Leaf and twig traits predict habitat adaptation and demographic strategies in tropical freshwater swamp forest trees

作者：Weng Ngai Lam, Jie Huang, Amanda Hui Ting Tay, Hong Jhun Sim, Pin Jia Chan, Kiah Eng Lim, Mingfeng Lei, Amy Ny Aina Aritsara, Rie Chong, Ying Ying Ting, Nur Estya Rahman, Taylor M. Sloey, Michiel van Breugel, Kun‐Fang Cao, Alison K. S. Wee, Kwek Yan Chong · 发表于：New Phytologist · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1111/nph.19876 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics、Forest ecology and management

Differences in demographic and environmental niches facilitate plant species coexistence in tropical forests. However, the adaptations that enable species to achieve higher demographic rates (e.g. growth or survival) or occupy unique environmental niches (e.g. waterlogged conditions) remain poorly understood. Anatomical traits may better predict plant environmental and demographic strategies because they are direct measurements of structures involved in these adaptations. We collected 18 leaf and twig traits from 29 tree species in a tropical freshwater swamp forest in Singapore. We estimated demographic parameters of the 29 species from growth and survival models, and degree of association toward swamp habitats. We examined pairwise trait-trait, trait-demography and trait-environment links while controlling for phylogeny. Leaf and twig anatomical traits were better predictors of all demographic parameters than other commonly measured leaf and wood traits. Plants with wider vessels had faster growth rates but lower survival rates. Leaf and spongy mesophyll thickness predicted swamp association. These findings demonstrate the utility of anatomical traits as indicators of plant hydraulic strategies and their links to growth-mortality trade-offs and waterlogging stress tolerance that underlie species coexistence mechanisms in tropical forest trees.