Diverging functional strategies but high sensitivity to an extreme drought in tropical dry forests

• Published in: Ecology letters Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 451 - 463
• Main Authors: González‐M., Roy, Posada, Juan M., Carmona, Carlos P., Garzón, Fabián, Salinas, Viviana, Idárraga‐Piedrahita, Álvaro, Pizano, Camila, Avella, Andrés, López‐Camacho, René, Norden, Natalia, Nieto, Jhon, Medina, Sandra P., Rodríguez‐M., Gina M., Franke‐Ante, Rebeca, Torres, Alba M., Jurado, Rubén, Cuadros, Hermes, Castaño‐Naranjo, Alejandro, García, Hernando, Salgado‐Negret, Beatriz, Archibald, Sally
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2021; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Biomass; demographic rates; Dominant species; Drought; Droughts; Dry forests; Ecological effects; Ecological function; Ecosystem; ecosystems; Extreme drought; Forests; hydraulic safety‐efficiency trade‐off; investment in tissues; Leaves; Letter; Letters; North America; phenology; Plant Leaves; Plant species; South America; trait probability density; tree growth; tree mortality; Trees; Tropical Climate; Tropical forests; Water; wood; North America; South America; trait probability density; hydraulic safety-efficiency trade-off; demographic rates; Biomass; investment in tissues
• ISSN: 1461-023X; 1461-0248; 1461-0248
• DOI: 10.1111/ele.13659

Extreme drought events have negative effects on forest diversity and functioning. At the species level, however, these effects are still unclear, as species vary in their response to drought through specific functional trait combinations. We used long‐term demographic records of 21,821 trees and extensive databases of traits to understand the responses of 338 tropical dry forests tree species to ENSO2015, the driest event in decades in Northern South America. Functional differences between species were related to the hydraulic safety‐efficiency trade‐off, but unexpectedly, dominant species were characterised by high investment in leaf and wood tissues regardless of their leaf phenological habit. Despite broad functional trait combinations, tree mortality was more widespread in the functional space than tree growth, where less adapted species showed more negative net biomass balances. Our results suggest that if dry conditions increase in this ecosystem, ecological functionality and biomass gain would be reduced. Extreme drought events have negative effects on forest diversity and functioning. We used long‐term demographic records of 21,821 trees and extensive databases of traits to understand the responses of 338 tropical dry forests tree species to an extreme. Our results indicate that irrespective of the drought adaptations, most trees will be negatively affected under drier scenarios predicted for tropical dry forests.