| Summary: | Snow accumulation and retention patterns in the Arctic are undergoing rapid change, with consequences for critical ecosystem processes and climate feedbacks. We used a 22-year International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) snow manipulation experiment with increased and decreased winter snow treatments to quantify how winter snow depth affects leaf-level ecophysiology and plant use of snow meltwater. We coupled measurements of leaf-level gas exchange and leaf tissue chemistry (%N, %C, δ13C, and δ15N) with an analysis of stable isotopes (δ18O and δ2H) in active layer water, precipitation, and stem water. This is the leaf-level gas exchange dataset for four community dominants, Salix pulchra, Betula nana, Eriophorum vaginatum, and Ledum palustre.
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