These data are the corresponding data for the research project Adjustments in physiological and morphological traits suggest drought-induced competitive release of some California plants conducted at University of California Santa Cruz by Justin C. Luong and Michael E. Loik from 2019-2020. The datasets contain research results on the leaf traits and leaf gas exchange of five native species (Bromus carinatus, Diplacus aurantiacus, Lupinus nanus, Sidalcea malviflora, Stipa pulchra) in response to drought and invasive competition. All data were taken on rooftop greenhouses at UC Santa Cruz near 36.9986019,-122.05981. Data were taken from five native California C3 grassland species in a glasshouse in Santa Cruz, CA, USA, in a factorial design in response to drought and competition (via five locally invasive species). We measured morphological traits (leaf area, specific leaf area, major vein length per unit area, leaf lobedness), leaf chemistry traits (leaf % C, leaf % N, leaf C:N ratio, leaf d13-C and leaf d15-N) and leaf physiology (net carbon assimilation, leaf stomatal conductance, Water-Use Efficiency and nocturnal respiration and stomatal conductance). Traits were compared across treatment and assessed in multivariate traitspace with principal component analyses to examine the spectrum of trait trade-offs to environmental stressors.