Data from: Anatomical traits explain drought response of seedlings from wet tropical forests
Data files
Feb 09, 2026 version files 255 KB
Abstract
Water availability regulates plant community dynamics, but the drought response of seedlings remains poorly known despite their vulnerability, especially for the Asian tropics. In particular, discerning how functional traits of seedlings mediate drought response can aid generalizable predictions of tree responses to global environmental change. We assessed interspecific variation in drought response explained by above- and below-ground seedling traits. We conducted a dry-down experiment in the greenhouse using 16 tree species from the humid forests of Western Ghats in southern India, chosen to represent differences in affinity to conditions of high and low seasonal drought (seasonality affiliation). We compared survival, growth, and photosynthetic performance under drought and well-watered conditions, and assessed the extent to which species’ responses were explained by seasonality affiliation and 12 traits of root, stem, and leaf. We found that the species from seasonally dry forest reduced photosynthetic rate in drought compared to well-watered conditions, but seasonality affiliation did not explain differences in growth and survival. Performance in drought vs well-watered conditions were best explained by anatomical traits of xylem, veins and stomata. Species with larger xylem reduced their growth and photosynthesis to tolerate desiccation. In drought, species with smaller stomata correlated with lower survival even though photosynthetic activity decreased by a larger extent with larger stomata. Overall, anatomical traits of xylem and stomata, directly related to water transport and gas-exchange, played a more prominent role than commonly used traits (e.g., specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content) in explaining species response to drought, and may offer a good proxy for physiological traits related to drought tolerance of seedlings. --
File: Metadata_Jhaveri_etal-drought_traits_10Jan2024.pdf
Description: File containing metadata in tabular format for quick reference
File: DATA_GrowthRatesTraits_2024Jhaverietal-drought_traits_EcoEvo.csv
Description: Seedling heights in their first week of being included in the experiment, and their height at the end of the experiment. Growth rate and Relative growth rates are calculated using the initial and final heights of each individual.
Variables
Sr.: serial number
SPECIES: Species Short form for the 16 species included in the experiment: ACTMAL = Actinodaphne malabarica
- ARTHET = Artocarpus heterophyllus
- APOLIN = Aporosa lindleyana
- DIOANG = Diospyros angustifolia
- ELASER = Elaeocarpus serratus
- ELATUB = Elaeocarpus tuberculatus
- GARIND = Garcinia indica
- GARTAL = Garcinia talbotii
- HOLGRA = Holigarna grahamii
- MYRMAL = Myristica malabarica
- OLEDIO = Olea dioica
- PALELL = Palaquium ellipticum
- PERMAC = Persea macrantha
- SYZCAR = Syzygium caryophyllatum
- SYZCUM = Syzygium cumini
- SYZGAR = Syzygium gardneri.
species_code: Unique id for each seedling. A combination of entries from columns block_code + treatment + Species + individual number.
block_code: Experimental block B1 – B6
treatment: Experimantal treatments; C = Control treatment, D = drought treatment
week_num.x: week number of experiment start for each seedling, (always 1)
stem_height.x: stem height at the start of experiment. Unit = centimeter (cm.)
week_num.y: week number of experiment end for each seedling
stem_height.y: stem height at the end of experiment. Unit = centimeter (cm.)
delta_grth: stem height difference (stem_height.y–stem_height.x). Unit = centimeter (cm.)
grth_rate: growth rate per week (delta_grth / week_num.y). Unit = centimeter per week (cm. week -1)
RGR: relative growth rate (grth_rate / stem_height.x). Unit = centimeter per week per initial height (cm. week -1 cm. -1)
MEAN_SLA: mean Specific leaf area (SLA) for species. Unit = centimeter square per grams (cm.2 g.-1). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_LDMC: mean leaf dry matter content (LDMC) for species. Unit = Micrometer per milligram (μm mg -1). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_SS: mean stomatal size (SS) for species. Unit = Micrometer square (μm.2). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_SL: mean stomatal length (SL) for species. Unit = Micrometer (μm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_XD: mean xylem diameter (XD) for species. Unit = Micrometer (μm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_SD: mean stomatal density (SD) for species. Unit = number of stomata per centimeter (number cm. -2)
MEAN_VD: mean vein density (VD) for species. Unit = number of vein per centimeter (number cm. -2)
MEAN_RL: mean root length (RL) for species. Unit = millimeter (mm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_RA: mean root area (RA) for species. Unit = millimeter square (mm.2). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_RD: mean root diameter (RD) for species. Unit = millimeter (mm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_SRL: mean specific root length (SRL) for species. Unit = centimeter per grams (cm. g. -1). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_RF: mean root mass fraction (RF) for species. Unit = gram of root per gram of whole plant (g. g. -1)
SI: Seasonality index (SI) for species. Index values extracted from Krishnadas, M., M. Sankaran, N. Page, J. Joshi, S. Machado, N. Nataraj, S. K. Chengappa, V. Kumar, A. Kumar, and R. Krishnamani. 2021. Seasonal drought regulates species distributions and assembly of tree communities across a tropical wet forest region A. Hampe (Ed.). Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. geb.13350. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.13350.
