Regional and local variation in chemical, structural, and physical leaf traits for tree species in the northeastern United States, 2016-2023.

This dataset is a compilation of leaf trait measurements for 25 different Northern American tree species in the northeastern United States collected between 2016 and 2023 by the Terrestrial Ecosystems Analysis Lab at the University of New Hampshire. Currently, this dataset contains measurements for 2,006 samples across 18 chemical, physical, and structural traits. Measured traits include stable isotopes for carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), chlorophyll estimates, leaf and petiole dimensions, and leaf and petiole water content. Traits have been measured at plots spanning a wide range of latitude, longitude, elevation, and forest types. A simple table containing these plot descriptions has been included. Additional leaf physiological and optical traits have been measured concurrently on many of these samples and have been or will be published separately. This is a continuous dataset that will be updated on an as needed basis.