We have located links that may give you full text access.
Divergence in functional traits in seven species of neotropical palms of different forest strata.
Oecologia 2023 October 25
Functional traits are morphological and physiological characteristics that determine growth, reproduction, and survival strategies. The leaf economics spectrum proposes two opposing life history strategies: species with an "acquisitive" strategy grow fast and exploit high-resource environments, while species with a "conservative" strategy emphasize survival and slow growth under low resource conditions. We analyzed intra and interspecific variation in nine functional traits related to biomass allocation and tissue quality in seven Neotropical palm species from understory and canopy strata. We expected that the level of resources of a stratum that a species typically exploits would determine the dominance of either the exploitative or conservative strategy, as well as degree of divergence in functional traits between species. If this is correct, then canopy species will show an acquisitive strategy emphasizing traits targeting a larger size, whereas understory species will show a conservative strategy with traits promoting efficient biomass allocation and survival in the shade. Two principal components (57.22% of the variation) separated palm species into: (a) canopy species whose traits were congruent with the acquisitive strategy and emphasized large size (i.e., diameter, height, carbon content, and leaf area), and (b) understory species whose traits were associated with efficient biomass allocation (i.e., dry mass fraction -DMF- and tissue density). As we unravel the variation in functional traits in palms, which make up a substantial proportion of the tropical flora, we gain a deeper understanding of how plants adapt to environmental gradients.
Full text links
Related Resources
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app
All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.
By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
Your Privacy Choices
You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app