Tundra Trait Team: A database of plant traits spanning the tundra biome

Abstract Motivation The Tundra TraitTeam (TTT) database includes field-based measurements of key traitsrelated to plant form and function at multiple sites across the tundrabiome. This dataset can be used to address theoretical questions about plant strategyand trade-offs, trait?environment relationships and environmental filtering, and traitvariation across spatial scales, to validate satellite data, and to inform Earth systemmodel parameters. Main types of variable contained The database contains 91,970 measurements of 18 plant traits. The most frequently measured traits(> 1,000 observations each) include plant height, leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf fresh and dry mass, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus content, leaf C:N and N:P, seed mass, and stem specific density. Spatial location and grain Measurements were collected in tundrahabitats in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, including Arctic sites in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Fennoscandia and Siberia, alpine sites in the European Alps, Colorado Rockies, Caucasus, Ural Mountains, Pyrenees, Australian Alps, and Central Otago Mountains (New Zealand), and sub-Antarctic Marion Island. More than 99% of observations are georeferenced. Time period and grain All data were collected between 1964 and 2018. A small number of sites have repeated traitmeasurements at two or more time periods. Major taxa and level of measurement Traitmeasurements were made on 978 terrestrial vascular plant species growing in tundrahabitats. Most observations are on individuals (86%), while the remainder represent plot or site means or maximums per species. Software format csv file and GitHub repository with data cleaning scripts in R; contribution to TRY plant traitdatabase (www.try-db.org) to be included in the next version release.