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

## TL;DR

This study collects plant trait data from South African grasslands to understand ecosystem functioning and environmental change impacts.

## Contribution

The study provides the first recorded trait data for 47 plant species and significantly increases data coverage in the region.

## Key findings

- Comprehensive trait data were collected from 171 vascular plant taxa across five sites and a climate warming experiment.
- The study more than doubles the trait data coverage in the Maloti-Drakensberg region.
- The data align with global efforts in China, Svalbard, Peru, and Norway to understand plant and ecosystem functioning.

## 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.