Data from: Elevational Shifts in Tropical Tree Leaf Traits: Interactions between Soil, Climate, Light, and Phylogeny

This dataset accompanies the publication “Elevational Shifts in Tropical Tree Leaf Traits: Interactions between Soil, Climate, Light, and Phylogeny” and contains leaf functional trait, stable isotope, vegetation structure, soil chemistry, climate, and phylogenetic data collected along a ~3200 m elevational gradient on the southwestern slopes of Mount Cameroon, Republic of Cameroon. The gradient spans coastal rainforest, lowland rainforest, mid-elevation elephant-disturbed forest, montane cloud forest, and afromontane savanna, providing a continuous transect from sea level to the upper forest limit (~3200 m a.s.l.). Leaf trait data were collected from > 150 species across 176 permanent plots. Measured traits include leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf nitrogen (LNC), phosphorus (LPC), and carbon (LCC) concentrations, C:N and N:P ratios, and stable isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N). Vegetation structure was quantified for all trees with DBH > 10 cm (>10,000 individuals), and plot-level structural metrics were derived. Canopy light conditions were assessed using hemispherical photography. Soil samples from each plot were analyzed for pH, moisture, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, phosphorus, exchangeable cations, and stoichiometric ratios (soil C:N and N:P). Climate variables (temperature, precipitation, VPD, PDSI) were extracted from TerraClimate (2000–2014 averages) and validated with in-situ temperature loggers and rain gauges along the gradient. A species-level phylogeny is included to enable phylogenetically informed analyses of trait–environment relationships. All data are provided in XLSX format. The dataset is released under CC BY 4.0 and supports integrative analyses of plant functional strategies, nutrient cycling, and community assembly along a major Afrotropical mountain gradient.