University of Alaska Fairbanks

We present empirical conductance relations that are derived from incoherent scatter radar observations and correlated with all sky imager observations to identify the morphology of the aurora. We use 75461 events collected using the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) with associated all sky imagers observations spanning the years 2012–2016. In addition to classifying these events based on auroral morphology, we estimated the Hall and Pedersen conductance and the differential number flux from which the energy flux and the average energy can be calculated. The differential number flux was estimated using the maximum entropy inversion method described in Semeter and Kamalabadi (2005), but now incorporating the Fang et al. (2010) ionization model. The main results of this investigation are the power law equations that describe the median, 90th, and 10th percentile Hall and Pedersen conductance as a function of energy flux and average energy. These power law fits are performed for different auroral morphology including all events, discrete, diffuse, and pulsating auroral events. The median Pedersen conductance is found to be in good agreement with past empirical conductance specifications by Robinson et al. (1987); however, the median Hall conductance from the PFISR observations is found to be larger than the empirical Hall conductance formulas by Robinson et al. (1987). Pulsating aurora is found to be the most frequently occurring auroral morphology. Furthermore, pulsating aurora has an important contribution to Hall conductance since it has higher average energies than discrete aurora. The results from this investigation are applicable to space weather models and may enable better agreement between model‐data comparisons. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

In response to a climate regime shift in 1977 and general heating of the North Pacific Ocean, pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha abundance reached record highs during 2005-2021, comprising 70% of all Pacific salmon. Pink salmon are approximately 25 times more numerous in odd- than even-numbered calendar years in some major North Pacific ecosystems, a unique demographic pattern analogous to repeating whole ecosystem treatment-control experiments. We found compelling examples indicating that in odd years, predation by pink salmon can initiate pelagic trophic cascades by reducing herbivorous zooplankton abundance sufficiently that phytoplankton densities increase, with opposite patterns in even years. Widespread interspecific competition for common-pool prey resources can be dominated by pink salmon, as indicated by numerous biennial patterns in the diet, growth, survival, abundance, age-at-maturation, distribution, and/or phenology of ecologically, culturally, and economically important forage fishes, squid, Pacific salmon and steelhead trout Oncorhynchus spp., seabirds, humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae , and endangered southern resident killer whales Orcinus orca . In aggregate, the evidence indicates that open-ocean marine carrying capacity in the northern North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea can be mediated by top-down forcing by pink salmon and by ocean heating, and that large-scale hatchery production (~40% of the total adult and immature salmon biomass) likely has unintended consequences for wild salmon, including Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha , and many other marine species. Further investigation of the effects of pink salmon on other species will increase our knowledge of ecosystem function and the important role top-down forcing plays in the open ocean

Euphausiids are an ecologically significant and abundant group of marine zooplankton that form key links between primary producers and consumers in pelagic food webs throughout the world ocean. The euphausiid species, Thysanoessa inermis and T. raschii, have boreal-Arctic distributions, occurring in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Arctic Oceans. The species differ in depth ranges and habitat preferences: T. raschii is found in coastal waters on continental shelf habitats, while T. inermis is abundant in slope and deep water regions. Population genetic analysis based on DNA sequence variation of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcode region was carried out for identified specimens of T. inermis and T. raschii collected in the Arctic (Beaufort/Chukchi and Norwegian Seas, Svalbard Area) and North Atlantic (Gulf of St. Lawrence, Labrador Sea, Iqaluit, Hudson Bay). Populations of T. inermis in the N. Atlantic showed high connectivity, but were genetically isolated from the Beaufort/Chukchi Sea population. Population genetic diversity of T. inermis showed high haplotype and nucleotide diversity and no departures from neutral expectations. In contrast, T. raschii showed lower haplotype and nucleotide diversity, with highly significant departures from neutral expectations. A possible hypothesis is that T. raschii experienced a significant historical demographic event (e.g., population bottleneck), while T. inermis maintained a stable population over recent evolutionary history. The results provide new insights into population dynamics and implications for responses to climate change of these key euphausiid species for the Arctic Ocean.

