Ecopysiological and fuel moisture content data from an experimental drought study on Pinus halepensis and Quercus ilex

Résumé 0

Canopy fuel moisture content (CFMC), which represents the water-to-dry mass ratio in leaves and fine twigs within the canopy is a major factor of fire danger across ecosystems worldwide. CFMC is determined by the fuel moisture content of living (LFMC) and dead foliage (DFMC), with their contributions weighted according to the proportion of foliage mortality within the canopy. Understanding how CFMC is affected during extreme drought is essential for effective wildfire planning. This dataset contains variables measured during a drought experiment conducted on seedlings of two Mediterranean species: Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) and Holm oak (Quercus ilex L.). Throughout the drought experiment and after rewatering, we monitored CFMC, LFMC, the proportion of foliage mortality in the canopy, along with other ecophysiological variables including plant transpiration, soil water content and leaf water potentials. The dataset comprises two files: 'data_trees' contains recorded values of moisture content and eco-physiological variables for the trees, while 'data_litter' contains recorded values of litter moisture content. Furthermore, the publication includes two text files detailing the variable names and units.