The interspecific growth–mortality trade-off is not a general framework for tropical forest community structure

Russo, Sabrina E.; McMahon, Sean M.; Detto, Matteo; Ledder, Glenn; Wright, S. Joseph; Condit, Richard S.; Davies, Stuart J.; Ashton, Peter S.; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh; Chang-Yang, Chia-Hao; Ediriweera, Sisira; Ewango, Corneille E.N.; Fletcher, Christine; Foster, Robin B.; Gunatilleke, C.V. Savi; Gunatilleke, I.A.U. Nimal; Hart, Terese; Hsieh, Chang-Fu; Hubbell, Stephen P.; Itoh, Akira; Kassim, Abdul Rahman; Leong, Yao Tze; Lin, Yi Ching; Makana, Jean-Remy; Mohamad, Mohizah Bt.; Ong, Perry; Sugiyama, Anna; Sun, I-Fang; Tan, Sylvester; Thompson, Jill ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4370-2593; Yamakura, Takuo; Yap, Sandra L.; Zimmerman, Jess K.. 2021 The interspecific growth–mortality trade-off is not a general framework for tropical forest community structure. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5 (2). 174-183. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01340-9

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Abstract/Summary

Resource allocation within trees is a zero-sum game. Unavoidable trade-offs dictate that allocation to growth-promoting functions curtails other functions, generating a gradient of investment in growth versus survival along which tree species align, known as the interspecific growth–mortality trade-off. This paradigm is widely accepted but not well established. Using demographic data for 1,111 tree species across ten tropical forests, we tested the generality of the growth–mortality trade-off and evaluated its underlying drivers using two species-specific parameters describing resource allocation strategies: tolerance of resource limitation and responsiveness of allocation to resource access. Globally, a canonical growth–mortality trade-off emerged, but the trade-off was strongly observed only in less disturbance-prone forests, which contained diverse resource allocation strategies. Only half of disturbance-prone forests, which lacked tolerant species, exhibited the trade-off. Supported by a theoretical model, our findings raise questions about whether the growth–mortality trade-off is a universally applicable organizing framework for understanding tropical forest community structure.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01340-9
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	2397-334X
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Publisher link (see Related URLs) provides a read-only full-text copy of the published paper.
Additional Keywords:	community ecology, ecological modelling, forest ecology, tropical ecology
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Related URLs:	Publisher
Date made live:	29 Dec 2020 12:04 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529298

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