Boreal‐Arctic regions are key stores of organic carbon (C) and play a major role in the greenhouse gas balance of high‐latitude ecosystems. The carbon‐climate (C‐climate) feedback potential of northern high‐latitude ecosystems remains poorly understood due to uncertainty in temperature and precipitation controls on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) uptake and the decomposition of soil C into CO 2 and methane (CH 4 ) fluxes. While CH 4 fluxes account for a smaller component of the C balance, the climatic impact of CH 4 outweighs CO 2 (28‐34 times larger Global Warming Potential on a 100‐year scale), highlighting the need to jointly resolve the climatic sensitivities of both CO 2 and CH 4 . Here we jointly constrain a terrestrial biosphere model with in situ CO 2 and CH 4 flux observations at seven eddy covariance sites using a data‐model integration approach to resolve the integrated environmental controls on land‐atmosphere CO 2 and CH 4 exchanges in Alaska. Based on the combined CO 2 and CH 4 flux responses to climate variables, we find that 1970‐present climate trends will induce positive C‐climate feedback at all tundra sites, and negative C‐climate feedback at the boreal and shrub fen sites. The positive C‐climate feedback at the tundra sites is predominantly driven by increased CH 4 emissions while the negative C‐climate feedback at the boreal site is predominantly driven by increased CO 2 uptake (80% from decreased heterotrophic respiration, and 20% from increased photosynthesis). Our study demonstrates the need for joint observational constraints on CO 2 and CH 4 biogeochemical processes – and their associated climatic sensitivities – for resolving the sign and magnitude of high‐latitude ecosystem C‐climate feedback in the coming decades. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Climate‐driven changes including rising air temperatures, enhanced permafrost degradation, and altered precipitation patterns can have profound effects on contaminants, such as mercury (Hg), in High Arctic lakes. Two physically similar lakes, East Lake and West Lake at the Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed Observatory on Melville Island, Nunavut, Canada are being affected by climate change differently. Both lakes have experienced permafrost degradation in their catchments; however, West Lake has also undergone multiple underwater Mass Movement Events (MME; beginning in fall 2008), leading to a sustained 50‐fold increase in turbidity. This provided the unique opportunity to understand the potential impacts of permafrost degradation and other climate‐related effects on Hg concentrations and body condition of landlocked Arctic char ( Salvelinus alpinus ), an important sentinel species across the Circum‐Arctic. The objectives of this work were to assess temporal trends in char Hg concentrations and to determine potential mechanisms driving the trends. There was a significant decrease in Hg concentrations in East Lake char averaging 6.5 %/y and 3.8 %/y for length‐adjusted and age‐ adjusted means, respectively, from 2008 to 2019. Conversely, in West Lake there was a significant increase, averaging 7.9 %/y and 8.0 %/y for length‐adjusted and age‐adjusted mean Hg concentrations, respectively, for 2009 to 2017 (last year with sufficient sample size). The best predictors of length‐adjusted Hg concentrations in West Lake were carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios, indicating a shift in diet including possible dietary starvation brought on by the profound increase in lake turbidity. This work provides an example of how increasing lake turbidity, a likely consequence of climate warming in Arctic lakes, may influence fish condition and Hg concentrations.

The thawing of permafrost in the Arctic has led to an increase in coastal land loss, 23 flooding, and ground subsidence, seriously threatening civil infrastructure and coastal 24 communities. However, a lack of tools for synthetic hazard assessment of the Arctic coast has 25 hindered effective response measures. We developed a holistic framework, the Arctic Coastal 26 Hazard Index (ACHI), to assess the vulnerability of Arctic coasts to permafrost thawing, coastal 27 erosion, and coastal flooding. We quantified the coastal permafrost thaw potential (PTP) through 28 regional assessment of thaw subsidence using ground settlement index. The calculations of the 29 ground settlement index involve utilizing projections of permafrost conditions, including future 30 regional mean annual ground temperature, active layer thickness, and talik thickness. The 31 predicted thaw subsidence was validated through a comparison with observed long-term 32 subsidence data. The ACHI incorporates the PTP into seven physical and ecological variables for 33 coastal hazard assessment: shoreline type, habitat, relief, wind exposure, wave exposure, surge 34 potential, and sea-level rise. The coastal hazard assessment was conducted for each 1 km 2 coastline 35 of North Slope Borough, Alaska in the 2060s under the Representative Concentration Pathway 36 (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 forcing scenarios. The areas that are prone to coastal hazards were identified by 37 mapping the distribution pattern of the ACHI. The calculated coastal hazards potential was 38 subjected to validation by comparing it with the observed and historical long-term coastal erosion 39 mean rates. This framework for Arctic coastal assessment may assist policy and decision-making 40 for adaptation, mitigation strategies, and civil infrastructure planning. 41 42

