Trait-based ecology is gaining ground nowadays on species-based ecology: the number
of research and publication focusing on the ecological role of taxa instead of the
species themselves increased significantly in the last two decades. One great advantage
of this approach is that communities with different species composition due to great
geographical distances (e.g., different continents) or different environmental conditions
(e.g., loess, sand, and alkaline grasslands) become comparable. Obtaining trait values
is, however, labour and time consuming even in the case of so-called soft traits.
It is therefore reasonable and desirable for scientists to share their data as widely
as possible. Demand for such data induced the publication of data papers and the establishment
of databases, which support both theoretical ecological research and practical restoration
ecological projects.
Although several international databases (e.g., TRY, LEDA, CLO-PLA, BiolFLOR) are
available nowadays, Central and Eastern European species are either missing or underrepresented
in them. Consequently, measurement and publication of the traits of species typical
in the above region is necessary. This paper presents leaf trait (leaf fresh and dry
weight, leaf area, specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content) data for more than
1100 species of the Central European flora.
