Abstract
Most of the previous studies on functional traits focus exclusively on either seedlings or trees. Little knowledge exists on the relationships between community level functional traits of trees and seedlings during succession. Here, we examine variations of the community-level functional traits for trees and seedlings and their correlations along a secondary successional and environmental gradient in a tropical lowland rainforest after shifting cultivation. The results showed that the dynamic patterns in community level functional traits of seedlings were generally consistent with those of the trees during secondary succession. Compared with seedlings, community level traits for trees were less affected by abiotic factors during secondary succession. Correlations between community level functional traits of trees and seedlings were significant for: leaf dry matter content and leaf nitrogen concentration in the 18-year-old fallow; leaf chlorophyll content in the 30-year-old fallow; specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content and leaf nitrogen concentration in the 60-year-old fallow; and leaf nitrogen concentration in old growth. However, these traits except specific leaf area for the tree and seedling communities were all significantly correlated if all the successional stages were combined. Our results suggest that the correlations between community level functional traits of trees and those of seedlings depend on the actual traits and the successional stages examined. However, if all the four successional stages are combined, then four out of five of the community level functional traits for trees could be well predicted by those of the seedlings in the tropical lowland rain forest.
Highlights
Plant functional traits are indicators of their effects on processes contributing to ecosystem functioning
Similar patterns have been observed for seedlings in a tropical lowland rainforest [15]
Tree community Specific leaf area (SLA) was lowest in the 60-year-old fallow, while seedling community SLA decreased during succession
Summary
Plant functional traits are indicators of their effects on processes contributing to ecosystem functioning. Trait-based approaches are used in studies ranging from the level of organisms to that of ecosystems. Many studies on plant functional traits have focused on differences in mean values of traits between- and within-species at the individual species level [4,5]. Community-weighted means of trait values (CWM) largely determine how individual plant species contribute to ecosystem processes at the community level [6]. This supports the “mass ration hypothesis”, which proposes that ecosystem processes are largely determined by the dominant species functional traits in a community [6]
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