Whole-Plant Seedling Functional Traits Suggest Lianas Also Support “Fast-Slow” Plant Economics Spectrum
Lianas are predicted to perform better than trees during seasonal drought among tropical forests, which has substantial implications for tree and forest dynamics. Here, we use whole-plant trait comparison to test whether lianas allocated on the resource acquisitive end of the continuum of woody plan...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/7/990 |
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| author | Zhenhua Sun Nujaree Prachanun Arunkamon Sonsuthi Wirong Chanthorn Warren Y. Brockelman Anuttara Nathalang Luxiang Lin Frans Bongers |
| author_facet | Zhenhua Sun Nujaree Prachanun Arunkamon Sonsuthi Wirong Chanthorn Warren Y. Brockelman Anuttara Nathalang Luxiang Lin Frans Bongers |
| author_sort | Zhenhua Sun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lianas are predicted to perform better than trees during seasonal drought among tropical forests, which has substantial implications for tree and forest dynamics. Here, we use whole-plant trait comparison to test whether lianas allocated on the resource acquisitive end of the continuum of woody plant strategies. We measured morphological and biomass allocation traits for seedlings of 153 species of trees and lianas occurring in a tropical forest in Thailand during the dry season. We first compared trait differences between lianas and trees directly, and then classified all species based on their trait similarities. We found that liana seedlings had significantly higher specific leaf areas and specific stem lengths than co-occurring tree seedlings. Trait similarity classification resulted in a liana-dominated cluster and a tree-dominated cluster. Compared to the tree-dominated cluster, species in the liana-dominated cluster were characterized by a consistent pattern of lower dry matter content and cheaper and more efficient per dry mass unit investment in both above- and below-ground organs. The consistency of all organs operating in tandem for dry matter content, together with optimized investment in them per mass unit, implied that the lianas and trees can be highly overlapped on the strategy gradient of the resource acquisition continuum. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:19:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b20dcf4641704a7192a3dacb6e88806f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:19:32Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-b20dcf4641704a7192a3dacb6e88806f2023-12-01T22:09:21ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072022-06-0113799010.3390/f13070990Whole-Plant Seedling Functional Traits Suggest Lianas Also Support “Fast-Slow” Plant Economics SpectrumZhenhua Sun0Nujaree Prachanun1Arunkamon Sonsuthi2Wirong Chanthorn3Warren Y. Brockelman4Anuttara Nathalang5Luxiang Lin6Frans Bongers7CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, ChinaDepartment of Environmental Technology and Management, Faculty of Environment, Kasetsart University, 50 Ngamwongwan Road, Jatujak, Bangkok 10900, ThailandNational Biobank of Thailand (NBT), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Bangkok 12120, ThailandNational Biobank of Thailand (NBT), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Bangkok 12120, ThailandCAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, ChinaForest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The NetherlandsLianas are predicted to perform better than trees during seasonal drought among tropical forests, which has substantial implications for tree and forest dynamics. Here, we use whole-plant trait comparison to test whether lianas allocated on the resource acquisitive end of the continuum of woody plant strategies. We measured morphological and biomass allocation traits for seedlings of 153 species of trees and lianas occurring in a tropical forest in Thailand during the dry season. We first compared trait differences between lianas and trees directly, and then classified all species based on their trait similarities. We found that liana seedlings had significantly higher specific leaf areas and specific stem lengths than co-occurring tree seedlings. Trait similarity classification resulted in a liana-dominated cluster and a tree-dominated cluster. Compared to the tree-dominated cluster, species in the liana-dominated cluster were characterized by a consistent pattern of lower dry matter content and cheaper and more efficient per dry mass unit investment in both above- and below-ground organs. The consistency of all organs operating in tandem for dry matter content, together with optimized investment in them per mass unit, implied that the lianas and trees can be highly overlapped on the strategy gradient of the resource acquisition continuum.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/7/990‘fast–slow’ plant economics spectrumfunctional traitslianas and treesseasonal growth advantage (SGA)tropical forest |
| spellingShingle | Zhenhua Sun Nujaree Prachanun Arunkamon Sonsuthi Wirong Chanthorn Warren Y. Brockelman Anuttara Nathalang Luxiang Lin Frans Bongers Whole-Plant Seedling Functional Traits Suggest Lianas Also Support “Fast-Slow” Plant Economics Spectrum Forests ‘fast–slow’ plant economics spectrum functional traits lianas and trees seasonal growth advantage (SGA) tropical forest |
| title | Whole-Plant Seedling Functional Traits Suggest Lianas Also Support “Fast-Slow” Plant Economics Spectrum |
| title_full | Whole-Plant Seedling Functional Traits Suggest Lianas Also Support “Fast-Slow” Plant Economics Spectrum |
| title_fullStr | Whole-Plant Seedling Functional Traits Suggest Lianas Also Support “Fast-Slow” Plant Economics Spectrum |
| title_full_unstemmed | Whole-Plant Seedling Functional Traits Suggest Lianas Also Support “Fast-Slow” Plant Economics Spectrum |
| title_short | Whole-Plant Seedling Functional Traits Suggest Lianas Also Support “Fast-Slow” Plant Economics Spectrum |
| title_sort | whole plant seedling functional traits suggest lianas also support fast slow plant economics spectrum |
| topic | ‘fast–slow’ plant economics spectrum functional traits lianas and trees seasonal growth advantage (SGA) tropical forest |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/7/990 |
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