A growing number of emerging non-native species are expanding within their introduced ranges and may become increasingly problematic in the future. Among them, several Solanum taxa pose underappreciated ecological and economic risks. Solanum nitidibaccatum , a poorly studied annual native to South America and increasingly recorded across Europe, represents a suitable model for understanding the establishment of non-native ruderal and segetal Solanum species in a transformed landscape. We examined how the composition and functional structure of ruderal vegetation influence the occurrence of S. nitidibaccatum , hypothesizing that habitat filtering and high functional heterogeneity facilitate its establishment, whereas interspecific competition constrains it. Using community diversity metrics and functional structure indices, we related vegetation properties to the probability of this species occurrence. The probability of S. nitidibaccatum occurrence was higher in species-rich communities and in vegetation characterized by higher leaf dry matter content and greater functional dispersion. In contrast, it declined in assemblages with a stronger contribution of nitrogen-demanding species and taller vegetation with higher specific leaf area. Our findings indicate that the establishment of S. nitidibaccatum is shaped by the interplay between habitat filtering and functional heterogeneity in ruderal vegetation, which may create underutilized niche space that facilitates the spread of this emerging non-native species. Considering its potential capacity to colonize ecologically similar vegetation across a range of transformed ecosystems, S. nitidibaccatum should be regarded as a species with high potential to become a problematic invasive weed. Its continued spread, together with the emergence of other non-native Solanum species, underscores the need for further research to better anticipate ecological and economic consequences that are challenging to predict.

The ratio of leaf surface area to dry mass, specific leaf area (SLA), relates function to carbon investment, but how the environment impacts SLA and whether SLA represents whole-plant resource acquisition remains debated. We tested two hypotheses using 12 Rhododendron species from four taxonomic sections with different leaf habits: (1) for leaves, we hypothesized that species, leaf position and light interception impact SLA, but higher SLA would be accompanied by higher net photosynthesis (A), stomatal conductance (gs), and maximum leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf), maintaining A/gs and Kleaf/gs across the canopy, and (2) for species, we hypothesized those from stressful climates would have lower SLA, higher Kleaf, higher stomatal density, and smaller stomata. At the leaf-scale, Kleaf was higher for species with lower SLA, contrary to predictions. We observed strong coordination of SLA and carbon to nitrogen ratio, but the relationship of Kleaf/gs to SLA was characterized by species replacement along the leaf economic spectrum, suggesting weak leaf-level trait coordination as a mechanism for low drought tolerance. Across species, lower SLA was associated with lower summer precipitation, lower precipitation seasonality, and larger guard cells. We show that leaf habit and habitat associations shape the functional significance of SLA, determining resource acquisition at leaf and species scales.

Forests are complex socio-ecological systems that deliver key ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation, water regulation, carbon storage and timber production. Increasingly, traditional timber-focused management is giving way to ecosystem-based approaches that incorporate plant traits into forest management plans. This shift supports biodiversity conservation, improves ecosystem resilience and promotes long-term forest health. Plant functional traits such as wood density, leaf size, root depth and specific leaf area, play a key role in regulating ecosystem processes and elucidating interactions between tree species and their environment. This review summarises current evidence that trait-based frameworks improve forest management, support climate change efforts and enhance ecosystem services. A structured literature search identified studies linking functional diversity to ecosystem stability, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and adaptability. By focusing on functional traits, this approach provides insight into how these traits influence ecosystem functions like carbon storage, nutrient recycling and habitat availability. Furthermore, practitioners can predict forest responses to climate change and other biotic and abiotic stresses by incorporating functional traits into forest management strategies, thereby fostering ecosystem services. Overall, integrating functional traits provides a robust framework for improving forest resilience, conserving biodiversity and balancing ecological health with economic goals in changing climate scenarios.

