DOI: 10.5061/dryad.q573n5ttn
title: Leaf habit, maximum height, and wood density of tropical woody flora in Africa: Phylogenetic constraints, covariation, and responses to seasonal drought

description: How woody floras have evolved to cope with seasonal drought is still
 poorly known, especially in tropical Africa, which experiences a drier and
 more seasonal climate compared to other tropical regions. Here, we
 characterized the phylogenetic and climatic distribution of three key
 traits associated with desiccation avoidance or tolerance, focusing on
 self-supporting woody species of tropical African forests and savannas. We
 assembled a large database with newly compiled data on species leaf habit
 (evergreen vs deciduous, 1,255 species) and maximum height (1,281
 species), along with new data on oven-dry wood density (1,363 species),
 climatic niche, and phylogenetic relatedness. Bayesian phylogenetic mixed
 models were used to assess the phylogenetic signal in niches and trait
 attributes, to explore individual trait responses to climate and to
 investigate trait covariations, both in general and for each
 characterisation of the climatic niche. To date, this study represents the
 first quantitative assessment of the phylogenetic signal in the species
 leaf habit for the woody flora of tropical Africa, though drought
 deciduousness is widespread in seasonal forests and savannas. We
 identified a strong phylogenetic signal, notably for species biome
 affinity and leaf habit, but also major evolutionary changes. Relying
 solely on climate was found to be ineffective for predicting species wood
 density and insufficient for accurately predicting species leaf habit or
 maximum height. Among forests, the effect of climate on leaf habit became
 evident when considering covariations with maximum height or wood density.
 Small understory species are more likely to be evergreen with dense wood,
 while canopy species are more likely to be deciduous with light wood. This
 general pattern varies with climate as both evergreen and deciduous
 species coexist in the canopy of the wettest sites.
description: For the tropical woody flora of Africa, we compiled trait
 attributes at the species level for leaf habit (n=1,255 species), and
 maximum height (n=1,281 species) using previously published database,
 original studies, and flora (the list of data sources is provided in the
 manuscript
description: # Leaf habit, maximum height, and wood density of tropical woody flora in
 Africa: Phylogenetic constraints, covariation, and responses to seasonal
 drought
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q573n5ttn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q573n5ttn) ## Description of the data and file structure For the tropical woody flora of Africa, we compiled trait attributes at the species level for leaf habit (n=1,255 species), and maximum height (n=1,281 species) using previously published database, original studies, and flora (the list of data sources is provided in the publication in the Data sources section). For species both defined as evergreen and deciduous, the deciduous leaf habit was systematically retained as it expresses the ability of the species for leaf shedding, even barely. When multiple measures for maximum height were available, mean values were computed. The species were previously assigned to two broad groups corresponding to the forest and the savanna biomes and six phytoclimatic groups when describing their climatic niches at a finer resolution (see DOI: 10.1111/ele.13985 for more details). ### Files and variables #### File: group\_hmax\_leaf.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * Accepted_family: Family name following the standards of the Tropicos database * Accepted_genus: Genus name following the standards of the Tropicos database * Accepted_species: Species name following the standards of the Tropicos database * leaf_habit: Deciduous or evergreen * hmax: Maximum height (m) * biomes: biomes (forest vs savanna) * clim: phytoclimatic groups: ‘West Forest’ (WF), ‘Moist Forest’ (MF), ‘Dry Forest’ (DF), ‘Cold Savanna’ (CS), and ‘Hot Savanna’ (HS). In the leaf_habit, hmax, biomes and clim columns, ‘NA’ is indicated if no available data for the trait in question was found during compilation or if no assignment for biomes or phytoclimatic groups was done. ## Code/software Excel