Functional traits of broad-leaved monocot herbs in the understory and forest edges of a Costa Rican rainforest.

ABSTRACT: Broad-leaved monocot herbs are widespread and dominant components of the shaded understories of wet neotropical forests. These understory habitats are characterized by light limitation and a constant threat of falling branches. Many shaded understory herb species have close relatives that occupy forest edges and gaps, where light availability is higher and defoliation threat is lower, creating an opportunity for comparative analysis of functional traits in order to better understand the evolutionary adaptations associated with this habitat transition. We documented ecological, morphological and ecophysiological traits of multiple herb species in six monocot families from each of these two habitats in the wet tropical rainforest at the La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. We found that

SUBMITTER: Rundel PW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7597634 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature