Plant traits and associated ecological data from Afromontane grasslands of Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa

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.

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Publication Details

Journal
Scientific Data
Published
2025-11-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-06045-x
Primary Topic
Remote Sensing in Agriculture
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Plant traits and associated ecological data from Afromontane grasslands of Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa

Aud H. Halbritter, Joseph D. White, Tin W. Satriawan, Julia Kemppinen et al.
Scientific Data
Remote Sensing in Agriculture
article

Plant traits and associated ecological data from Afromontane grasslands of Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa

Aud H. Halbritter, Joseph D. White, Tin W. Satriawan, Julia Kemppinen, Priya Hansda, Hilary Rose Dawson, Brian Joseph Enquist, Michelle Greve, Shiza Nasir, Jocelyn Navarro, Carmen Vázquez‐Ribera, Peter Christiaan le Roux, Vigdis Vandvik, Pekka Niittynen, Onalenna Gwate, Nicole N. Bison, Nicola Kühn, Samson Tsegaye Mekasha, Lauren Gillespie, Francisco Navarro‐Rosales, Bismark Ofosu‐Bamfo, Paul Abayomi Sobowale Soremi, Kaleb A. Goff, Kristine Birkeli, Brian Maitner, Michelle A. Louw, Sean T. Michaletz, Liyenne Wu Chen Hagenberg, Vincent Ralph Clark, Samuel Beale, Marcella Cross, Eline S. Rentier, Ludwig Baldaszti, Rebecca M. B. Harris, Jakub D. Wieczorkowski, Joshua S. Lee, Nasser Rabi, Anya Palm Courtenay, Jonas Trepel, Lesego Malekana, Michael Mustri, B. Abebe, Lina Aragón, Jiří Jiří Šubrt, Bridgette Mc Millan, Imke Chrissie Smit, Akuonani Zakeyo Phiri, Liliya Kirilova Draganova, Ragnhild Svensen Stokka, Nadine Michaela Arzt, Anna Tariro Deirdre Gowera, Axel Gualdoni-Becerra, Nathan Malamud, Aino-Maja Määttänen
article en

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.

Scientific DataVol. 12(1)
Australian National University (AU), W.K. Kellogg Foundation (US), Santa Fe Institute (US), University of Helsinki (FI), North Carolina State University (US), University of Arizona (US), University of British Columbia (CA), University of Miami (US), Jawaharlal Nehru University (IN), National University of Singapore (SG), Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (GB), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (NG), University of Oregon (US), University of the Witwatersrand (ZA), Utrecht University (NL), La Trobe University (AU), Aarhus University (DK), University of the Free State (ZA), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (GB), Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (NO), Finnish Environment Institute (FI), University of Energy and Natural Resources (GH), University of Oxford (GB), Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo (MX), Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (AU), Finnish Museum of Natural History (FI), University of Bergen (NO), Addis Ababa University (ET), Western Sydney University (AU), University of Pretoria (ZA), University of Göttingen (DE), University of South Florida St. Petersburg (US), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), Umeå University (SE), Colorado State University (US), University of Jyväskylä (FI), Stanford University (US), University of Oulu (FI), University of Edinburgh (GB)
Universitetet i Bergen
Openalex Percentile: Top 67%
Remote Sensing in Agriculture
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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