Multiple years of thermospheric wind and temperature data were examined to study gravity waves in Earth’s thermosphere. Winds and temperatures were measured using all‐sky imaging optical Doppler spectrometers deployed at two sites in Alaska, and three in Antarctica. For all sites, oscillatory perturbations were clearly present in high‐pass temporally filtered F‐region line‐of‐sight (LOS) winds for the majority of the clear‐sky nights. Oscillations were also discernible in E‐region LOS wind and F‐region Doppler temperature, albeit less frequently. Oscillation amplitudes correlated strongly with auroral and geomagnetic activity. Observed wave signatures also correlated strongly between geographically nearby observing sites. Amplitudes of LOS wind oscillations were usually small when viewed in the zenith and increased approximately with the sine of the zenith angle – as expected if the underlying motion is predominantly horizontal. Scanning Doppler Imager instruments observe in many look directions simultaneously. Phase relationships between perturbations observed in different look directions were used to identify time intervals when the oscillations were likely to be due to traveling waves. However, a number of instances were noted in which the oscillations had characteristics suggesting geophysical mechanisms other than traveling waves – a recognition that was only possible because of the large number of look directions. Lomb‐Scargle analysis was used on a representative subset of days to resolve the spectral distributions of the wind and temperature oscillations. F‐region wind oscillations on days analyzed this way exhibited periods typically ranging from 60 minutes and above. By contrast, E‐region wind oscillation periods were as short as 30 minutes.

Seascape genomics provides a powerful framework to evaluate the presence and strength of environmental pressures on marine organisms, as well as to forecast long term species stability under various perturbations. In the highly productive North Pacific, forage fishes, key trophic links across ecosystems, are also contending with a rapidly warming climate and a litany of associated oceanographic changes (e.g., changes in salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, primary production, etc.). These changes can place substantial selective pressures on populations over space and time. While several population genomics studies have targeted forage fishes in the North Pacific, none have formally analyzed the interactions between genotype and environment. However, when population genomics studies provide collection location information and other critical data, it is possible to supplement a published genomic dataset with environmental data from existing public databases and perform “ post hoc seascape genomics” analyses. In reviewing the literature, we find pertinent metadata (dates and locations of sample collection) are rarely provided. We identify specific factors that may impede the application of seascape genomics methods in the North Pacific. Finally, we present an approach for supplementing data in a reproducible way to allow for post hoc seascape genomics analysis, in instances when metadata are reported. Overall, our goal is to demonstrate – via literature review – the utility and importance of seascape genomics to understanding the long term health of forage fish species in the North Pacific.

Snowdrifts formed by wind transported snow deposition represent a vital component of the earth surface processes on Arctic tundra. Snow accumulation on steep slopes particularly at the margins of rivers, coasts, lakes, and drained lake basins (DLBs) comprise a significant water storage component for the ecosystem during spring and summer snowmelt. The tundra landscape is in constant change as lakes drain, substantially altering the surface morphology that partially controls how snow drifts and accumulates throughout the cold seasons. Here, we combine field measurements, remote sensing observations, and snow modeling to investigate how lake drainage affects snow redistribution at Inigok on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska, where the snow movement is controlled by wind. Field observations included measurements of snow depth using ground penetrating radar and probe. We mapped mid‐July snow cover and modeled snow redistribution before and after drainage simulation for 33 lakes (∼30 km ² ) in our study area (∼140 km ² ). Our results show the advantage of using a wide range of snow depth measurements on frozen lakes, DLBs, and upland to validate the snow modeling in order to capture the variability inherent in the landscape. The lake drainage simulation suggests an increase in snow storage of up to ∼24% at DLBs compared to extant lakes, ∼35% considering only snowdrifts (assumed as ≥ 1 m depth), and ∼4% considering the whole study area. This increase in snow accumulation could significantly impact the landscape when it melts, including wildlife, vegetation, biogeochemical processes, and potential natural hazards like snow‐dam outburst floods.

