2026-10-14T18:08:09Z https://www.scidb.cn/oai

10.57760/sciencedb.cjaeb.00045 2026-07-25T21:44:29Z

2026-07-25 Dataset of understory plant functional traits in a subtropical forest of Sanming, Fujian, China doi:10.57760/sciencedb.cjaeb.00045 en Sanming is located in subtropical China in Fujian Province and has well-preserved forest ecosystems, which is recognized as a “green oasis along the Tropic of Cancer”. To reveal the effects of forest type conversion on understory plant species composition and functional diversity, this study was conducted at the National Field Observation and Research Station (Fujian Sanming) for Forest Ecosystem, Fujian Province, China. Four representative forest types, including natural Castanopsis carlesii forest, secondary C. carlesii forest, C. carlesii plantation, and Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation, were selected for investigation. We systematically surveyed species composition, vegetation cover, height of understory shrub and herbaceous layers, and measured key leaf functional traits of dominant species. This dataset compiles field survey and functional trait measurements conducted in July 2025. It contains traits from 60 plant species ,with a total of 4146 records, together with complete plot background information. The dataset includes key leaf morphological and chemical traits, as well as understory plant species composition across different forest types. Through rigorous quality control and systematic data curation, this dataset provides comprehensive, reliable, and transparent trait measurements. This dataset will support studies on ecological and evolutionary responses of understory vegetation to environmental changes during forest type conversion and help fill current gaps in understory vegetation observation and functional trait research, which will be widely applied to understanding and predicting understory ecosystem functions, biodiversity maintenance mechanisms, and forest ecosystem responses to global change. forest ecosystem; functional traits; understory vegetation; functional diversity; community structure Zheng Yi Fang Wanqi Liu Zongsheng Li Jingyao Wang Dingyi An Nannan Wu Fuzhong PUBLIC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ dataset Science Data Bank