LT-Brazil: A database of leaf traits across biomes and vegetation types in Brazil

Motivation: Leaf traits represent an important component of plant
functional strategies, and those related to
carbon fixation and nutrient acquisition form the leaf economics
spectrum. However, observations of functional leaf traits are
underrepresented in tropical regions in comparison with those in temperate
areas. Brazil, a country with continental scale and vast biodiversity is a
timely example, where many biomes are impacted by human activities and
climate change. However, leaf traits relevant to understand vegetation
responses to these impacts remain poorly quantified for many species found
in the country. We compiled an extensive data set of four
functional leaf traits for native woody species occurring in the Brazilian
territory. In addition to trait observations, sampling dates and
geo-references were compiled and climatic parameters and soil properties
of each sampling site were extracted from several databases. Main types of
variables contained: The LT-Brazil data set contains 3479, 1216,
775, and 775 clean observations of leaf mass per area, leaf nitrogen (N)
concentration per unit mass, leaf phosphorus (P) concentration per unit
mass, and leaf N : P ratio, respectively, from native woody
species, encompassing information of biome, vegetation, taxonomic
data, geographical coordinates, climatic parameters, as well as soil
properties. Spatial location and grain: We compiled trait observations
from 223 sites under native vegetation distributed in all main
biomes (i.e., Amazônia, Caatinga, Cerrado, Mata Atlântica, Pampa, and
Pantanal) across the Brazilian territory. Time period and grain: The data
represent information published and/or sampled during the last 25 years.
Major taxa and level of measurement: Our compilation was focused on trait
data observed for native woody species, excluding monocots, palm trees,
herbs, and hemiparasitic plants. Thus, 108, 478, and
1321 botanical families, genera, and species were included,
covering c. 9% of the woody angiosperm flora of Brazil. Software format:
Data are provided as comma-separated value (.csv) files.