High-resolution maps of plant functional traits are crucial for understanding terrestrial ecosystem processes; however, their integration into ecosystem models has been hindered by uncertainties and a lack of spatially detailed data. Here we combine optical remote sensing, global crowd-sourced biodiversity records and plant trait databases to map community trait distributions worldwide at 1-km resolution, estimating community-weighted means (CWMs) and higher-order moments (standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis) for specific leaf area (SLA), leaf nitrogen (LNC) and leaf phosphorus (LPC) concentrations. Benchmarking against sPlotOpen plot-level CWMs shows low explained variance (R2=0.10-0.27 across traits), indicating limited plot-scale predictive skill under current limited open global benchmarks and scale mismatches. Agreement increases when using a canopy-weighted comparator (TWM; R2=0.22-0.38; relative RMSE ≈12-18%), consistent with the top-of-canopy sensitivity of optical sensors. By providing spatially explicit trait distributions and their higher-order moments, our findings deliver improved detail for understanding biodiversity patterns and ecosystem functioning and provide landscape-scale insights into trait-mediated coexistence. This work enhances ecological modeling and offers a foundation for assessing the impacts of global environmental changes, advancing our understanding of plant functional diversity's role in ecosystem resilience and sustainability.

Background and Objective: Coffee production faces increasing challenges from climate variability, particularly light availability, while the adaptability of robusta coffee to shaded environments remains insufficiently understood compared to arabica. This study evaluated phenotypic plasticity in five robusta coffee cultivars across contrasting light conditions using morpho-anatomical, physiological, and biochemical traits, with the Relative Distance Plasticity Index (RDPI) used to quantify trait responsiveness and identify adaptive strategies.Methodology: One-year-old plants of five robusta coffee cultivars, namely Chumphon 2 (CH2), Chumphon 4 (CH4), R2017–1 (R–1), R2017–2 (R–2), and a local Thai variety (LO), were grown under three shading levels (0%, 50%, and 80%) in a factorial design (shade × cultivar) with five replicates, where individual plants served as experimental units. Morphological, anatomical, physiological, photochemical, and pigment traits were measured, and phenotypic plasticity was quantified using RDPI. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA followed by Duncan’s multiple range test (P < 0.05) in RStudio (v. 2022.02.3) using the “Agricolae” and “Plasticity” packages.Main Results: Physiological/biochemical traits exhibited greater plasticity (RDPI = 0.16–0.25) than morpho-anatomical traits (0.10–0.13). Among cultivars, CH2 showed the highest plasticity (0.25), followed by LO (0.21), R–2 (0.20), and R–1 (0.19), whereas CH4 exhibited the lowest responsiveness (0.16). Shading significantly modified structural traits, increasing specific leaf area and reducing leaf thickness, palisade thickness, and stomatal density (P < 0.05). Physiological responses were significantly affected (P < 0.05), with increased photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) and chlorophyll content, alongside reductions in dark respiration (Rd) and light compensation point (LCP).Conclusions: Phenotypic plasticity in robusta coffee was trait-specific and cultivar-dependent. Cultivars with higher RDPI values, particularly R–2 and CH2, exhibited broader responsiveness across light environments, whereas CH4 showed comparatively limited plasticity. These findings support the use of quantitative plasticity indices to guide cultivar selection in diversified coffee production systems.

