Phylogeny overrides environmental effects in explaining leaf and root nutrient concentrations in Fabaceae

Plant nutrients are essential for plant growth and ecosystem functioning. While Fabaceae plants are ecologically and economically significant, the phylogenetic and environmental controls on their leaf and root nutrient concentrations at a large scale have not been extensively studied.
We measured six nutrient concentrations (N, P, S, K, Ca, and Mg) in both the leaves and roots of 121 Fabaceae species across various vegetation types in China.
The scaling exponents between leaves and roots showed that N-N and P-P were significantly less than 1, Ca-Ca was significantly greater than 1, and S-S, K-K, and Mg-Mg did not significantly differ from 1, indicating divergent nutrient allocation strategies between leaves and roots. For most nutrients, phylogeny explained a larger proportion of the variation than environmental factors. However, for leaf P and K, environmental variables accounted for more variation than phylogeny, with mean annual temperature being the strongest environmental predictor..., Study sites and vegetation types
We selected 88 representative natural ecosystems across China for this study. The sites span latitudes from 18.38°N to 53.3°N and longitudes from 75.47°E to 128.9°E, covering a wide range of vegetation types in the Northern Hemisphere. These include cold-temperate coniferous forests, temperate coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests, warm temperate deciduous broad-leaved forests, subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests, tropical rainforests, temperate steppes, temperate deserts, and the alpine vegetation of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (Fig. 1).
2.2 Field design and plot establish
From 2013 to 2022, samples were collected in July and August, during peak vegetation growth. Sampling occurred in well-protected national nature reserves, ecological observatory sites, or natural vegetation areas with minimal human disturbance (Liu et al., 2023, Liu et al., 2022). In forested areas, three or four experimental plots (30 m × 40 m) were established. Within eac..., # Phylogeny overrides environmental effects in explaining leaf and root nutrient concentrations in Fabaceae

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.sxksn03fs](10.5061/dryad.sxksn03fs)

### Files and variables

#### File: nutritions_environment.csv；species_name.csv

**Description:** We measured the concentrations of six essential nutrients (N, P, S, K, Ca, and Mg) in both the leaves and roots of 121 Fabaceae species collected across diverse vegetation types in China. These measurements aimed to investigate nutrient allocation patterns between above--- and belowground organs and to assess the roles of phylogeny and environment in shaping nutrient variation.

##### Variables

* Six essential nutrients (N, P, S, K, Ca, and Mg) in both the leaves and roots of 121 Fabaceae species
* Soil and climate variable

**Abbreviations**

* Leaf and root element concentrations

**N_leaf** — Leaf nitrogen concentration, mg kg⁻¹ (dry mass)

**P_leaf** — Leaf phosphorus concentration, mg kg⁻¹ (dry mass)

**S_le...,