Data for: Linking root traits to phytoremediation in trees and shrubs: implications of root economics spectrum

Phytoremediation is a promising technique for removing or stabilizing metal ions from metallic trace elements (MTEs) contaminated soils. Despite the significant role of roots in plant growth and survival, limited information is available on the functional covariation of root traits under MTEs stress, and linkages between root resource-use strategies and phytoremediation functioning.
Sixteen root traits were measured across 11 trees and shrubs grown in Pb-Zn mine tailings in Southeastern China, to examine whether a hypothesized root economics spectrum (RES) exists under extremely high levels of multiple MTEs stress and evaluate the importance of root functional traits in explaining phytoremediation functioning.
Our findings offer evidence supporting the widely accepted resource-use strategy of acquisitive-conservative. Furthermore, we have identified a distinct dimension of RES representing the trade-off between root system size and root tissue density. This new dimension highlights t..., , , # **Data for: Linking root traits to phytoremediation in trees and shrubs: implications of root economics spectrum**

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## Description of the data and file structure

Column A is root types resulted from a cluster analysis based on column C-O, column B is the abbreviations of species, column C-K are nine key root traits for PCA1, plus column PV are all root traits for PCA2. Columns C-Q are explanatory variables and X-AI as response variables for linear regressions.

The unit and full name of the abbreviations in the headline are:

* RD cm root depth
* RS cm root spread
* AD mm average diameter
* RTD g.cm-3 root tissue density
* SRL cm.g-1 specific root length
* SRA m2.g-1 specific root area
* RN g.kg-1 root nitrogen content
* RMA g.cm-2 root mass per area
* RDMC g.g-1 root dry matter content
* MRL cm maximum lateral root length
* TL cm total length
* SA cm2 surface area
* FLR % fine root length ratio
* RP g.kg-1 root phosphorus content
* RK g.kg-1 root p...