DOI: 10.5061/dryad.nk98sf80g
title: Data from: The contribution of carbon budget to masting intervals in Veratrum album populations inhabiting different elevations

description: Premise: Mast flowering/seeding is often more extreme in lower-resource
 environments, such as alpine compared to lowland habitats. We studied a
 masting herb which had less extreme masting at higher elevations, and
 tested if this difference could be explained by higher photosynthetic
 productivity and/or lower reproductive investment at the higher elevation
 sites. Methods: We examined the relationship between flowering intervals
 and carbon budget (i.e., the balance between reproductive investment and
 annual carbon fixation) in a masting herb, Veratrum album subsp.
 oxysepalum, across five lowland and six alpine populations in northern
 Japan. We evaluated the previous flowering histories of individual plants
 based on rhizome morphology and analyzed the masting patterns of
 individual populations. Total mass of the reproductive organs, as a proxy
 of reproductive investment, was compared between the lowland and alpine
 populations. Annual carbon fixation was estimated based on photosynthetic
 capacity, total leaf area per plant, and seasonal transition of light
 availability. Results: Interval between high-flowering years was shorter
 and total reproductive investment was smaller in the alpine than in the
 lowland populations. Owing to its high photosynthetic capacity and
 continuous bright conditions, annual carbon fixation per plant was 1.5
 times greater at the alpine habitat than at the lowland habitat. These
 results suggest that V. album alpine populations have shorter flowering
 intervals than lowland populations due to faster recovery from energy loss
 after reproduction. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that masting
 intervals in V. album populations can be explained by habitat-specific
 carbon budget balances.
description: # The contribution of carbon budget to masting intervals in Veratrum album
 populations inhabiting different elevations Authors: Yohei Ito and Gaku
 Kudo File has four Sheets \========================= \#Sheet 1 Temp. and
 light (Figure 1) elevation type: low (Lowland population), high (Alpine
 population) date: year/month/day variable: temp(air-temperature) or
 PPFD(light intensity) value: variable's values (℃ or μmol·m-2·s-1 )
 \========================= \#Sheet 2 Time series of flowering (Figure 2)
 site ID: HO (Hoshioki), TB (Tobetsu), AS (Asahikawa), OB (Obihiro), NP
 (Nopporo), HS (Hisago), KD (Kaundaira), KR (Mt. Kuro), HK (Mt. Hakun)
 Year: Observation year PFR: proportion of flowering ramets (rate)
 \========================== \#Sheet 3 ACF (Figure 3) elevation type: low
 (Lowland population), high (Alpine population) site ID: HO (Hoshioki), TB
 (Tobetsu), AS (Asahikawa), OB (Obihiro), NP (Nopporo), HS (Hisago), KD
 (Kaundaira), KR (Mt. Kuro), HK (Mt. Hakun) lag: lagged years over
 successive time intervals acf: autocorrelation function
 \========================= \#Sheet 4 Flowering intervals (Figure 4)
 elevation type: low (Lowland population), high (Alpine population) site
 ID: HO (Hoshioki), TB (Tobetsu), AS (Asahikawa), OB (Obihiro), NP
 (Nopporo), HS (Hisago), KD (Kaundaira), KR (Mt. Kuro), HK (Mt. Hakun)
 Plant ID: Individual ID whose rhizomes are observed to estimate flowering
 intervals #Multiple flowering events can be tracked back even in a single
 individual (See Appendix S1) Flowering intervals: flowering intervals
 (years) per a individual #These were estimated by counting the number of
 annual scars between the branching segments in which flowering occurred.
 \========================== \#Sheet 5 Reproductive investment (Figure 5)
 Year: Observation year site ID: HO (Hoshioki), TB (Tobetsu), AS
 (Asahikawa), OB (Obihiro), NP (Nopporo), HS (Hisago), KD (Kaundaira), MA
 (Mt. Asahi), KR (Mt. Kuro), HK (Mt. Hakun), GS (Mt. Goshiki) elevation
 type: low (Lowland population), high (Alpine population) plot ID: 5-m×1-m
 study plot, HO1~~8, TB1~~8, AS1~~10, OB1~~8, NP1~~10, EN1~~8, HS1~~30,
 KD1~~8, MA1~~8, KR1~~8, HK1~~8,GS1~~8 height: maximum leaf height (cm) SD:
 stem diameter (cm) stem volume: stem volume (cm3), a substitute of plant
 size Flower number: total number of flowers per plant Fruit number : total
 number of fruits per plant Floral-stem mass: dry-weight of floral stem (g)
 Flower mass: total mass of flowers per plant (g) Fruit mass : total mass
 of fruits per plant (g) Total mass: Floral-stem mass+Flower mass+Fruit
 mass (g) \========================== \#Sheet 6 Floral gender (Figure 6)
 site ID: HO (Hoshioki), TB (Tobetsu), AS (Asahikawa), OB (Obihiro), NP
 (Nopporo), HS (Hisago), KD (Kaundaira), MA (Mt. Asahi), KR (Mt. Kuro), HK
 (Mt. Hakun), GS (Mt. Goshiki) elevation type: low (Lowland population),
 high (Alpine population) plot ID: 5-m×1-m study plot, HO1~~8, TB1~~8,
 AS1~~10, OB1~~8, NP1~~10, EN1~~8, HS1~~30, KD1~~8, MA1~~8, KR1~~8,
 HK1~~8,GS1~~8 height: maximum leaf height (cm) SD: stem diameter (cm) stem
 volume: stem volume (cm3), a substitute of plant size Flower number: total
 number of flowers per plant Perfect flower number: total number of perfect
 flowers per plant Male flower number: total number of male flowers per
 plant Perfect flower rate: proportion of perfect flowers per plant (rate)
 \========================== \#Sheet 7 Leaf area and carbon fixation
 (Figure 7) Year: Observation year site ID: HO (Hoshioki), TB (Tobetsu), AS
 (Asahikawa), OB (Obihiro), NP (Nopporo), HS (Hisago), KD (Kaundaira), MA
 (Mt. Asahi), KR (Mt. Kuro), HK (Mt. Hakun), GS (Mt. Goshiki) elevation
 type: low (Lowland population), high (Alpine population) plot ID: 5-m×1-m
 study plot, HO1~~8, TB1~~8, AS1~~10, OB1~~8, NP1~~10, EN1~~8, HS1~~30,
 KD1~~8, MA1~~8, KR1~~8, HK1~~8,GS1~~8 height: maximum leaf height (cm) SD:
 stem diameter (cm) Stem volume: stem volume (cm3), a substitute of plant
 size Leaf area: total leaf area per plant (cm2) Carbon fixation: annual
 carbon fixation per plant (gC)