Plant traits and associated ecological data from Afromontane grasslands of Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa.
Name
s41597-025-06045-x.pdf
Description
visibility:open
Size
3.38 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (CRC64NVME)
LU8hUEjvmq0=
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Halbritter, Aud H.
Vandvik, Vigdis
Bison, Nicole N.
Clark, Vincent Ralph
Cross, Marcella
Greve, Michelle
Kemppinen, Julia
Kühn, Nicola
Maitner, Brian S.
Michaletz, Sean T.
Navarro, Jocelyn
Niittynen, Pekka
le Roux, Peter Christiaan
White, Joseph D. M.
Abebe, Bezawit Yilma
Arzt, Nadine Michaela
Baldaszti, Ludwig
Aragón, Lina
Beale, Samuel
Birkeli, Kristine
Courtenay, Anya P.
Dawson, Hilary Rose
Draganova, Liliya Kirilova
Gillespie, Lauren E.
Goff, Kaleb A.
Gowera, Anna Tariro Deirdre
Gualdoni-Becerra, Axel
Gwate, Onalenna
Hagenberg, Liyenne Wu Chen
Hansda, Priya
Harris, Rebecca
Lee, Joshua
Louw, Michelle A.
Määttänen, Aino-Maja
Malamud, Nathan
Malekana, Lesego
Mc Millan, Bridgette
Rabi, Nasser
Mustri, Michael
Mekasha, Samson
Shemsu Nasir, Sara
Navarro-Rosales, Francisco
Ofosu-Bamfo, Bismark
Phiri, Akuonani Zakeyo
Rentier, Eline Sterre
Vázquez-Ribera, Carmen
Rivas, Grecia
Satriawan, Tin Widyani
Smit, Imke Chrissie
Soremi, Paul Abayomi Sobowale
Stokka, Ragnhild Svensen
Šubrt, Jiří
Trepel, Jonas
Wieczorkowski, Jakub D.
Enquist, Brian J.
Date published
November 12, 2025
Abstract
The Afromontane region harbors ancient grasslands with high levels of endemism, now under threat from land-use change, biological invasions and encroachment, and climate warming. As part of an international Plant Functional Traits Course we collected comprehensive trait data in five sites along an elevation gradient from 2,000–2,800 m a.s.l. and in a climate warming experiment at 3,064 m a.s.l. in the Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa. We sampled 24,405 aboveground and 94 root trait measurements from 171 vascular plant taxa paired with 11 other datasets reflecting vegetation and structure, leaf and ecosystem carbon and water fluxes, leaf hyperspectral reflectance, and microclimatic and environmental data. Our data provide the first recorded trait data for 47 vascular plant species and more than double the trait data coverage from the Maloti-Drakensberg (106% increase). This study offers insights into plant and ecosystem functioning, provides a baseline for assessing impacts of environmental change, builds local competence, and aligns with similar data from China, Svalbard, Peru, and Norway.
Project(s)
Priority 1: Ecosystem Stewardship
Funder
| Funder name | Awards |
Norwegian Center for International Cooperation in Education, Norway | Grant no. 2013/10074 - Grant no. HNP2015/10037 |
Universitetet i Bergen, Norway | Open access funding |
Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa | |
National Research Foundation, South Africa | |
Journal title
Scientific Data
Volume
12
Article number
1778
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Place of publication
Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany
eISSN
2052-4463
Date accepted
September 24, 2025
Official URL
Rights statement
In Copyright
Additional information
IF = 6.9 (2024)