Functional leaf trait diversity of 10 tree species in Congolese secondary tropical forest

Steppe, K.; Maes, W. H.; Mweru, J. P. M.; Van Acker, J.; Huygens, D.; Hubau, W.; Kearsley, E.; Verbeeck, H.; Boeckx, P.; Betehndoh, E.; Beeckman, H.; Buggenhout, L.; Hufkens, K.

Functional leaf trait diversity of 10 tree species in Congolese secondary tropical forest

2014

The Congo Basin has a large secondary forest area. Nevertheless, global plant trait databases lack substantial data from this biome and functional trait diversity is largely unknown. We analysed a unique leaf trait dataset (specific leaf area, nutrientand isotope concentrations) collected from 88 individual trees belonging to 10 different species in tropicallowland forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The trait data were found to be consistent withglobal datasets.δ15N was the only trait significantly influenced by plot location. For all other leaf traits, shadetolerance was a significant factor. The species factor was significant within each shade tolerance class. Thisshows that shade tolerance is an important but not exclusive factor determining functional diversity. Treeheight had significant influence onδ13C, specific leaf area and area-based nutrient concentrations. Higherindividual trees had thicker sun-adapted leaves, regardless of the species. A principal component analysis(PCA) resulted in three significant ordination axes: leaf-thickness, N-content and P-content. By hierarchicalclustering of the PCA scores, four functional groups were distinguished. This showed that species with diversestrategies coexisted in the ecosystem.

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