Table 6 Data dictionary for the aboveground traits along the election gradient (dataset iv-a and iv-b).

Variable name	Description	Variable type	Variable range or levels	Units	How measured
id	Unique leaf ID consisting of 3 letters and 4 numbers	character	ABU8050 - JED6444		defined
project	Project for which data were collected; TSP = Photosynthesis, TS = Spectroscopy, T = Traits	character	T - TSP		recorded
treatment_warming*	Warming treatment applied; either “ambient” = no treatment, or “warm” = warmed with an OTC.	categorical	ambient, warm		defined
treatment_competition*	Competition treatment applied: vegetation = plots containing native vegetation	categorical	vegetation		defined
plant_id	Individual collection number for each species per plot	numeric	0–3		defined
species	Species name including genus and species	character	Acalypha punctata - Zaluzianskya sp.		identified
traits	Aboveground traits; veg_height (vegetative_height; cm), rep_height (reproductive height; cm), wet_mass (g), dry_mass (g), leaf_area cm²), leaf_thickness (mm), sla (cm²g⁻¹), and ldmc (g g⁻¹)	character	dry_mass_g - wet_mass_g		defined
value	Values for plant functional traits	numeric	0.00006 - 2601	cm, g, mm, cm², cm²g⁻¹, g g⁻¹	measured
unit	Unit for trait values.	character	cm - mm		defined
problem_flag	Flagging potential problems with leaves including damage, missing petioles, and leaflets, etc.	character	damage and missing petiole - missing stipules		recorded

The dataset iv-a reports on 21,921 trait observations of 154 taxa from 50 vegetation plots and adjacent areas sampled across five sites and two aspects along the elevation gradient in Witsieshoek, South Africa. The dataset iv-b reports on 2,494 observations of the covers of 41 taxa in 10 vegetation plots sampled at the 3,064 m a.s.l. site. Variable names, description variable type, range or levels, units and short descriptions are given for all variables. Variables indicated with an * only occur in the warming experiment dataset (dataset iv-b). Note that variables that are shared across datasets are reported in Table 2. Abbreviations: veg_height (vegetative_height), rep_height (reproductive height), sla (specific leaf area), and ldmc (leaf dry matter content).

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