Divergent respiration-trait relationships reveal a unique economic strategy in ferns

The dataset includes measurements of leaf dark respiration (RD), light respiration (RL), light-saturated photosynthesis (Asat), leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations from 19 fern species (n = 159 samples). Comparative data for seed plants were obtained from the Glopnet global dataset (Wright et al., 2004). All original measurements followed standardized protocols and were collected in August 2022 at Wuyishan National Park, China.