DOI: 10.5061/dryad.djh9w0wch
title: Leaf size and shape interact to control flammability: An experiment with artificial leaves cut from the large-leaved species Sapranthus palanga

description: Climate change is altering fire regimes globally, increasing the
 occurrence, frequency, and severity of wildfires in ecosystems not
 traditionally adapted to fire, including tropical forests. Understanding
 the flammability of living plant tissues, particularly leaves—the most
 abundant and easily ignitable plant fuel—is crucial for predicting fire
 behavior and ecosystem responses. Leaf morphological traits such as size,
 shape, thickness, and surface area influence key physical processes like
 heat transfer, drying rate, and flame propagation, but their independent
 effects remain poorly understood due to confounding biochemical factors.
 To isolate the role of leaf size and shape in flammability, we performed
 controlled laboratory experiments using artificial leaves cut from a
 single large-leaved tropical species, Sapranthus palanga, thereby
 standardizing chemical composition and venation. The dataset comprises
 three experiments: (1) a control assessing differences between intact and
 cut leaf margins, (2) a factorial experiment testing the interaction
 between leaf shape (circular, rectangular, triangular) and size (small,
 medium, large), and (3) a shape-only experiment controlling for surface
 area. Measured variables include ignition time, flame duration, distance
 burned, and burning rate under standardized flame exposure. This dataset
 includes three files with the measured values for flammability as a
 function of size, shape, and the control dataset for our pilot
 study. These data provide a rigorous empirical foundation to
 understand how fundamental geometric leaf traits influence flammability,
 contributing to improved fire ecology models and management in tropical
 ecosystems facing changing fire regimes.
description: # Leaf size and shape interact to control flammability: An experiment with
 artificial leaves cut from the large-leaved species Sapranthus palanga
 This readme file describes the data files and supplementary files
 accompanying the above publication. For any further queries and if you
 would like to use this data in a publication, please contact Esthela
 Rodríguez
 ([rodriguezesthela14@gmail.com](mailto:rodriguezesthela14@gmail.com)). The
 following files are included: Flammability_S.palanga_Control.csv: This
 file contains data from an experiment designed to evaluate whether cutting
 artificial leaves from larger natural leaves affects their flammability.
 Columns: * margins type: Type of leaf margin, either “normal” (natural
 edge) or “cut” (manually cut edge). * ignition time (s): Time (in seconds)
 it took for the leaf to ignite after standardized flame application. *
 extinguished the flame (s): Time (in seconds) when the flame
 self-extinguished. * sustainability time (s): Duration of sustained flame
 (in seconds), calculated as the difference between flame extinguishment
 time and ignition time. Flammability__S.palanga_Size.csv: This file
 includes flammability data across different leaf sizes and shapes.
 Columns: * shape: General shape of the artificial leaf (circular,
 triangular, rectangular). * size: Size class (small, medium, large),
 corresponding to surface area. * ignition time (s): Time to ignition, in
 seconds. * extinguished the flame (s): Time when the flame extinguished,
 in seconds. * sustainability time (s): Flame duration, in seconds. *
 distance that the fire reached (mm): Maximum distance burned on the leaf,
 in millimeters. * burning rate (mm s-1): Fire propagation rate, calculated
 as distance/time, in millimeters per second.
 Flammability_S._palanga_Shape.csv: This file summarizes flammability
 results by different leaf shapes, keeping size constant. Columns: * shape:
 General shape of the artificial leaf (circular, triangular, rectangular).
 * ignition time (s): Time to ignition, in seconds. * extinguished the
 flame (s): Time when the flame extinguished, in seconds. * sustainability
 time (s): Flame duration, in seconds. * distance that the fire reached
 (mm): Maximum distance burned on the leaf, in millimeters. * burning rate
 (mm s-1): Fire propagation rate, calculated as distance/time, in
 millimeters per second.