DOI: 10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bwcv
title: Eucalypt functional trait dataset of plants grown under common garden conditions

description: Understanding the role of site climate in driving geographic trait
 variation and revealing the relative contributions of adaptation and
 plasticity are key goals in plant sciences. We tested mechanistic
 hypotheses for trait–climate relationships for mature eucalypt trees grown
 in common garden and in situ field conditions, quantifying joint and
 individual effects of mean annual precipitation (MAP) and temperature
 (MAT) on eight functionally important traits. Trait–MAP relationships were
 particularly strong, with all but one trait consistently related to
 precipitation in both growth conditions. Trait–MAT relationships were
 notably weaker, but where relationships existed, most traits responded to
 low temperature in the same direction as to low rainfall, as predicted.
 Comparing cross-species trait–climate relationships in situ with
 trait–climate-of-origin relationships in the common garden indicated
 substantial contributions from both adaptation and plasticity, with
 plasticity contributing more to variation in photosynthetic traits than in
 leaf structural or wood traits. Two key advances were (1) teasing
 apart the roles of site temperature and rainfall on trait variation, which
 are often confounded; and (2) inferring the contributions of adaptation
 and plasticity to observed trait patterns. The relative importance of
 these processes may determine the timescales over which plant traits shift
 with climate change.
description: # Eucalypt functional trait dataset of plants grown under common garden
 conditions Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bwcv](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bwcv) ##
 Description of the data and file structure The dataset contains functional
 trait data of 211 eucalypt taxa measured in a common garden (the Currency
 Creek Arboretum, SA, Australia). The eight traits, measured on mature
 trees, were leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf nitrogen per area (N~area~),
 the ratio of leaf-internal to ambient CO~2~ concentration (C~i~:C~a~; here
 derived from the d^13^C signature in leaf tissue), leaf thickness, leaf
 size (one-side surface area), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), wood
 density, and the ratio of sapwood cross-sectional area to subtended total
 leaf area (S~A~:L~A~; measured on 20 cm terminal branches). Most traits
 were collected for all species, with NA values denoting that the trait was
 not collected for a given species. ### Files and variables #### File:
 NPH-MS-2025-52475_DATA_CCA_only.csv **Description:**  The dataset contains
 species trait means. ##### Variables * Taxon_ALA: Species name, as listed
 on the Atlas of Living Australia * Latitude: latitude of where seeds were
 sourced (common garden) or where traits were measured (in situ), decimal
 degrees * Longitude: longitude, as above, decimal degrees * source: where
 plants were measured (a common garden (CCA)) * ldmc: Leaf dry matter
 content; mg g ^-1^ . NA indicates the trait was not measured for that
 species. * lma: Leaf mass per unit area; g m ^-2^ . NA indicates the trait
 was not measured for that species. * lamina_size: Individual leaf size;
 mm^2^ NA indicates the trait was not measured for that species. *
 thickness: Leaf thickness; µm NA indicates the trait was not measured for
 that species. * sala: Sapwood area : leaf area ratio; cm^2^ m ^-2^ NA
 indicates the trait was not measured for that species. * wood_dens: Wood
 density; g cm ^-3^ NA indicates the trait was not measured for that
 species. * N_percent: Leaf nitrogen per unit mass; % NA indicates the
 trait was not measured for that species. * dC13: Raw carbon isotope
 signature of leaves, δ^13^C; ‰ NA indicates the trait was not measured for
 that species. * delta: δ^13^C corrected for isotopic signature of source
 air, ∆^13^C; ‰ NA indicates the trait was not measured for that species. *
 cica: the ratio of leaf-internal to ambient CO~2~ concentration, here
 derived from the δ^13^C signature of leaf tissue; unitless . NA indicates
 the trait was not measured for that species. * Narea: leaf N per unit
 area; g m ^-2^ NA indicates the trait was not measured for that species. *
 MAP: Mean annual precipitation of where seeds were sourced. Climate data
 were sourced from the CHELSA dataset over the long-term average of
 1981-2010; mm * MAT: Mean annual tempeature, as above; ℃