DOI: 10.14288/1.0400087
title: Beyond leaf habit: generalities in plant function across 97 tropical dry forest tree species

description: &lt;b&gt;Abstract&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p style="display:block;width:0px;height:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;margin:0px;overflow:hidden;"&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-align:left;"&gt;&lt;span style="background:transparent;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;L&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;eaf habit has been hypothesized to define a linkage between the &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;slow-fast plant economic spectrum&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt; and the drought resistance-avoidance trade-off in tropical forests (‘slow-safe &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;versus&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt; fast-risky&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;’). However, variation in hydraulic traits as a function of leaf habit has rarely been explored for a large number of species.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-align:left;"&gt;&lt;span style="background:transparent;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;We sampled leaf and branch functional traits of 97 tropical dry forest tree species from four sites to investigate whether patterns of trait variation varied consistently in relation to leaf habit along the ‘slow-safe &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;versus&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt; fast-risky&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;’ tradeoff.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-align:left;"&gt;&lt;span style="background:transparent;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;Leaf habit explained from 0 to 43.69 % of individual trait variation. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;W&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;e found that evergreen and semi-deciduous species differed in their location along the&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt; multivariate trait ordination when compared to deciduous species&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;. While &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;d&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;eciduous species showed consistent trait values, evergreen species trait values varied as a function of the &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;site&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;. Last, trait values varied in relation to the proportion of deciduous species in the plant community.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="text-align:left;"&gt;&lt;span style="background:transparent;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;W&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;e found that leaf habit describes the strategies that define drought avoidance and plant economics in tropical trees. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;However,&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt; leaf habit alone does not explain patterns of trait variation, which suggests that quantifying site-specific or species-specific &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;uncertainty in trait variation as the way forward&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font&gt;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="display:block;width:0px;height:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;margin:0px;overflow:hidden;"&gt; &lt;/p&gt;