Abstract In the context of anthropogenic eutrophication of the biosphere, understanding the impact of nutrient addition on plant diversity–productivity relationships remains a major challenge. In particular, the indirect effect of nutrient addition on productivity in tree mixtures via changes in the functional structure of tree communities has never been experimentally quantified and may play an important role in mediating diversity–productivity relationships. Here, we present results from young experimental tree communities 4 years after planting, including monocultures and two‐ and four‐species mixtures of six European species ( Acer platanoides, Betula pendula, Larix decidua, Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris and Quercus robur ) with or without 4 years of mineral fertilizer addition. Using a response‐effect trait framework that links plant functional traits with ecosystem processes, we specifically examined how functional diversity (FD) and community weighted means (CWM) of tree height (H) and specific leaf area (SLA) were influenced by fertilization and to what extent they mediated the fertilization effect on above‐ground productivity in woody tissues. The overall fertilization effect on the degree of community‐level overyielding was marginally positive, yet the influence of fertilization varied significantly depending on species composition. Fertilization affected community functional trait structure primarily by increasing CWM of SLA through dominance of species with high SLA, rather than through intraspecific trait variability. Interestingly, the fertilization‐induced change in CWM of SLA reduced community‐level overyielding. Irrespective of fertilization, CWM of H and SLA influenced community‐level overyielding, while FD had no significant effects. Our results indicate that changes in nutrient availability can influence the magnitude of overyielding indirectly through dominance of species with high SLA in young tree communities. This result improves our understanding of the context dependency of diversity–productivity relationships, which strongly depends on nutrient availability influencing the competitive relationships among tree species. The occurrence of such effects early after tree planting could potentially produce long‐term consequences for tree community composition, and even more so in naturally regenerating forests with less control on tree species selection. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Trait‐based approaches are widely used to understand variation in plant demographic performance, yet their predictive power is often limited by context dependence. In particular, trait–demography relationships may shift across life stages and be modulated by local abiotic and biotic conditions. However, few studies have simultaneously examined how ontogeny, soil fertility, and neighborhood trait composition jointly shape the outcomes of trait–performance relationships. Here, we integrate long‐term demographic data, functional traits, and soil variables from a 20‐ha warm temperate forest dynamics plot to evaluate how three key traits, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and wood density (WD), affect tree growth and survival across seedling, sapling, and adult stages. We also examine how these effects, including neighborhood interactions for trait dissimilarity, are modified by soil fertility. Our study showed that soil fertility modulated trait effects on tree performance, which varied across life stages. Direct trait effects were detected primarily at the adult stage, where adult survival increased with WD but decreased with LDMC. In contrast, at the seedling and sapling stages, trait effects on survival were largely contingent on soil nutrients. Increasing soil organic matter, moisture, and available potassium intensified the negative effects of conservative traits (LDMC and WD) on seedling and sapling survival, while alleviating the negative effects of acquisitive traits (SLA). Seedlings exhibited lower survival when surrounded by heterospecific neighbors with dissimilar SLA. The negative effect of SLA dissimilarity among neighboring seedlings on seedling survival was amplified in soils rich in organic matter, moisture, and available potassium, whereas between seedlings and neighboring trees it was alleviated under higher nitrogen and phosphorus availability. Our results demonstrate the importance of explicitly considering life stage, local abiotic conditions, and biotic neighborhood context. This multidimensional approach offers new insights into trait‐based mechanisms underlying forest community dynamics across life stages.

Theobroma cacao, one of Colombia's most socially significant crops, faces productivity challenges due to drought. This stress can reduce growth, leaf area, and stomatal conductance (Ks) and generate reactive oxygen species. Therefore, exploring solutions to enhance drought tolerance is crucial. This study aimed to (i) design a strategy to select fungal root endophytes with the potential to alleviate drought stress in plants; (ii) isolate fungi from Stenocereus spp. to induce drought tolerance in T. cacao genotype ICS95. In vitro drought tolerance screening identified five fungal isolates that exhibited the highest biomass production and less than 20% biomass loss under drought conditions compared with non-drought conditions. The soil of juvenile T. cacao plants was inoculated with these isolates, and physiological and morphological parameters were assessed, including leaf water potential (ΨL), Ks, proline content, and growth. The results showed a significant decrease in ΨL and Ks in juveniles under drought stress, which was observed across all five fungal isolates tested. However, juveniles inoculated with Phoma sp. exhibited significantly less negative ΨL than non-inoculated controls, suggesting that this fungus may be a potential inducer of drought tolerance in T. cacao ICS95. One intriguing result was that plants inoculated with this fungus accumulated less proline during the drought treatment. Under non-drought conditions, juveniles inoculated with Fusarium sp. exhibited a significant increase in specific leaf area under non-drought conditions compared to non-inoculated control. These findings suggest that fungal endophytes associated with Stenocereus spp. affect the physiological response of cacao juveniles under drought conditions.IMPORTANCETheobroma cacao is among the world's most valuable crops, yet its productivity is increasingly threatened by fluctuating rainfall and prolonged drought. Identifying sustainable strategies to mitigate these impacts is therefore critical. Xerophilic plants, such as Stenocereus spp., harbor diverse fungal endophytes adapted to arid environments, representing a promising source of microorganisms capable of enhancing stress tolerance in commercial crops. Our study demonstrates that cactus-derived endophytes could improve drought resilience in juveniles of cacao, in particular, the fungal endophyte Phoma sp. maintained less negative leaf water potential values under drought stress conditions and exhibited significantly lower proline accumulation compared to non-inoculated controls. Furthermore, under favorable conditions, some endophytes could promote growth by increasing leaf area compared to non-inoculated plants. These findings underscore the potential of fungal endophytes from arid ecosystems as biotechnological tools for sustainable cacao production. Further studies should explore the role of fungi when affecting plant proline metabolism.

