From seedlings to adults: Linking survival and leaf functional traits over ontogeny

IF 4.4 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ECOLOGY

Ecology Pub Date : 2024-12-02 DOI:10.1002/ecy.4469

María Natalia Umaña, Jessica Needham, Claire Fortunel

{"title":"From seedlings to adults: Linking survival and leaf functional traits over ontogeny","authors":"María Natalia Umaña, Jessica Needham, Claire Fortunel","doi":"10.1002/ecy.4469","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"As long‐lived tropical trees grow into the multi‐layered canopy and face different environmental conditions, the relationships between leaf traits and whole‐plant survival can vary over ontogeny. We tested the strength and direction of the relationships between leaf traits and long‐term survival data across life stages for woody species from a subtropical forest in Puerto Rico. Trait–survival relationships were largely consistent across ontogeny with conservative traits leading to higher survival rates. The stage‐specific relationship R2 increased by up to one order of magnitude compared to studies not considering ontogenetic trait variations. Stage‐specific traits were significant predictors of their corresponding stage‐specific survival: Seedlings traits were better predictors of seedling survival than adult traits, and adult traits were better predictors of maximum adult survival than seedling traits. Our results suggest that stage‐specific leaf traits reflect different strategies over ontogeny and can substantially improve predictability of survival models in tropical forests.","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecology","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4469","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

As long‐lived tropical trees grow into the multi‐layered canopy and face different environmental conditions, the relationships between leaf traits and whole‐plant survival can vary over ontogeny. We tested the strength and direction of the relationships between leaf traits and long‐term survival data across life stages for woody species from a subtropical forest in Puerto Rico. Trait–survival relationships were largely consistent across ontogeny with conservative traits leading to higher survival rates. The stage‐specific relationship R2 increased by up to one order of magnitude compared to studies not considering ontogenetic trait variations. Stage‐specific traits were significant predictors of their corresponding stage‐specific survival: Seedlings traits were better predictors of seedling survival than adult traits, and adult traits were better predictors of maximum adult survival than seedling traits. Our results suggest that stage‐specific leaf traits reflect different strategies over ontogeny and can substantially improve predictability of survival models in tropical forests.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Ecology 环境科学-生态学

CiteScore

8.30

自引率

2.10%

发文量

332

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Ecology publishes articles that report on the basic elements of ecological research. Emphasis is placed on concise, clear articles documenting important ecological phenomena. The journal publishes a broad array of research that includes a rapidly expanding envelope of subject matter, techniques, approaches, and concepts: paleoecology through present-day phenomena; evolutionary, population, physiological, community, and ecosystem ecology, as well as biogeochemistry; inclusive of descriptive, comparative, experimental, mathematical, statistical, and interdisciplinary approaches.