DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8cz8w9h24
title: Leaf morphological data of oak species from two sampling sites

description: This study investigated leaf phenotypic variation in oak species
 to better understand how different groups of oaks adapt to diverse
 environmental conditions. We examined the leaf
 phenotypic traits of six oak populations in two mixed forests with
 differing species compositions: Zijin Mountain in Jiangsu Province,
 composed of Quercus acutissima, Q. variabilis, and Q. fabri; and
 Youhua Village in Anhui Province, consisting of Q. acutissima, Q. chenii,
 and Q. fabri. The results indicated that species in
 the Cerris group (Q. acutissima, Q. chenii, Q.
 variabilis) exhibited stable leaf morphology and higher
 fluctuating asymmetry (FA), suggesting adaptation to stable environments.
 In contrast, Q. fabri from the Quercus group
 showed higher phenotypic plasticity and lower FA, indicating a
 strategy for adapting to dynamic environments. The study also
 explored the relationship between FA and phenotypic plasticity,
 revealing that while both traits are influenced by environmental stress,
 phenotypic plasticity allowed for more flexible responses to
 environmental change Additionally, our research
 highlighted the role of hybridization and genetic coadaptation in
 influencing developmental stability, with higher hybridization rates in Q.
 fabri leading to greater morphological variability. These
 findings underscore the importance of environmental factors, genetic
 variation, and hybridization in shaping the adaptive strategies and
 phenotypic traits of oak species, providing valuable insights into the
 complexities of adaptation and species identification.
description: # Leaf Phenotypic Data from Two Sampling Sites: Open Source Data We have
 submitted two CSV files. One contains the leaf phenotypic data of oak
 individuals collected from Youhua village (YH.CSV), and the other contains
 the leaf phenotypic data of oak individuals collected from Zijinshan
 mountain (ZJ.CSV). ## Descriptions \----- YH.CSV * Code：Leaf ID *
 Image：Image ID * Species：Species Classification * YH_F：Quercus fabri in
 the Youhua sampling site * YH_A：Q. acutissima in the Youhua sampling site
 * YH_C：Q. chenii in the Youhua sampling site * Al: left leaf area (cm2) *
 Ar：right leaf area (cm2) * SI： standardized asymmetry index * AR：leaf area
 ratio * L：leaf length (cm） * W: leaf width (cm） * A：leaf area (cm2) * P:
 leaf perimeter (cm） * RWL：width/length * RPA：perimeter/area \----- ZJ.CSV
 * Code：Leaf ID * Image：Image ID * Species：Species Classification * ZJ_A：Q.
 acutissima in the Zijin mountain sampling site * ZJ_V: Q. variabilis in
 the Zijin mountain sampling site * ZJ_F：Q. fabri in the Zijin mountain
 sampling site * Al: left leaf area (cm2) * Ar：right leaf area (cm2) * SI：
 standardized asymmetry index * AR：leaf area ratio * L：leaf length (cm） *
 W: leaf width (cm） * A：leaf area (cm2) * P: leaf perimeter (cm） *
 RWL：width/length * RPA：perimeter/area ### Code/Software The collected
 leaves were scanned using an EPSON V39 scanner, and the images were
 processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 . Using the M-file package in
 Matlab and the R script (BilatMeasure) developed by Shi et al. (2018), we
 extracted eight leaf morphological indices