Divergence of hydraulic traits among tropical forest trees across topographic and vertical environment gradients in Borneo.

ABSTRACT: Fine-scale topographic-edaphic gradients are common in tropical forests and drive species spatial turnover and marked changes in forest structure and function. We evaluate how hydraulic traits of tropical tree species relate to vertical and horizontal spatial niche specialization along such a gradient. Along a topographic-edaphic gradient with uniform climate in Borneo, we measured six key hydraulic traits in 156 individuals of differing heights in 13 species of Dipterocarpaceae. We investigated how hydraulic traits relate to habitat, tree height and their interaction on this gradient. Embolism resistance increased in trees on sandy soils but did not vary with tree height. By contrast, water transport capacity increased on sandier soils and with increasing tree height. Habitat and height o

SUBMITTER: Bittencourt PRL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9545514 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature