DOI: 10.5061/dryad.pzgmsbczn
title: Data from: Thermal tolerance is linked to anatomical but not morphological leaf traits in woody species of Andean tropical montane forests

description: The world is experiencing a rise in global temperatures as a result of
 climate change. Higher temperatures, along with more frequent heat waves,
 negatively impact physiological levels and ultimately lead to plant death.
 Although woody species have different strategies to regulate leaf
 temperature, the relative importance of structural and anatomical traits
 in leaf temperature regulation remains unclear. We evaluated the variation
 in thermal tolerance (T50 and Tcrit) among 17 woody species in an Andean
 Tropical Montane Forest in Colombia. We explored how 18 leaf structural
 and anatomical traits can explain the variation in thermal tolerance. Our
 findings revealed high variability in thermal tolerance, structural, and
 anatomical leaf traits among species. Thick layers of upper cuticle,
 epidermis, and hypodermis, increased T50. However, increases in Tcrit were
 only associated with upper hypodermis thickness. Higher stomatal index, a
 trait related to increased stomatal conductance and leaf transpiration,
 increased T50, while traits associated with leaf water transport did not
 correlate with temperature tolerance. Our results highlight the
 contrasting influence of leaf tissues on leaf tolerance and the diverse
 strategies plants employ to cope with high temperatures. These findings
 hold significant implications for the climate-smart restoration of Andean
 Tropical Montane forests.
description: We estimated leaf thermal tolerance using T50 and Tcrit in four
 to six individuals per species. We measured 18 leaf structural and
 anatomical traits in the same individuals for which we assessed thermal
 tolerance. The structural traits were measured according to the
 standardized protocols of Cornelissen et al. (2003) and Salgado-Negret et
 al. (2016). The anatomical leaf traits were recorded for three leaves per
 individual for each species where structural traits were measured. The
 leaves were then fixed in FAA (formaldehyde: acetic acid: 70% ethanol,
 10:5:85) and processed following the protocol by Toro-Tobón et al.
 (2022).
description: # Thermal tolerance is linked to anatomical but not morphological leaf
 traits in woody species of Andean tropical montane forests Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.pzgmsbczn](10.5061/dryad.pzgmsbczn) **Description:** Number
 of individuals measured and mean, median, and standard deviation of
 thermal tolerance (T50 and Tcrit), structural and anatomical leaf traits
 of 17 tropical montane forest species. Our results underscore the
 differing impact of leaf tissues on leaf tolerance and the variety of
 strategies plants use to adapt to high temperatures. These findings have
 important implications for the climate-smart restoration of Andean
 Tropical Montane forests. ##### Variables * T50 (°C), Tcrit (°C), * Leaf
 area (LA, cm2), * Leaf dry matter content (LDMC, mg/g),  * Relative
 chlorophyll content index (Chl, SPAD units),  * Leaf mass per area (LMA,
 cm2/g),  * Total Carbon (TC, %),  * Xylem diameter (XDi, um), Xylem wall
 thickness (XWT, um),  * Mean vein thickness (MVT, um),  * Leaf thickness
 (LT, um),  * Palisade parenchyma thickness (P, um),  * Spongy parenchyma
 thickness (S, um),  * Upper cuticle thickness (UC, um),  * Upper epidermis
 thickness (UE, um),  * Upper hypodermis thickness (UH, um),  * Lower
 cuticle thickness (LC, um),  * Lower epidermis thickness (LE, um),  *
 Stomatal density (SD, #),  * Stomatal index (Si).