Juniper Tree Phenology and Genetic Traits from a Scottish Common Garden Trial, 2022-2025

Environmental Information Data Centre provides data from a common garden trial of common juniper trees planted in Cardrona, Scotland. The dataset comprises 12 different measurements, including single traits and repeated yearly phenology observations from autumn 2022 to summer 2025, for seedlings grown from seeds of 16 natural populations. These data were collected as part of a PhD project to evaluate the genetic diversity and adaptive capability of juniper populations, and the deposit includes R scripts for analysis.

Use Cases

• Analyze genetic variation in tree traits based on measurements from 16 source populations.
• Model phenotypic plasticity and growth over time based on repeated yearly phenology measurements from 2022 to 2025.
• Correlate plant traits with climate variables based on CHELSA climate data for each source population location.
• Conduct univariate and multivariate quantitative genetic analyses based on the 12 provided trait measurements.

Strengths

• Includes 12 different trait measurements per observation.
• Contains repeated, longitudinal phenology data collected yearly from autumn 2022 to summer 2025.
• Represents genetic material from 16 distinct natural juniper populations.
• Accompanied by R scripts for data transformation and analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific Scottish field site and source populations.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Data collected from a common garden trial where seeds from 16 populations were germinated, raised in a glasshouse, and planted in a field site in August 2022.

Time Range

Autumn 2022 to summer 2025

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-07 13:13:12.766854; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Cardrona, the Scottish Borders, Scotland; source populations are from various natural locations.