We describe here a novel peeling skin condition (PSC) in 2 neonatal Pacific walruses ( Odobenus rosmarus subsp. divergens). Macroscopically, calves had various degrees of peeling skin exacerbated by mechanical trauma. Lesions occurred in areas subject to friction: ventrum, fore- and hindflippers, and associated joints. Histopathologic features included pseudocarcinomatous epithelial hyperplasia with orthokeratotic hyperkeratosis. Bacterial cocci were present within the stratum corneum. A few intraepidermal clefts were present. Inflammation, epidermolysis, and vasculopathies were not observed. PCR assays were negative for vesivirus and for Staphylococcus aureus exfoliative and toxic shock syndrome toxins. Tissue samples were cultured and bacteria isolated and identified by MALDI-TOF MS as Carnobacterium maltaromaticum, Psychrobacter phenylpyruvicus, Globicatella sanguinis, Streptococcus phocae, Pseudomonas spp., Rahnella aquatilis, and Escherichia coli. Given the young age of the calves and their clinical presentation, congenital ichthyosis was suspected. No genetic differences were detected for sequenced portions of keratin genes (keratin gene K10) between diseased and normal walrus skin. This rare PSC in neonatal Pacific walruses is recognized as novel by indigenous Alaskan marine mammal hunters of the Bering Strait region. A comprehensive diagnostic work-up of future case materials is needed to characterize the underlying biochemical defect(s).

Local adaptation is facilitated by loci clustered in relatively few regions of the genome, termed genomic islands of divergence. The mechanisms that create and maintain these islands and how they contribute to adaptive divergence is an active research topic. Here, we use sockeye salmon as a model to investigate both the mechanisms responsible for creating islands of divergence and the patterns of differentiation at these islands. Previous research suggested that multiple islands contributed to adaptive radiation of sockeye salmon. However, the low-density genomic methods used by these studies made it difficult to fully elucidate the mechanisms responsible for islands and connect genotypes to adaptive variation. We used whole genome resequencing to genotype millions of loci to investigate patterns of genetic variation at islands and the mechanisms that potentially created them. We discovered 64 islands, including 16 clustered in four genomic regions shared between two isolated populations. Characterisation of these four regions suggested that three were likely created by structural variation, while one was created by processes not involving structural variation. All four regions were small (< 600 kb), suggesting low recombination regions do not have to span megabases to be important for adaptive divergence. Differentiation at islands was not consistently associated with established population attributes. In sum, the landscape of adaptive divergence and the mechanisms that create it are complex; this complexity likely helps to facilitate fine-scale local adaptation unique to each population.

Permafrost thaw causes the seasonally thawed active layer to deepen, causing the Arctic to shift toward carbon release as soil organic matter becomes susceptible to decomposition. Ground subsidence initiated by ice loss can cause these soils to collapse abruptly, rapidly shifting soil moisture as microtopography changes and also accelerating carbon and nutrient mobilization. The uncertainty of soil moisture trajectories during thaw makes it difficult to predict the role of abrupt thaw in suppressing or exacerbating carbon losses. In this study, we investigated the role of shifting soil moisture conditions on carbon dioxide fluxes during a 13-year permafrost warming experiment that exhibited abrupt thaw. Warming deepened the active layer differentially across treatments, leading to variable rates of subsidence and formation of thermokarst depressions. In turn, differential subsidence caused a gradient of moisture conditions, with some plots becoming consistently inundated with water within thermokarst depressions and others exhibiting generally dry, but more variable soil moisture conditions outside of thermokarst depressions. Experimentally induced permafrost thaw initially drove increasing rates of growing season gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (Reco ), and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) (higher carbon uptake), but the formation of thermokarst depressions began to reverse this trend with a high level of spatial heterogeneity. Plots that subsided at the slowest rate stayed relatively dry and supported higher CO2 fluxes throughout the 13-year experiment, while plots that subsided very rapidly into the center of a thermokarst feature became consistently wet and experienced a rapid decline in growing season GPP, Reco , and NEE (lower carbon uptake or carbon release). These findings indicate that Earth system models, which do not simulate subsidence and often predict drier active layer conditions, likely overestimate net growing season carbon uptake in abruptly thawing landscapes.

