Table 2.

Subset of clusterings used to select the trait combination discussed in this study (in bold type). These were filtered from a full list of all possible trait combinations to comprise: at least three functional traits, cophenetic correlation coefficient >0.6, and average group R² > 0.2. A combination involving all trait types (size, structural, chemical, anatomical) was assumed to be the most informative. Abbreviations of traits as in Table 1.

No. of traits	Involved traits	Cophenetic correlation	No. of stable clusters	Average R2
4	SLA, Height, Leaf strength, Circularity	0.76	2	0.34
3	SLA, Height, Circularity	0.76	4	0.34
6	C:N, LCC, SLA, Height, Leaf strength, Bulliform cells	0.61	2	0.33
5	LCC, SLA, Height, Leaf strength, Circularity	0.65	2	0.32
3	C:N, SLA, Leaf strength	0.69	2	0.30
3	SLA, Leaf strength, Circularity	0.61	4	0.30
5	C:N, SLA, Leaf strength, Bulliform cells, Circularity	0.61	2	0.29
4	C:N, SLA, Height, Leaf strength	0.66	2	0.28
6	C:N, SLA, Height, Leaf strength, Bulliform cells, Circularity	0.63	2	0.27
3	LCC, SLA, Circularity	0.63	2	0.25
3	SLA, Height, Leaf strength	0.61	2	0.25
5	C:N, SLA, Height, Leaf strength, Bulliform cells	0.64	2	0.24
5	C:N, SLA, Height, Leaf strength, Circularity	0.7	2	0.24
4	SLA, Height, Bulliform cells, Circularity	0.69	3	0.24
3	C:N, LCC, Leaf strength	0.67	2	0.24
5	C:N, LCC, SLA, Height, Leaf strength	0.66	2	0.23
4	C:N, Height, Leaf strength, Circularity	0.67	2	0.22
4	C:N, SLA, Leaf strength, Circularity	0.63	2	0.21
4	C:N, Leaf strength, Bulliform cells, Circularity	0.62	2	0.20