Physiological, morphological and functional traits of encroaching and non-encroaching savanna trees under contrasting CO2 concentrations, water stress, and grass competition, South Africa, 2022

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Not released
Published by:
Environmental Information Data Centre
Last updated:
02 July 2026
Topic:
Not added
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None

Summary

[This dataset is embargoed until January 4, 2027]. This dataset provides physiological, morphological, and functional trait measurements for twelve African savanna tree species belonging to the Vachellia and Senegalia genera (Fabaceae family). The data encompasses six species classified as encroaching (increasing in density in African savannas) and six non-encroaching species, facilitating comparative analysis of traits facilitating encroachment ability. The variables capture sapling responses to a factorial combination of environmental conditions, specifically atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, water availability, and interspecific grass competition. The dataset details plant performance under elevated CO2 versus ambient CO2 and contrasts well-watered and water-limited conditions. Furthermore, the data includes comparative metrics for trees grown with and without competition from the grass species Themeda triandra. All measurements were derived from saplings grown for 11 months in large pots containing local savanna soil within open-top chambers (Rhodes University Elevated CO2 Facility, Makhanda, South Africa), culminating in physiological assessments and destructive harvesting for morphological analysis. The work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (Grant NE/T000759/1). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/f7b8e72f-9bbe-4a03-8140-fada73e95b8c

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Additional information

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Added to data.gov.uk
2026-06-27
Access contraints
If you reuse this data, you should cite: Ripley, B., Simpson, K., Raubenheimer, S., Singini, E., Jones, E., Burgess, T., Carkeek, R., Cramer, M., Dixon, R., Field, K., Hawkins, H., Nell, R., Ngqiyaza, N., Pallett, N., Reynolds, L., Telford, E., Vetter, S., Lehmann, C., Osborne, C. (2026). Physiological, morphological and functional traits of encroaching and non-encroaching savanna trees under contrasting CO2 concentrations, water stress, and grass competition, South Africa, 2022. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre https://doi.org/10.5285/f7b8e72f-9bbe-4a03-8140-fada73e95b8c
Harvest GUID
f7b8e72f-9bbe-4a03-8140-fada73e95b8c
Extent
Latitude: 22.594° to °
Longitude: -18.281° to 52.385°
Spatial reference system
Dataset reference date
2026-02-04 (publication)
2027-01-04 (released)
Frequency of update
Responsible party
University of Sheffield (pointOfContact, author); (author, owner, publisher, custodian); University of Edinburgh (owner)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng
Source Metadata
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