A dataset of chemical characteristics of nine common plant species and soil in Yubaiding Nature Reserve, China

This dataset includes leaf chemistry (K, P, C, N, C:N, Tannins, Phenolics) of nine common species and soil nutrient data (total N, total P, total K) and in Yubaiding Nature Reserve, Yunnan, China.Total carbon and nitrogen of leaf and total nitrogen of soil were determined using an Elemental Analyzer(Elementar Vario MAX CN) (General rules for elemental analyzer, JY/T 017-1996). Soil samples were processed by using wet digestion with hydrofluoric acid and perchloric acid (LY/T1234-2015: Potassium determination methods of forest soils; LY/T 1232-2015: Phosphorus determination methods of forest soils) Leaf samples were processed by using wet digestion with nitric acid and perchloric acid (LY/T 1270-1999: Determination of total silica, iron, aluminum, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, sulfur, manganese, copper, and zinc in for-est plant and forest floor). Phosphorus and potassium contents were measured with an ICP (Thermo Fisher iCAP 7400). Measurement of condensed tannin content in plants followed theISO 9648:1988: Sorghum-Determination of tannin content, and total phenolics content was determined by the Folin–Ciocalteumethod (Meda et al.,2005).