Recent marine heatwaves in the Gulf of Alaska have had devastating and lasting impacts on species from various trophic levels. As a result of climate change, total heat exposure in the upper ocean has become longer, more intense, more frequent, and more likely to happen at the same time as other environmental extremes. The combination of multiple environmental extremes can exacerbate the response of sensitive marine organisms. Our hindcast simulation provides the first indication that more than 20 % of the bottom water of the Gulf of Alaska continental shelf was exposed to quadruple heat, positive [H+], negative Ωarag, and negative [O2] compound extreme events during the 2018-2020 marine heat wave. Natural intrusion of deep and acidified water combined with the marine heat wave triggered the first occurrence of these events in 2019. During the 2013-2016 marine heat wave, surface waters were already exposed to widespread marine heat and positive [H+] compound extreme events due to the temperature effect on the [H+]. We introduce a new Gulf of Alaska Downwelling Index (GOADI) with short-term predictive skill, which can serve as indicator of past and near-future positive [H+], negative Ωarag, and negative [O2] compound extreme events on the shelf. Our results suggest that the marine heat waves may have not been the sole environmental stressor that led to the observed ecosystem impacts and warrant a closer look at existing in situ inorganic carbon and other environmental data in combination with biological observations and model output.

Foreshock transient events are frequently observed phenomena that are generated by discontinuities in the solar wind. These transient events are known to trigger global‐scale magnetic field perturbations (e.g., ULF waves). We report a series of foreshock transient events observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission in the upstream bow shock region under quiet solar wind conditions. During the event, ground magnetometers observed significant Pc1 wave activity as well as magnetic impulse events in both hemispheres. Ground Pc 1 wave observations show ∼ 8 minutes time delay (with some time differences) from each foreshock transient event which is observed at the bow shock. We also find that the ground Pc1 waves are observed earlier in the northern hemisphere compared to the southern hemisphere. The observation time difference between the hemispheres implies that the source region of the wave is the off‐equatorial region. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

In July 2011, observations of a massive phytoplankton bloom in the ice‐covered waters of the western Chukchi Sea raised questions about the extent and frequency of under‐ice phytoplankton growth and its contribution to the carbon budget in the Arctic Ocean. To address some of these questions, we use the fully‐coupled, high‐resolution RegionalArctic System Model to simulate Arctic marine biogeochemistry over a thirty‐year period. Our results demonstrate the presence of extensive under‐ice phytoplankton growth in the western Arctic in summer. In addition, similar growth, yet of lower magnitude occurs annually in the eastern Arctic. We investigate the critical levels of nitrate concentration and photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) that are necessary for under‐ice phytoplankton growth to occur. Our results show that while the majority of ice‐covered Arctic waters have sufficient surface nitrate levels to sustain growth, PAR reaching the ocean surface through the sea ice in early summer only exceeds critical levels in the western Arctic. We therefore conclude that the eastern Arctic high chlorophyll‐ a concentrations shown in our simulations did not develop under sea ice, but were instead, at least in part, formed in open waters upstream and subsequently advected by ocean currents beneath the sea ice.

Coastal food webs that are supported by multiple primary producer sources are considered to be more stable against perturbations. Here, we investigated how declining macroalgal abundance and diversity might influence coastal food web structure along an annual sea ice cover gradient along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). The most common benthic invertebrate consumers, macroalgae, and surface particulate organic matter were collected at 15 stations along the WAP. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of primary producers changed negligibly in relation to the sea ice cover gradient, while isotope values of most invertebrate feeding groups increased with higher sea ice cover, although at low explanatory power. Food web length became shorter and consumer trophic niche width smaller in regions with higher sea ice cover. Changes in food web structure were mostly associated with shifts in trophic position of lower trophic levels. Food web structure in higher ice-covered regions resembled that of more generalist feeders with a loss of specialist species, concurrent with an increased reliance on a more reworked detrital food source. These results suggest that a number of benthic invertebrates are able to adjust to differences in basal energy sources. Conversely, these food webs dominated by generalist feeders are likely less efficient in energy transfer, which can create less-stable systems with lower adaptive capacity to disturbance. The predicted sea ice loss along the WAP may ultimately lead to a longer food web with higher macroalgal abundance, more specialist species, and wider consumer trophic niches in the currently more ice-covered regions.

