Phylogenetic conservatism in the relationship between functional and demographic characteristics in Amazon tree taxa
Authors: Sanchez‐Martinez Pablo , Dexter Kyle G. , Draper Freddie C. , Baraloto Chris , Leão do Amaral Iêda , de Souza Coelho Luiz , de Almeida Matos Francisca Dionízia , de Andrade Lima Filho Diógenes , Salomão Rafael P. , Wittmann Florian , Castilho Carolina V. , de Jesus Veiga Carim Marcelo , Guevara Juan Ernesto , Phillips Oliver L. , Magnusson William E. , Sabatier Daniel , Cardenas Revilla Juan David , Molino Jean‐François , Irume Mariana Victória , Pires Martins Maria , da Silva Guimarães José Renan , Ferreira Ramos José , Bánki Olaf S. , Fernandez Piedade Maria Teresa , Cárdenas López Dairon , Pitman Nigel C. A. , Demarchi Layon O. , Schöngart Jochen , Garcia Luize Bruno , Moraes de Leão Novo Evlyn Márcia , Núñez Vargas Percy , Freire Silva Thiago Sanna , Martins Venticinque Eduardo , Manzatto Angelo Gilberto , Costa Reis Neidiane Farias , Terborgh John , Casula Katia Regina , Honorio Coronado Euridice N. , Monteagudo Mendoza Abel , Montero Juan Carlos , Costa Flávia R. C. , Feldpausch Ted R. , Costa Quaresma Adriano , Castaño Arboleda Nicolás , Zartman Charles Eugene , Killeen Timothy J. , Marimon Beatriz S. , Marimon‐Junior Ben Hur , Vasquez Rodolfo , Mostacedo Bonifacio , Assis Rafael L. , Dantas do Amaral Dário , Engel Julien , Castellanos Hernán , Brilhante de Medeiros Marcelo , Fragomeni Simon Marcelo , Andrade Ana , Camargo José Luís , Laurance William F. , Laurance Susan G. W. , Maniguaje Rincón Lorena , Schietti Juliana , Sousa Thaiane R. , de Sousa Farias Emanuelle , Lopes Maria Aparecida , Lima Magalhães José Leonardo , Mendonça Nascimento Henrique Eduardo , Lima de Queiroz Helder , Aymard Gerardo , Brienen Roel , Stevenson Pablo R. , Araujo‐Murakami Alejandro , Barçante Ladvocat Cintra Bruno , Baker Tim R. , Oliveira Feitosa Yuri , Mogollón Hugo F. , Peres Carlos A. , Silman Miles R. , Ferreira Leandro Valle , Lozada José Rafael , Comiskey James A. , de Toledo José Julio , Damasco Gabriel , Dávila Nállarett , García‐Villacorta Roosevelt , Lopes Aline , Vicentini Alberto , Cornejo Valverde Fernando , Alonso Alfonso , Arroyo Luzmila , Dallmeier Francisco , Gomes Vitor H. F. , Neill David , Peñuela Mora Maria Cristina , Costa Noronha Janaína , de Aguiar Daniel P. P. , Rodrigues Barbosa Flávia , Bredin Yennie K. , de Sá Carpanedo Rainiellen , Antunes Carvalho Fernanda , Coelho de Souza Fernanda , Feeley Kenneth J. , Gribel Rogerio , Haugaasen Torbjørn , Hawes Joseph E. , Petratti Pansonato Marcelo , Pipoly John J. , Ríos Paredes Marcos , de Jesus Rodrigues Domingos , Barlow Jos , Berenguer Erika , Brasil da Silva Izaias , Ferreira Maria Julia , Ferreira Joice , Fine Paul V. A. , Carneiro Guedes Marcelino , Levis Carolina , Licona Juan Carlos , Villa Zegarra Boris Eduardo , Vos Vincent Antoine , Cerón Carlos , Machado Durgante Flávia , Fonty Émile , Henkel Terry W. , Householder John Ethan , Huamantupa‐Chuquimaco Isau , Silveira Marcos , Stropp Juliana , Thomas Raquel , Daly Doug , Milliken William , Pardo Molina Guido , Pennington Toby , Guimarães Vieira Ima Célia , Weiss Albuquerque Bianca , Campelo Wegliane , Fuentes Alfredo , Klitgaard Bente , Marcelo Pena José Luis , Tello J. Sebastián , Vriesendorp Corine , Chave Jerome , Di Fiore Anthony , Hilário Renato Richard , de Oliveira Pereira Luciana , Phillips Juan Fernando , Rivas‐Torres Gonzalo , van Andel Tinde R. , von Hildebrand Patricio , Balee William , Marques Barbosa Edelcilio , de Matos Bonates Luiz Carlos , Dávila Doza Hilda Paulette , Zárate Gómez Ricardo , Gonzales Therany , Gallardo Gonzales George Pepe , Hoffman Bruce , Braga Junqueira André , Malhi Yadvinder , de Andrade Miranda Ires Paula , Mozombite Pinto Linder Felipe , Prieto Adriana , Rudas Agustín , Ruschel Ademir R. , Silva Natalino , Vela César I. A. , Zent Stanford , Zent Egleé L. , Cano Angela , Carrero Márquez Yrma Andreina , Correa Diego F. , Pedrosa Costa Janaina Barbosa , Monteiro Flores Bernardo , Galbraith David , Holmgren Milena , Kalamandeen Michelle , Lobo Guilherme , Montenegro Luis Torres , Trindade Nascimento Marcelo , Oliveira Alexandre A. , Pombo Maihyra Marina , Ramirez‐Angulo Hirma , Rocha Maira , Vizoni Scudeller Veridiana , Umaña Maria Natalia , van der Heijden Geertje , Vilanova Torre Emilio , Baider Cláudia , Balslev Henrik , Cárdenas Sasha , Casas Luisa Fernanda , Farfan‐Rios William , Ferreira Cid , Linares‐Palomino Reynaldo , Mendoza Casimiro , Mesones Italo , Parada Germaine Alexander , Torres‐Lezama Armando , Villarroel Daniel , Zagt Roderick , Alexiades Miguel N. , Almeida de Oliveira Edmar , Fortier Riley P. , Garcia‐Cabrera Karina , Hernandez Lionel , Cuenca Walter Palacios , Pansini Susamar , Pauletto Daniela , Ramirez Arevalo Freddy , Felipe Sampaio Adeilza , Valderrama Sandoval Elvis H. , Valenzuela Gamarra Luis , van der Sande Masha , Poorter Lourens , ter Steege Hans 
Published: November 2024

Leaf and wood functional traits of trees are related to growth, reproduction, and survival, but the degree of phylogenetic conservatism in these relationships is largely unknown. In this study, we describe the variability of strategies involving leaf, wood and demographic characteristics for tree genera distributed across the Amazon Region, and quantify phylogenetic signal for the characteristics and their relationships.

Leaf and wood traits are aligned with demographic variables along two main axes of variation. The first axis represents the coordination of leaf traits describing resource uptake and use, wood density, seed mass, and survival. The second axis represents the coordination between size and growth. Both axes show strong phylogenetic signal, suggesting a constrained evolution influenced by ancestral values, yet the second axis also has an additional, substantial portion of its variation that is driven by functional correlations unrelated to phylogeny, suggesting simultaneously higher evolutionary lability and coordination.

Synthesis. Our results suggest that life history strategies of tropical trees are generally phylogenetically conserved, but that tree lineages may have some capability of responding to environmental changes by modulating their growth and size. Overall, we provide the largest‐scale synopsis of functional characteristics of Amazonian trees, showing substantial nuance in the evolutionary patterns of individual characteristics and their relationships.

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