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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits
Published on: October 12, 2015
Leaf traits determine the growth-survival trade-off across rain forest tree species
F J Sterck1, L Poorter, F Schieving
1Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. frank.sterck@wur.nl
Abstract:
A dominant hypothesis explaining tree species coexistence in tropical forest is that trade-offs in characters allow species to adapt to different light environments, but tests for this hypothesis are scarce. This study is the first that uses a theoretical plant growth model to link leaf trade-offs to whole-plant performances and to differential performances across species in different light environments. Using data of 50 sympatric tree species from a Bolivian rain forest, we observed that specific leaf area and photosynthetic capacity codetermined interspecific height growth variation in a forest gap; that leaf survival rate determined the variation in plant survival rate under a closed canopy; that predicted height growth and plant survival rate matched field observations; and that fast-growing species had low survival rates for both field and predicted values. These results show how leaf trade-offs influence differential tree performance and tree species' coexistence in a heterogeneous light environment.
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