Leaf and hydraulic traits are key determinants of growth rates, and hence potentially exhibit significant associations with wood density (WD) and its intraspecific variation (ITV). However, the extent to which functional traits could improve WD prediction accuracy, and how ITV in WD correlates with functional traits remain incompletely understood. We investigated WD and its ITV across 10,218 plant species, mapped the global distribution of WD, and analyzed the association of ITV in WD with niche breadth and functional traits. Plant species with an acquisitive resource-use strategy, characterized by higher specific leaf area (SLA), leaf nitrogen concentration (LN), and leaf maximum stomatal conductance (gmax), exhibited lower WD. Associations of WD with hydraulic traits indicated species with greater hydraulic safety exhibited higher WD. Moreover, the integration of leaf traits (i.e., SLA and LN) and hydraulic traits with environmental factors substantially enhanced WD prediction accuracy in a random forest model, raising the explained variance from 55% to 95%. Furthermore, resource-acquisitive species demonstrated higher ITV for WD. ITV was positively related to relative niche breadth concerning both climatic factors and soil properties. Overall, functional traits significantly improve WD prediction accuracy, and plant species with an acquisitive resource-use strategy exhibit lower WD but greater intraspecific variation.

ABSTRACTAsh dieback disease, caused by the pathogenic fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, is now widespread in the UK. The pathogen has caused substantial loss of European ash over recent decades, the long‐term consequence of which is complex to assess. While no higher plant species are exclusively associated with ash, widespread ash mortality is predicted to affect woodland floral biodiversity because of the functional traits uniquely associated with this species: namely the greater light penetration through the canopy, rapid foliar decomposition and nutrient cycling abilities. In woodlands where ash is frequent, vascular plant communities may undergo considerable compositional changes after loss of ash trees. At present little is known regarding how ash trees contribute to plant community and functional diversity at a fine scale across different woodland types. Using data from 1274 survey plots characterized in the Woodland Survey of Great Britain alongside plant functional trait data, we examined the local relationship between ash trees and plant community diversity and functional trait distribution. We show that ash trees are significantly associated with key plant functional traits and diversity indices and that this functional association is not typical of other dominant canopy species in the UK. Specific leaf area, nutrient and pH requirements and community diversity show significant correlations with ash basal area across various woodland types. Additionally, effects of ash appear to interact with soil pH resulting in a greater structural effect of ash upon plant community composition in lower pH soils. These findings support previous suggestions that ash functions as a keystone species with respect to nutrient cycling and plant community composition with potentially stronger influence on lower pH soils. Consideration should be given to these ecological roles when monitoring and addressing the impacts of widespread ash mortality from dieback disease across Europe.

Trait-based prediction of targeted species distributions facilitates environmentally adaptive vegetation restoration on the loess plateau

Differentiated effects of grazing intensity on spatial heterogeneity of plant community: Leaf functional traits and CSR strategies.

Abstract Biodiversity loss threatens the stability of ecosystem functions such as productivity, yet how plant functional traits regulate the two key components of ecosystem stability, species stability and species asynchrony, remains unclear. Asynchrony is often attributed to trait differences among species along the slow–fast spectrum, reflecting contrasting responses to environmental fluctuations, but may also arise from competitive interactions among species with similar growth strategies, a mechanism that is difficult to detect without experimentally manipulating interspecific coexistence. In a five‐year grassland biodiversity experiment (2018–2022), we measured two functional traits central to the leaf economics spectrum, specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) in 2022. Using more than 2000 leaf samples, we assessed how species' mean trait values, intraspecific trait variation and interspecific trait dissimilarity relate to species stability and asynchrony across a gradient of species richness. Species stability declined consistently with increasing mean SLA, indicating lower temporal stability in species with faster strategies, whereas mean LDMC was not related to stability. Greater intraspecific variation in SLA and LDMC reduced species stability in monocultures but not in polycultures. The relationship between interspecific trait dissimilarity and species asynchrony also depended on species richness. In monocultures, LDMC‐based trait dissimilarity was negatively associated with temporal correlations—that is, greater functional dissimilarity among species corresponded to higher asynchrony. However, in species‐rich mixtures, temporal correlations decreased as species interactions intensified, and the relationship shifted to positive, indicating that species with similar traits exhibited higher asynchrony. Synthesis. Our findings demonstrate that species' mean positions along the slow–fast spectrum strongly shape temporal stability, whereas the influences of within‐ and between‐species trait variation depend on the extent of interspecific coexistence. This highlights that trait‐based predictions of community stability must explicitly account for species richness and the balance between environment‐driven and interaction‐driven temporal dynamics.

