Drivers of the growth–survival trade‐off in a tropical forest

Abstract

Questions The growth–survival trade‐off is a central concept for the conflicting strategies of acquisitive species that grow quicker and conservative species that grow slower. Understanding which, and how, cross‐species functional traits contribute to the growth–survival trade‐off is a key topic for understanding the functioning of tropical forests. The present study aimed to: (a) determine if leaf traits, wood density and fruit size influence the growth–survival trade‐off at the community level; and (b) test the hypothesis that averaged leaf traits, averaged wood density and averaged fruit size among all trees of subplots explain tree height in a 50‐ha plot of secondary Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Methods All trees with DBH > 3 cm had their heights estimated and were taxonomically identified. The functional traits used were leaf length (LL), leaf width (LW), petiole length (PL), petiole width (PW), leaf width/petiole width (LW/PW), leaf length × leaf width (LL*LW), wood density (WD), fruit length (FL) and fruit width (FW). Results A total of 74,335 trees of 178 species were recorded in 5,076 subplots of 100 m2. Associations between functional traits and mean height (Hmean) and height mode (Hmode) were congruent with expected trends of LW, LL, LW/PW, WD and FW with the top‐ranked global model explaining most of the found variance suggesting that Hmean and Hmode are the best averaged response variables. The growth response represented by Hmean and Hmode had the most distinctive, congruent and consistent association with LW/PW, WD and FW. Conclusions Higher LW and higher LW/PW indicated higher dependence of leaf blade on local microclimatic conditions, and lower dependence on petiole support for plant growth, which is beneficial for the acquisitive strategy. Smaller fruits and higher WD were also associated with the acquisitive strategy. Therefore, LW, LW/PW, WD and FW influenced the growth–survival trade‐off at the community level and explained tree height variation in the studied tropical forest.

Locally adapted gut microbiomes mediate host stress tolerance

“…This suggests that carrying a microbiome that is associated with a higher tolerance upon M. aeruginosa exposure comes with a cost in terms of body size. A trade-off between growth and survival is shown in many organisms [ 72 – 74 ]. Here we show that this trade-off in Daphnia may be mediated through the microbiome, as also suggested by Callens et al [ 58 ].…”

“…Here we show that this trade-off in Daphnia may be mediated through the microbiome, as also suggested by Callens et al [ 58 ]. Hosts with particular microbiomes apparently divide energy towards growth or longevity, but not to the two traits simultaneously: they (1) grow slower with higher tolerance to stressful conditions, or (2) they grow faster without a higher tolerance [ 74 ].…”

The long-term performance of 35 tree species of sudanian West Africa in pure and mixed plantings

“…This result calls into question the applicability in tree plantations of the classical growth-survival tradeoff. The growthsurvival tradeoff is a central concept for understanding the coexistence strategies of faster-growing acquisition species and slower-growing conservative species (Meira-Neto et al, 2019). Understanding the inter-species functional characteristics that contribute to the growth-survival trade-off is a key to imagining the functioning of a tree plantation with very different ecological strategies and to deciding on initial plantation densities (Fayolle et al, 2015).…”

Plant sex changes the outcome of ant–plant interactions in a facultative myrmecophytic cactus

“…In the dioecious population, the structures with ants grew more slowly, but survived better than those without ants. Superior survival of slower‐growing structures in this population is an effect of the well‐known existence of the trade‐off between growth rate and survival (Meira‐Neto et al, 2019; Sterck et al, 2006; Yang et al, 2011). It is likely that the presence of ants foraging on EFNs can bring long‐term benefits to plants (Grangier et al, 2008; Heil et al, 2001).…”

“…This may not have been a direct effect of the ants, but rather a result of the lower investment in defence in these structures and the fact that herbivores typically prefer to feed on tissues produced by male plants (Ågren et al, 1999; Cornelissen & Stiling, 2005). At the same time, a higher probability of survival in these slower‐growing structures reflects a trade‐off between growth and survival (Meira‐Neto et al, 2019; Sterck et al, 2006; Yang et al, 2011).…”