %Abundance as recorded in the field3. %Percentage abundance used to weight Ellenberg Indicator values4. JUICE-ecological indicatorsNames of the herbaceous species present in the quadrat5. MoistureSpecies-level soil moisture Ellenberg Indicator value for the species (following Chytrý et al., 2018)6. Moisture weightedSpecies-level soil moisture Ellenberg Indicator value for the species weighted by abundance7. NutrientsSpecies-level soil nutrients Ellenberg Indicator value for the species (following Chytrý et al., 2018)8. Nutrients weightedSpecies-level soil nutrients Ellenberg Indicator value for the species weighted by abundanceOrgan biomass data.xlsxFields:1. SpeciesName of the study species excavated2. Sample IDIdentifier assigned to the individual plant from the study species3. Date of collectionDate of excavation of the individual plant from the study species4. SiteWhether the Ellenberg Indicator variables show that the site is the 'wetter' or 'drier' of the two sites visited to excavate the study species, as assessed for Soil moisture5. Fresh weight of rhizomeWeight of rhizome for the individual plant prior to oven drying (g)6. Dry weight of rhizomeWeight of rhizome for the individual plant after oven drying (g)7. Dry weight of stemWeight of all stem tissue for the individual plant after oven drying (g)8. Dry weight of leavesWeight of all leaf tissue for the individual plant after oven drying (g)