The coupling of water and nitrogen (N) availability critically constrains alpine plant growth and ecosystem productivity, yet the mechanistic links between plant functional traits and resource use efficiencies (rain use efficiency, RUE; nitrogen use efficiency, NUE) along precipitation gradients remain unclear. This study aimed to test whether coordinated shifts in plant functional traits are associated with spatial variation in RUE and NUE across a precipitation gradient on the Changtang Plateau. Here, combining transect surveys with N-addition experiments on the Changtang Plateau, we measured biomass and leaf/root functional traits on four typical grasslands and analyzed the spatial variations in RUE, NUE, and fertilizer use efficiency (FUE). Our results demonstrated contrasting spatial patterns: with increasing precipitation, soil resource availability, community species richness, and biomass significantly improved, and vegetation shifted from a water-conservative strategy in arid regions to a nutrient-efficient strategy in humid regions. FUE increased with precipitation (p < 0.05), with low-dose nitrogen addition exerting more pronounced effects in humid regions, indicating greater responsiveness to fertilization. This transition in resource use patterns is underpinned by a coordinated divergence in functional traits: as water limitation eases, communities exhibited decreasing specific root length (high specific root length, SRL) coupled with increasing specific leaf area (high specific leaf area, SLA) along the gradient. Our findings demonstrate that functional trait variation is associated with the optimization of resource acquisition across environmental gradients. These results provide a mechanistic basis for adaptive management in climate-sensitive alpine biomes, where differentiated grassland management schemes may enhance ecosystem productivity-water conservation and reduced disturbance in arid regions, with moderate low-dose nitrogen fertilization and species diversity protection in humid regions. Long-term ecosystem responses to such management approaches require further investigation.

Physical, rather than chemical soil properties influence tree community structure and functional composition in forests and savannas.

A study was conducted at 20 hybrid combinations derived from Line x Tester (5x4) mating design to estimate the combining ability and heterosis in rice for important yield and its attributing traits. It revealed that there is significant variability present among parents and different cross combinations for majority of the traits studied. The contribution of lines towards the total variance was maximum for days to maturity, panicle length, Specific Leaf Area (SLA) at 80 DAT, Specific Leaf Weight (SLW) at 80 Days After Transplating (DAT) and shoot dry weight. While contribution of testers alone towards the total variance was maximum for Leaf Area Density (LAD) at 60-80 DAT, root dry weight and root shoot ratio. The General Combing Ability (GCA) and Specific Combining Ability (SCA) variances revealed that predominance of both additive and non-additive gene action for different traits and they can be improved either by population improvement methods or by different heterosis breeding methods. JGL 11118 among lines and IR 64 among testers recorded significant GCA effects in desirable direction for majority of the traits. Out of twenty cross combinations studied for heterosis, the crosses viz., BPT 5204 x IR 36 and JGL 11118 x IR 36 and RNR 2465 x IR 64 recorded highest significant positive heterosis for grain yield. Though the perse performance of the parents involved in the heterotic crosses are low, the crosses are heterotic for yield indicating better nicking ability of the parents involved in producing a high heterotic hybrid.

The study focuses on identifying predictors of carbon accumulation in ecosystems of the Carpino-Fagetea sylvaticae class in the broadleaf forests of the Republic of Tatarstan. The research object comprises 10 sample plots for which a set of phytosociological relevés, forest inventory measurements, and biomass assessments across the main community pools (tree stand, understory, deadwood, herb layer, litter, soil) was carried out. Indices of functional diversity (CWM, FDvar) were calculated for key functional traits, including leaf area and mass, specific leaf area, wood density, and plant height. To identify significant predictors, principal component analysis, correlation analysis, and linear regression were applied. The results show that carbon stocks in the studied phytocoenoses range from approximately 190 to 335 t C/ha, with a mean of about 270–300 t C/ha, and 76–86% of the carbon stored in the tree stand. Statistical analysis revealed that the most important predictor of carbon storage capacity is the community-weighted mean of specific leaf area (CWM_SLA), which explains more than 80% of the variation in carbon stocks. Based on regression modelling, the total carbon pool in the region’s broadleaf linden forests was estimated at about 35 Mt, and their annual carbon sequestration potential at around 210 thousand t/year, confirming the effectiveness of using plant functional traits for carbon balance monitoring and for planning low-carbon development strategies.

