Plant traits and vegetation data from climate warming experiments along an 1100 m elevation gradient in Gongga Mountains, China

Abstract

Functional trait data enhance climate change research by linking climate change, biodiversity response, and ecosystem functioning, and by enabling comparison between systems sharing few taxa. Across four sites along a 3000–4130 m a.s.l. gradient spanning 5.3 °C in growing season temperature in Mt. Gongga, Sichuan, China, we collected plant functional trait and vegetation data from control plots, open top chambers (OTCs), and reciprocally transplanted vegetation turfs. Over five years, we recorded vascular plant composition in 140 experimental treatment and control plots. We collected trait data associated with plant resource use, growth, and life history strategies (leaf area, leaf thickness, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf C, N and P content and C and N isotopes) from local populations and from experimental treatments. The database consists of 6,671 plant records and 36,743 trait measurements (increasing the trait data coverage of the regional flora by 500%) covering 11 traits and 193 plant taxa (ca. 50% of which have no previous published trait data) across 37 families.

Warming‐induced shrubline advance stalled by moisture limitation on the Tibetan Plateau

“…Rates of warming are more than twice as high at high altitudes than for the rest of the world (Pepin et al 2015). Many montane and alpine plant species have accordingly already started to shift their seasonal activities, abundance and geographic ranges in response to climatic warming (Case and Duncan 2014, IPCC 2014, Vandvik et al 2020, Bader et al 2021). The expansion of shrublines to higher altitudes or more northern latitudes is one of the most striking examples of the impacts of global warming (Dial et al 2016, Myers‐Smith and Hik 2018).…”

Applying And Promoting Open Science In Ecology - Surveyed Drivers And Challenges

“…As an example, Project EDDIE (Environmental Data-Driven Inquiry and Explorations) engages students in STEM education by applying active learning methods combined with the use of data repositories that follow the FAIR principles [33]. Further, the International Plant Functional Traits Courses offer training in trait-based ecology through a field campaign grounded in FAIR open science practices, including planning and conducting reproducible fieldwork and data management, and experience with publishing data papers [26,34]. Moreover, educators can obtain formal support for implementing OS in teaching and learning provided through workshops, courses and online-tutorials, and Bossu & Heck [35] offer recommendations on the topic.…”

Next‐generation field courses: Integrating Open Science and online learning

“…Field courses can contribute to the broader research community, and provide opportunities for ECRs to gain insights into the publication process, by publishing course data or research outputs. In combining the initial proposals with comprehensive metadata on methodological practices in the field and reproducible data workflows, a strong basis is provided for transforming data documentation files into citable data papers, with benefits for all participants, as well as for making data available for research (see Vandvik et al., 2020). When standard practices and metrics are adopted, field courses can directly contribute data to global data repositories.…”

“…Traditionally, field courses focus on training participants in relevant practical field research methodologies, while also developing their project management and collaborative skills. Here, we illustrate how Open Science research principles could be more explicitly integrated into field course design to enhance broader scientific learning outcomes, while also facilitating early career development and inclusivity in science as well as for making data available for research (see Vandvik et al, 2020). When standard practices and metrics are adopted, field courses can directly contribute data to global data repositories.…”