Functional traits shape size-dependent growth and mortality rates of dry forest tree species

Schiavini, Ivan; Vale, Vagner Santiago do; Raymundo, Diego; Lopes, Sérgio de Faria; Poorter, Lourens

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtw103

Cited by 27 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Our study also confirmed the hypothesis that stratifying by plant size improved the frequency of correlations of vital rates with given traits. Stratifying by size has previously been shown to improve resolution of correlations of RGR and m with traits such as vein densities, LA, LMA, SWC, LT, N mass and P mass , WD and H max (Iida et al., , ; Prado‐Junior et al., ), and our study expanded this finding to a wider range of traits. Stratifying by size reduces the confounding influence of ontogenetic shifts in vital rates on cross‐species comparisons (Hérault et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…We then calculated the Kendall correlation coefficient ( τ ) between the RGR dbh and m (calculated for each species in each 1‐cm DBH class) and species’ mean values for functional traits. We decided to use Kendall correlation following (Iida et al., ) because of the typical non‐normality of the size class stratified vital rates (Prado‐Junior et al., ). The maximum DBH class included in our analysis was 10 cm because analysis of correlations lost power with lower species numbers available to test at larger plant sizes ( n < 9).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fifth, we expected to uncover more relationships of traits with vital rates when accounting for tree size (Iida et al, 2014(Iida et al, , 2016Prado-Junior et al, 2016).…”

Section: -45mentioning

confidence: 99%

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An extensive suite of functional traits distinguishes Hawaiian wet and dry forests and enables prediction of species vital rates

et al. 2018

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The application of functional traits to predict and explain plant species’ distributions and vital rates has been a major direction in functional ecology for decades, yet numerous physiological traits have not yet been incorporated into the approach. Using commonly measured traits such as leaf mass per area (LMA) and wood density (WD), and additional traits related to water transport, gas exchange and resource economics, including leaf vein, stomatal and wilting traits, we tested hypotheses for Hawaiian wet montane and lowland dry forests (MWF and LDF, respectively): (1) Forests would differ in a wide range of traits as expected from contrasting adaptation; (2) trait values would be more convergent among dry than wet forest species due to the stronger environmental filtering; (3) traits would be intercorrelated within “modules” supporting given functions; (4) relative growth rate (RGR) and mortality rate (m) would correlate with a number of specific traits; with (5) stronger relationships when stratifying by tree size; and (6) RGR and m can be strongly explained from trait‐based models. The MWF species’ traits were associated with adaptation to high soil moisture and nutrient supply and greater shade tolerance, whereas the LDF species’ traits were associated with drought tolerance. Thus, on average, MWF species achieved higher maximum heights than LDF species and had leaves with larger epidermal cells, higher maximum stomatal conductance and CO2 assimilation rate, lower vein lengths per area, higher saturated water content and greater shrinkage when dry, lower dry matter content, higher phosphorus concentration, lower nitrogen to phosphorus ratio, high chlorophyll to nitrogen ratio, high carbon isotope discrimination, high stomatal conductance to nitrogen ratio, less negative turgor loss point and lower WD. Functional traits were more variable in the MWF than LDF, were correlated within modules, and predicted species’ RGR and m across forests, with stronger relationships when stratifying by tree size. Models based on multiple traits predicted vital rates across forests (R2 = 0.70–0.72; p < 0.01). Our findings are consistent with a powerful role of broad suites of functional traits in contributing to forest species’ distributions, integrated plant design and vital rates. A plain language summary is available for this article.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An extensive suite of functional traits distinguishes Hawaiian wet and dry forests and enables prediction of species vital rates

et al. 2018

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“…); unrelated across all size classes except mid‐size trees (DBH = 16–18 cm) in a seasonally dry forest, Brazil (Prado‐Junior et al . ); and positively correlated among adult rainforest trees in Taiwan, but negatively correlated among juveniles (Iida et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stem diameter growth rates in a fire‐prone savanna correlate with photosynthetic rate and branch‐scale biomass allocation, but not specific leaf area

et al. 2018

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Plant growth rates strongly determine ecosystem productivity and are a central element of plant ecological strategies. For laboratory and glasshouse-grown seedlings, specific leaf area (SLA; ratio of leaf area to mass) is a key driver of interspecific variation in growth rate (GR). Consequently, SLA is often assumed to drive GR variation in field-grown adult plants. However, there is an increasing evidence that this is not the general case. This suggests that GR -SLA relationships (and perhaps those for other traits) may vary depending on the age or size of the plants being studied. Here we investigated GRtrait relationships and their size dependence among 17 woody species from an open-canopy, fire-prone savanna in northern Australia. We tested the predictions that SLA and stem diameter growth rate would be positively correlated in saplings but unrelated in adults while, in both age classes, faster-GR species would have higher light-saturated photosynthetic rate (A sat ), higher leaf nutrient concentrations, higher branch-scale biomass allocation to leaf versus stem tissues and lower wood density (WD). SLA showed no relationship to stem diameter GR, even in saplings, and the same was true of leaf N and P concentrations, and WD. However, branch-scale leaf:stem allocation was strongly related to GR in both age groups, as was A sat . Together, these two traits accounted for up to 80% of interspecific variation in adult GR, and 41% of sapling GR. A sat is rarely measured in field-based GR studies, and this is the first report of branch-scale leaf:stem allocation (analogous to a benefit:cost ratio) in relation to plant growth rate. Our results suggest that we may yet find general trait-drivers of field growth rates, but SLA will not be one.

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“…Evaluating how differences in environmental conditions influence these communities attributes can help us to predict the impact of climate changes on biodiversity (Pecl et al 2017). A general pattern commonly found is that water availability (e.g., high rainfall and lower seasonality) and temperature play an important role as environmental filters, and are positively related to species diversity and abundance (Duivenvoorden et al 2002, Raymundo et al 2018, and to ecosystem productivity and dynamics (Prado-Junior et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic Conditions Drive the Abundance and Diversity of Spiders Community in an Atlantic Forest Fragment

2019

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Spiders are very sensitive to variations in abiotic conditions. Here, we evaluated to what extent the variation in monthly rainfall and mean temperature can affect spiders community attributes. To this aim, we conducted an inventory of spiders species in a mixed ombrophilous forest fragment, using three different methods (beating tray, nocturnal manual collection and pitfall traps) over July 2010 and June 2011. The influence of monthly rainfall and mean temperature in spiders richness and abundance were evaluated using linear mixed models. We sampled 5,416 spiders belonging to 142 morphospecies and 28 families. These values were higher than those found in other studies conducted in temperate regions, and similar to those values found in tropical regions. Monthly mean temperature positively affected abundance and richness of adults, and negatively affected the abudance of immature spiders. Monthly rainfaill was negatively related to abundance of immature individuals. Species composition also differed between the hottest and coldest months. Our study helps us to understand the role of climatic conditions on spiders communities, and highlights that even small variations in these conditions can directly affect richness, abundance and species composition of spiders.

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Functional traits shape size-dependent growth and mortality rates of dry forest tree species

Cited by 27 publications

References 59 publications

An extensive suite of functional traits distinguishes Hawaiian wet and dry forests and enables prediction of species vital rates

An extensive suite of functional traits distinguishes Hawaiian wet and dry forests and enables prediction of species vital rates

Stem diameter growth rates in a fire‐prone savanna correlate with photosynthetic rate and branch‐scale biomass allocation, but not specific leaf area

Climatic Conditions Drive the Abundance and Diversity of Spiders Community in an Atlantic Forest Fragment

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