Riverine exports of silicon (Si) influence global carbon cycling through the growth of marine diatoms, which account for ∼25% of global primary production. Climate change will likely alter river Si exports in biome‐specific ways due to interacting shifts in chemical weathering rates, hydrologic connectivity, and metabolic processes in aquatic and terrestrial systems. Nonetheless, factors driving long‐term changes in Si exports remain unexplored at local, regional, and global scales. We evaluated how concentrations and yields of dissolved Si (DSi) changed over the last several decades of rapid climate warming using long‐term datasets from 60 rivers and streams spanning the globe (e.g., Antarctic, tropical, temperate, boreal, alpine, Arctic systems). We show that widespread changes in river DSi concentration and yield have occurred, with the most substantial shifts occurring in alpine and polar regions. The magnitude and direction of trends varied within and among biomes, were most strongly associated with differences in land cover, and were often independent of changes in river discharge. These findings indicate that there are likely diverse mechanisms driving change in river Si biogeochemistry that span the land‐water interface, which may include glacial melt, changes in terrestrial vegetation, and river productivity. Finally, trends were often stronger in months outside of the growing season, particularly in temperate and boreal systems, demonstrating a potentially important role of shifting seasonality for the flux of Si from rivers. Our results have implications for the timing and magnitude of silica processing in rivers and its delivery to global oceans.

Wetlands are responsible for 20%–31% of global methane (CH4) emissions and account for a large source of uncertainty in the global CH4 budget. Data‐driven upscaling of CH4 fluxes from eddy covariance measurements can provide new and independent bottom‐up estimates of wetland CH4 emissions. Here, we develop a six‐predictor random forest upscaling model (UpCH4), trained on 119 site‐years of eddy covariance CH4 flux data from 43 freshwater wetland sites in the FLUXNET‐CH4 Community Product. Network patterns in site‐level annual means and mean seasonal cycles of CH4 fluxes were reproduced accurately in tundra, boreal, and temperate regions (Nash‐Sutcliffe Efficiency ∼0.52–0.63 and 0.53). UpCH4 estimated annual global wetland CH4 emissions of 146 ± 43 TgCH4 y⁻¹ for 2001–2018 which agrees closely with current bottom‐up land surface models (102–181 TgCH4 y⁻¹) and overlaps with top‐down atmospheric inversion models (155–200 TgCH4 y⁻¹). However, UpCH4 diverged from both types of models in the spatial pattern and seasonal dynamics of tropical wetland emissions. We conclude that upscaling of eddy covariance CH4 fluxes has the potential to produce realistic extra‐tropical wetland CH4 emissions estimates which will improve with more flux data. To reduce uncertainty in upscaled estimates, researchers could prioritize new wetland flux sites along humid‐to‐arid tropical climate gradients, from major rainforest basins (Congo, Amazon, and SE Asia), into monsoon (Bangladesh and India) and savannah regions (African Sahel) and be paired with improved knowledge of wetland extent seasonal dynamics in these regions. The monthly wetland methane products gridded at 0.25° from UpCH4 are available via ORNL DAAC (https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2253).

The Arctic is warming at a rate four times the global average, while also being exposed to other global environmental changes, resulting in widespread vegetation and ecosystem change. Integrating functional trait-based approaches with multi-level vegetation, ecosystem, and landscape data enables a holistic understanding of the drivers and consequences of these changes. In two High Arctic study systems near Longyearbyen, Svalbard, a 20-year ITEX warming experiment and elevational gradients with and without nutrient input from nesting seabirds, we collected data on vegetation composition and structure, plant functional traits, ecosystem fluxes, multispectral remote sensing, and microclimate. The dataset contains 1,962 plant records and 16,160 trait measurements from 34 vascular plant taxa, for 9 of which these are the first published trait data. By integrating these comprehensive data, we bridge knowledge gaps and expand trait data coverage, including on intraspecific trait variation. These data can offer insights into ecosystem functioning and provide baselines to assess climate and environmental change impacts. Such knowledge is crucial for effective conservation and management in these vulnerable regions.