Linking wood traits to vital rates in tropical rainforest trees: Insights from comparing sapling and adult wood

Abstract

Wood traits of sapling trees provide functional insight into the growth-mortality tradeoff. Sapling wood with relatively large fiber lumen area and wide vessels, enabling faster hydraulic transport but less mechanical strength, is associated with fast growth and high mortality. Sapling wood with relatively more fiber wall and many narrow vessels, enabling greater mechanical strength but slower hydraulic transport, is associated with slow growth and low mortality.