Table 1.

Plant trait recorded and ecological significance.

plant trait	abbreviation	unit	ecological significance
plant height	—	cm	competitive strength, resource competition for light [23]
specific leaf area	SLA	cm2 g−1	proxy for growth rate [23,25]
leaf dry matter content	LDMC	mg g−1	plant resistance to stress, pathogens and herbivory and slow growth [23,25]
hairiness/ density of trichomes	—		protection of the leaves against excess irradiation [26]
leaf thickness		Mm	drought and heat tolerance [27]
leaf toughness		N mm−1	protection from herbivores and physical disturbance, enhances leaf lifespan [28]
wettability	—	(°)	leaf's ability to retain water on its surface [29,30] favours pathogen growth [31] and increases a plant's biochemical stress [32]
chlorophyll fluorescence	Fv/Fm		plant stress [15,33,34]
	PIabs		performance index, scales with photosynthesis [15,33,34]
chlorophyll content, single-photon avalanche diode	SPAD		SPAD scales with chlorophyll content [35,36]