Leaf carbon and nitrogen content of tree and grassland species collected at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in 2015 and 2016

Abstract

This data set contains carbon and nitrogen content from combustion–reduction elemental analysis (TruSpec CN Analyzer, LECO) from tree and grassland species sampled at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in East Bethel, MN. Data were collected as part of the Dimensions of Biodiversity project “Linking remotely sensed optical diversity to genetic, phylogenetic and functional diversity to predict ecosystem processes”. Samples were collected in or near the old fields chronosequence, the oak savanna, and the Forest and Biodiversity Experiment (FAB 1) plots. We used this data together with leaf-level spectral measurements to build partial least squares regression (PLSR) models for predicting leaf traits from spectra.