DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1ns1rn8sq
title: Data from: Are belowground clonal traits good predictors of ecosystem functioning in temperate grasslands?

description: Dataset contains data on biomass distribution, soil characteristics and
 trait data for 52 temperate grasslands. Data are presented at community
 level. Biomass distribution (aboveground biomass, rhizome biomass, and
 root biomass) and soil chemistry data are original. The trait data are
 from existing databases and are presented as averages for a community (not
 weighted by species abundance).
description: Field sampling Field data were collected in
 two regions of the Czech Republic; ‘České Budějiovice’ (CB) and ‘Železné
 Hory’ (ZH). In the CB region, 30 semi-natural grasslands mown twice per
 growing season were sampled. In the ZH region, 22 semi-natural grasslands
 mown once per growing season were sampled. Data were collected before the
 (first) mowing at the peak of biomass production, at the end of May 2015
 for CB and at the beginning of July 2017 for ZH. The studied grasslands
 are dominated by a mixture of grasses and forbs, and were neither grazed
 by domestic animals nor burned. At each grassland, one
 5 × 5 m plot was randomly selected, and species presence was recorded.
 Five subplots 0.2 × 0.2 m were established at plot corners and centre to
 collect aboveground biomass. In the same five subplots, after aboveground
 biomass removal, soil samples for analyses of belowground biomass and soil
 parameters were collected. Collection of soil samples for belowground
 biomass and soil parameters was slightly different in the two regions
 reflecting differences in aboveground plant size. In CB, the core size for
 belowground biomass sampling was 5 cm diameter × 12 cm depth, while in ZH
 was 8 cm diameter × 12 cm depth; dry biomass values (aboveground, root,
 rhizome) were then recalculated to g/m2. Laboratory
 procedures Aboveground biomass samples were dried at
 80°C until they reached constant weight, and weighted. Belowground biomass
 and soil chemical parameters samples were frozen at -28°C and processed at
 a later stage. Belowground biomass was washed out from defrosted soil
 cores using 0.5 mm mesh sieve, and roots and rhizomes were manually
 sorted. Roots and rhizomes were dried at 80°C until they reached constant
 weight, then weighted. The five soil samples coming from each grassland
 plot were mixed to homogenize soil variability and analyzed at the
 Analytical Laboratory of the Faculty of Sciences University of South
 Bohemia, České Budějovice (CB samples) and at the Analytical Laboratory of
 the Institute of Botany, Třeboň (ZH samples). In both cases, the same
 analytical approach was used. For pH evaluation, 5 g samples were diluted
 by 50 ml of distilled water, then shaken by 150 spins/min for one hour,
 centrifuged by 4000 spins/min for 10 minutes. The incurred solution was
 filtered and pH was measured. Analyses of soil organic carbon (SOC) and
 total nitrogen (TN) concentrations were done by LiquiTOC equipment and
 analyses of NH4, NO3 and PO4 by Flow Injection Analyzer (FIA, extraction
 of H2O). Traits from databases
 Canopy height and SLA were obtained from the LEDA database
 (Kleyer et al., 2008). Clonal traits were extracted from the CloPla
 database (Klimešová et al., 2017). In the data those traits are
 represented as community means. References
 Kleyer, M., Bekker, R. M., Knevel, I. C., Bakker, J. P.,
 Thompson, K., Sonnenschein, P. ... Peco, B. (2008). The LEDA Traitbase: a
 database of life‐history traits of the Northwest European flora. Journal
 of Ecology, 96, 1266-1274. Klimešová, J., Danihelka,
 J., Chrtek, J., de Bello, F., & Herben, T. (2017). CLO-PLA: a
 database of clonal and bud-bank traits of the Central European flora.
 Ecology, 98, 1179.