New plant trait records of the Hungarian flora

Abstract

Canopy height, leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) data of 210 species of the Hungarian flora resulting from our field sampling are presented in this data paper.Trait-based approach is a more and more widely used tool in ecological studies (Díaz et al. 2016, Götzenberger et al. 2012, McGill et al. 2006. Using traits instead of species identities can lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the observed patterns and processes of communities. Trait-based approach may also help in finding general rules that are valid for communities building from different species pools (Fortunel et al. 2014), and using this approach quantitative comparisons can be made between communities that have no species in common (Webb et al. 2010).In a recent research project (Lhotsky et al. 2016) we collected plant trait data to explore the changes in the importance of community assembly rules along environmental gradients. Although large international efforts have been made to build more and more complete trait databases, and several databases and datasets are accessible 1994)), several species of the Hungarian flora -especially endemic species and species with continental range -were missing from them. To collect trait data of these missing species we carried out field samplings in 2011-2015.Acta Bot. Hung. 58, 2016 398 LHOTSKY, B., CSECSERITS, A., KOVÁCS, B. and BOTTA-DUKÁT, Z.Here we present canopy height, leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) data of 210 species of the Hungarian flora resulting from our field sampling. During the field and the laboratory measurements we followed the standard protocols of the LEDA database (Kleyer et al. 2008, Knevel et al. 2003 and the suggestions of Cornelissen et al. (2003). We measured the canopy height (i.e. the height of the foliage) of 25 or more randomly selected robust, well-grown individuals of the species in the field, then collected two mature and intact leaves from ten individuals for laboratory measurements. In case of leafless plants (e.g. Ephedra distachya) a younger shoot was collected. The fresh weight of the whole leaves (including petiole and rachis) was measured either shortly after field sampling or after a 12-hour-long rehydration. Then leaves were scanned at 300 DPI and their projected area was calculated from the raster image using Lafore analysing software (free software, Veiko Lehsten, University of Oldenburg). In case of rolled-up leaves (e.g. Festuca vaginata) or shoots (e.g. Equisetum species) we calculated the upper half of the circumference by multiplying the projected area by pi/2. After the scanning process, leaves were dried in oven at 60 °C for 72 hours, then their dry mass was measured. For calculating SLA the onesided area of the fresh leaves (LA) was divided by their oven-dry mass, for calculating LDMC their dry mass was divided by their fresh weight. For more information and for the datasets see Appendix 1-6.

Trait‐based approach confirms the importance of propagule limitation and assembly rules in old‐field restoration

“…A short description of functional traits used in the analysis is given in Table . Data were obtained from local or Central European databases (LEDA—Kleyer et al ; HUSEED—Peti et al ) and literature sources (Csontos ; Halassy ; Király ; Lhotsky et al ). Where multiple trait data were available, the order of preference was local, national, and then regional data.…”

Shift from trait convergence to divergence along old‐field succession

“…Data on four plant traits were obtained from the LEDA Traitbase (Kleyer et al, 2008): specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), vegetative height, and seed mass, following the leafheight-seed scheme (Westoby, 1998;Westoby, 2002). Missing values were obtained from other online databases such as the TRY Global Plant Traits Database (Kattge et al, 2011) and other sources (Jäger et al, 2013;Lhotsky et al, 2016). These databases provided information for all the species and traits so there was no missing data.…”

Vegetation characteristics control sediment and nutrient retention on but not underneath vegetation in floodplain meadows

“…We quantified plotlevel pubescence as the summed cover of these five species. Data about the mean area of individual leaves were obtained from TRY -a global database of plant traits (53) TRY version 5.0; data used of (54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)(64)(65). Three species were not included in the leaf area calculation, since they either had no leaves (Cuscuta europaea and Equisetum pratense) or because there were not data available in the TRY database (Carex praecox).…”