Plasticity and implications of water-use traits in contrasting tropical tree species under climate change.

Plants face a trade-off between hydraulic safety and growth, leading to a range of water-use strategies in different species. However, little is known about such strategies in tropical trees and whether different water-use traits can acclimate to warming. We studied five water-use traits in 20 tropical tree species grown at three different altitudes in Rwanda (RwandaTREE): stomatal conductance (g), leaf minimum conductance (g), plant hydraulic conductance (K), leaf osmotic potential (ψ) and net defoliation during drought.

Traits controlling shade tolerance in tropical montane trees.

Tropical canopies are complex, with multiple canopy layers and pronounced gap dynamics contributing to their high species diversity and productivity. An important reason for this complexity is the large variation in shade tolerance among different tree species. At present, we lack a clear understanding of which plant traits control this variation, e.

Stomatal CO responsiveness and photosynthetic capacity of tropical woody species in relation to taxonomy and functional traits.

Stomatal CO responsiveness and photosynthetic capacity vary greatly among plant species, but the factors controlling these physiological leaf traits are often poorly understood. To explore if these traits are linked to taxonomic group identity and/or to other plant functional traits, we investigated the short-term stomatal CO responses and the maximum rates of photosynthetic carboxylation (V ) and electron transport (J ) in an evolutionary broad range of tropical woody plant species. The study included 21 species representing four major seed plant taxa: gymnosperms, monocots, rosids and asterids.