Alpine vegetation dataset from three contrasting mountain ranges differing in climate and evolutionary history

Vegetation above treeline constitutes one of the most vulnerable ecosystems to climate warming and other drivers of Global Change. Given the panorama of such an uncertain future facing these plant communities, it is critical to know how they respond to environmental changes and improve the knowledge on the potential impacts of climate change on their distribution. Recently, with the impressive development of trait-based approaches, relevant progress has been made to better understand the relationships between environmental conditions and plant communities. In this data paper, we describe data on abundances of 327 alpine plant species across 430 subplots of 2.4 m × 2.4 m in three mountain ranges (Sierra de Guadarrama and Pyrenees in Spain, and the Central Andes in Chile). We provide data on different environmental variables that represent variation in abiotic conditions and operate at different spatial scales (e.g., climatic, topographic and soil conditions). Data on six plant functional traits are also shown, which were measured on ten individuals of each species, following standard protocols. We provided the dataset as tables in the supplementary material. This information could be used to analyse the relationship between the alpine vegetation and changes in environmental conditions, and ultimately, to understand ecosystem functioning and guide conservation strategies of theses threatened and valuable ecosystems.