Transitioning from traditional to organic production is gaining popularity worldwide with significant challenges including weed management. We evaluated how legumes sown as cover crops in a synchronous intercropping (SI) system with organic oat (Avena sativa) as the main crop impacted weed communities. A split-plot design was set up on a farm in Poularies (Quebec, Canada) to compare Melilotus officinalis, Trifolium incarnatum, Trifolium repens and a control without legumes for two years (2019–2020). We determined the botanical composition, calculated diversity indices, and measured plant functional traits. Species richness was similar (S = 5.5 ± 0.4) across treatments in 2019, but higher in the control (S = 12.2 ± 2.6) and lower (S = 6.0 ± 1.2) under T. incarnatum in 2020. Shannon diversity was lower in 2019 (H′ = 1.49 ± 0.07) than in 2020 (H′ = 1.99 ± 0.04), and higher under the control (H′ = 1.87 ± 0.05) than under T. incarnatum (H′ = 1.46 ± 0.04). Weeds under T. incarnatum had a high specific leaf area and a resource-acquisition strategy, while those in the control had a higher leaf dry matter content and a resource-conservation strategy. Our study brings novel results on the use of legumes in SI systems to control weeds. Using T. incarnatum in a SI system with oat had the greatest capacity to cover the ground, control weeds and reduce their diversity, but this species and the acquisitive weeds in this treatment could compete with the main crop. Future research should evaluate the quantity and quality of yields to complete this ecological study and give appropriate agronomic recommendations. Our results could provide agronomists and farmers with indications on the level of competition weeds exert on the cropping system depending on the SI treatment.

Exploring the trait structure of grassland plant communities enhances our understanding of how these communities will respond to climate change and disturbances such as herbivory. The trait structure of a plant community was investigated in the Central Anatolian steppe, an ecoregion with high biodiversity that has been largely unexplored in terms of plant functional ecology. Fifty plant species in the community were measured across 9 plant traits, including several leaf traits (leaf area, leaf dry matter content, specific leaf area, leaf thickness, and leaf nitrogen content), two seed traits (seed mass and seed shape), as well as the plant height and stem specific density. The structure of the plant community was characterized to unveil the functional trait space present. Compared to other grassland communities globally, the plant community in the Central Anatolian steppe exhibited similar functional traits, representing a resource-conservative life history strategy as a whole community. This study represents an initial step towards addressing the significant gap in the literature concerning the Central Anatolian steppes. Further research, including and comparing more steppe habitats in the region, is strongly encouraged.

The carnauba palm trees in the Caatinga ecosystem, in Northeast Brazil, have been impacted by invasive species, particularly in areas subject to flooding. This study aimed to evaluate morphological, physiological, and nutritional responses of Copernicia prunifera (native) and Cryptostegia madagascariensis (invasive) seedlings exposed to flooding stress. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design, with a split-plot arrangement and five replicates. The treatments were formed by two species and five periods of flood stress (0, 8, 12, 16, and 20 days). Flooding significantly reduced shoot dry mass in both species; however, the reduction was more pronounced in the invasive species (27%) compared to the native palm (20%). The invasive species showed strong use of resources, with higher values for leaf mineral nutrient, net photosynthesis, growth rate, and leaf area, regardless of the water regime. Under flooding, the invasive species produced adventitious roots, and the net photosynthetic rate was less impacted, despite greater sodium accumulation in the leaves. The results indicate that the characteristics of C. prunifera, such as slow growth rate, low specific leaf area, and morphological adaptations of the root system, may ensure greater stability in net carbon assimilation in the whole plant under flooding. However, the rapid growth and high absorption of soil resources of C. madagascariensis pose a significant threat to the establishment of C. prunifera seedlings, directly jeopardizing the long-term renewal of carnauba palm groves in the Caatinga ecosystem.