Data from: Morphological constraints on plant-mediated methane release and oxidation under experimental warming in a peatland and meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
Abstract
This dataset comprises measurements of plant-mediated methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) fluxes from an alpine meadow and a peatland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. It includes flux measurements from 45 plant species in the alpine meadow and 7 species in the peatland, collected during the peak growing season of 2023. The dataset records gas flux values (CH₄ and CO₂) derived from shoot-level enclosures, alongside key plant traits such as leaf area (LA_m²), dry biomass (DB), and environmental variables including temperature and treatment type (e.g., control, warming treatments). Additional normalized flux metrics (fluxLA, fluxDB) are provided to facilitate cross-species and cross-treatment comparisons. Data are structured in a tabular format with metadata for closure time, gas type, fitting method, plant functional type (PFT), species, and experimental treatments. This dataset supports reuse in ecological modeling, meta-analyses on plant-mediated greenhouse gas fluxes, and studies on climate-ecosystem feedbacks. No legal or ethical restrictions apply; users are encouraged to cite the related research article when using the data.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.x95x69pz6
Description of the data and file structure
This includes CH₄ flux values from the shoots of 45 plant species in the meadow and 7 species in the peatland, measured under ambient conditions and experimental warming treatments. Data values are reported as CH₄ flux rates in mg CH₄ per gram of shoot dry biomass per hour (mg CH₄ g⁻¹ h⁻¹). The dataset also incorporates results from shading and clipping experiments for key peatland species.
The contents include species-level and family-level flux summaries, responses to experimental warming. This dataset has significant reuse potential for meta-analyses on wetland greenhouse gas fluxes, model parameterization for regional CH₄ budgets, and comparative studies on plant–microbe–soil interactions in cold-region ecosystems.
Files and variables
File: Flux.csv
Description: This file contains measured plant-mediated methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) flux data from an alpine meadow and a peatland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The dataset includes flux observations across different plant species, plant functional types, and experimental warming treatments, along with corresponding environmental variables and plant trait measurements made during the chamber closures.
Variables
| Variable Name | Description | Unit / Value Explanation | Abbreviation Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| closure_start | Timestamp indicating the start of the chamber closure measurement. | Format: YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM | - |
| gas | The target gas species for the flux measurement. | CH4: Methane; CO2: Carbon Dioxide |
- |
| method | The algorithm used to calculate the gas flux from concentration data. | expfit: Exponential fit; lmfit: Linear fit |
- |
| flux | The raw calculated flux of the target gas. A negative value indicates uptake by the plant, and a positive value indicates emission. | µmol s⁻¹ | - |
| Treatment | The experimental warming treatment applied to the plot. | CK: Control (Ambient); AW: Aboveground Warming; BW: Belowground Warming; EW: Entire Warming (combined above- and belowground) |
- |
| PFT | The plant functional type of the measured specimen. | Sedge: Sedges; Forb: Forbs |
Plant Functional Type |
| species | A unique code identifying the plant species. | sc, ml, hbs, hrc, erwlc, ady, htltc |
sc is Blysmus sinocompressus, ml is Carex muliensis, hbs is Carex myosuroides, hrc is Leontopodium alpinum, erwlc is Potentilla anserina, ady is Sanguisorba filiformis, htltc is Thalictrum scabrifolium |
| temperature | The air temperature recorded during the flux measurement. | Degrees Celsius (°C) | - |
| DB | The dry biomass of the shoot portion enclosed in the chamber. | Grams (g) | Dry Biomass |
| LA_m2 | The single-sided leaf area of the enclosed shoot. | Square Meters (m²) | Leaf Area |
| fluxLA | The gas flux normalized by the leaf area of the measured shoot. | µmol m⁻² s⁻¹ | Flux per unit Leaf Area. |
| fluxDB | The gas flux normalized by the dry biomass of the measured shoot. | µmol g⁻¹ s⁻¹ | Flux per unit Dry biomass |
In this dataset, missing or inapplicable data values are explicitly indicated by the code: NA.