The GenTree Leaf Collection: Inter‐ and intraspecific leaf variation in seven forest tree species in Europe
Raquel Benavides, Bárbara Carvalho, Cristina C. Bastías, David López‐Quiroga, Antonio Más, Stephen Cavers, Alan Gray, Audrey Albet, Ricardo Alı́a, Olivier Ambrosio, Filippos A. Aravanopoulos, Francisco Auñón, Camilla Avanzi, Evangelia V. Avramidou, Francesca Bagnoli, Eduardo Ballesteros, Evangelos Barbas, Catherine Bastien, Frédéric Bernier, Henry Bignalet, Damien Bouic, William Brunetto, Jurata Buchovska, Ana M Cabanillas-Saldaña, Nicolas Cheval, José Climent, Marianne Corréard, Eva Cremer, Darius Danusevičius, Benjamin Dauphin, Fernando Del Caño, Jean-Luc Denou, Bernard Dokhelar, Rémi Dourthe, Anna‐Maria Farsakoglou, Andreas Fera, Patrick Fonti, Ioannis Ganopoulos, José M. García del Barrio, Olivier Gilg, Santiago C. González‐Martínez, René Graf, Delphine Grivet, Félix Gugerli, Christoph Hartleitner, Katrin Heer, Enja Hollenbach, Agathe Hurel, Bernard Issehuth, Florence Jean, Véronique Jorge, Arnaud Jouineau, Jan‐Philipp Kappner, Katri Kärkkäinen, Robert Kesälahti, Florian Knutzen, Sonja T. Kujala, Timo A. Kumpula, Mariaceleste Labriola, Céline Lalanne, Johannes Lambertz, Martin Lascoux, Grégoire Le Provost, Mirko Liesebach, Ermioni Malliarou, Jérémy Marchon, Nicolas Mariotte, Elisabet Martínez‐Sancho, Silvia Matesanz, Helge Meischner, Célia Michotey, Pascal Milesi, Sandro Morganti, Tor Myking, Anne Eskild Nilsen, Eduardo Notivol, Lars Opgenoorth, Geir Østreng, Birte Pakull, Andrea Piotti, Christophe Plomion, Nicolas Poinot, Mehdi Pringarbe, Luc Puzos, Tanja Pyhäjärvi, Annie Raffin, José Alberto Ramírez‐Valiente, Christian Rellstab, Sebastian Richter, Juan José Robledo‐Arnuncio, Sergio San Segundo, Outi Savolainen, Volker Schneck, Silvio Schueler, Ivan Scotti, В. Л. Семериков, Jørn Henrik Sønstebø, Ilaria Spanu, Jean Thevenet, Mari Mette Tollefsrud
Abstract
Abstract Motivation Trait variation within species can reveal plastic and/or genetic responses to environmental gradients, and may indicate where local adaptation has occurred. Here, we present a dataset of rangewide variation in leaf traits from seven of the most ecologically and economically important tree species in Europe. Sample collection and trait assessment are embedded in the GenTree project (EU‐Horizon 2020), which aims at characterizing the genetic and phenotypic variability of forest tree species to optimize the management and sustainable use of forest genetic resources. Our dataset captures substantial intra‐ and interspecific leaf phenotypic variability, and provides valuable information for studying the relationship between ecosystem functioning and trait variability of individuals, and the response and resilience of species to environmental changes. Main types of variable contained We chose morphological and chemical characters linked to trade‐offs between acquisition and conservation of resources and water use, namely specific leaf area, leaf size, carbon and nitrogen content and their ratio, and the isotopic signature of stable isotope 13 C and 15 N in leaves. Spatial location and grain We surveyed between 18 and 22 populations per species, 141 in total, across Europe. Time period Leaf sampling took place between 2016 and 2017. Major taxa and level of measurement We sampled at least 25 individuals in each population, 3,569 trees in total, and measured traits in 35,755 leaves from seven European tree species, i.e. the conifers Picea abies , Pinus pinaster and Pinus sylvestris , and the broadleaves Betula pendula , Fagus sylvatica , Populus nigra and Quercus petraea . Software format The data files are in ASCII text, tab delimited, not compressed.