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Dryad

Species, hybrid and genotype effects on leaf litter curling, and their extended consequences for spiders and soil moisture dynamics

Data files

May 12, 2023 version files 134 KB

Abstract

This archive contains datasets from a group of studies testing the hypotheses that leaf litter curling is influenced by plant species, hybridization and genotype, and has extended consequences for associated organisms and soil processes. A novel litter curling index (LCI) was used to characterize the curling of newly senesced leaves. There are four distinct datasets represented here. 1) A dataset of LCI from 11 plant species (tall annual forb = Helianthus annuus L.; evergreen shrubs = Arctostaphylos pungens Kunth, Quercus turbinella Greene, Rhus ovata S. Watson; deciduous shrubs = Rhus trilobata Nutt., Ribes cereum Douglas, Acer glabrum Torr.; deciduous trees = Elaeagnus angustifolia L., Quercus gambelii Nutt., Populus tremuloides Michx., Populus fremontii S. Watson) mostly growing in natural habitats of Northern Arizona, USA. 2) A dataset containing LCI from two Populus species (P. fremontii James, P. angustifolia S. Watson) and their F1 hyrbids in a common garden in Ogden, UT, USA  (including replicated genotypes of P. angustifolia but not the other tree types). 3) The third dataset examined the relationship between average LCI for a tree and the abundance of agilenid webs under Populus trees growing in a common garden; the LCI values are averages per tree from data collected for dataset 2, and previously published spider web data. 4) The last dataset contains litter and soil moisture values from a litter/soil drying experiment that tested the effect of litter curling on soil moisture dynamics. See the README file for more details on the different datasets.