MEAN_SA: Mean Stomatal area fraction (SAF) for species. Unit = SD * SS * 10 -8 per centimeter of leaf (cm.2 cm. -2). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
File: Photosynthesis_traits_2024Jhaverietal-drought_traits_EcoEvo.csv
Description: Photosynthesis was measured monthly using a LiCOR 6400XT for seedlings of all species from control and drought treatments. Photosynthesis rates were measured with a 2x3 cm2 leaf chamber. The chamber conditions were maintained at PAR 1500 µmolm-2s-1, 65 % humidity, 400 µmols-1 flow rate, fan speed at 10,000 RPM. Measurements were taken between 0700 - 1200 hours.
Variables
Sr.: Serial number
SPECIES: Species Short form for the 16 species included in the experiment:
- ACTMAL = Actinodaphne malabarica
- ARTHET = Artocarpus heterophyllus
- APOLIN = Aporosa lindleyana
- DIOANG = Diospyros angustifolia
- ELASER = Elaeocarpus serratus
- ELATUB = Elaeocarpus tuberculatus
- GARIND = Garcinia indica
- GARTAL = Garcinia talbotii
- HOLGRA = Holigarna grahamii
- MYRMAL = Myristica malabarica
- OLEDIO = Olea dioica
- PALELL = Palaquium ellipticum
- PERMAC = Persea macrantha
- SYZCAR = Syzygium caryophyllatum
- SYZCUM = Syzygium cumini
- SYZGAR = Syzygium gardneri.
species_code: Unique id for each seedling. A combination of entries from columns block_code + treatment + Species + individual number.
block_code: Experimental block B1 – B6
treatment: Experimantal treatments; C = Control treatment, D = drought treatment
date: date of photosynthesis reading
n_week: number of week since the start of experiment
photosynthesis_rate: photosynthesis rate (As.) Unit = micromoles of Carbon-dioxide per meter square of leaf per second (μ mol CO2 m -2 s -1)
MEAN_SLA: mean Specific leaf area (SLA) for species. Unit = centimeter square per grams (cm.2 g. -1). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_LDMC: mean leaf dry matter content (LDMC) for species. Unit = Micrometer per milligram (μm mg -1). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_SS: mean stomatal size (SS) for species. Unit = Micrometer square (μm.2). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_SL: mean stomatal length (SL) for species. Unit = Micrometer (μm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_XD: mean xylem diameter (XD) for species. Unit = Micrometer (μm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_SD: mean stomatal density (SD) for species. Unit = number of stomata per centimeter (number cm. -2)
MEAN_VD: mean vein density (VD) for species. Unit = number of vein per centimeter (number cm. -2)
MEAN_RL: mean root length (RL) for species. Unit = millimeter (mm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_RA: mean root area (RA) for species. Unit = millimeter square (mm.2). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_RD: mean root diameter (RD) for species. Unit = millimeter (mm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_SRL: mean specific root length (SRL) for species. Unit = centimeter per grams (cm. g. -1). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_RF: mean root mass fraction (RF) for species. Unit = gram of root per gram of whole plant (g. g. -1)
SI: Seasonality index (SI) for species. Index values extracted from Krishnadas, M., M. Sankaran, N. Page, J. Joshi, S. Machado, N. Nataraj, S. K. Chengappa, V. Kumar, A. Kumar, and R. Krishnamani. 2021. Seasonal drought regulates species distributions and assembly of tree communities across a tropical wet forest region A. Hampe (Ed.). Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. geb.13350. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.13350.
MEAN_SA: Mean Stomatal area fraction (SAF) for species. Unit = SD * SS * 10 -8 per centimeter of leaf (cm.2 cm. -2). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
File: survival_traits_2024Jhaverietal-drought_traits_EcoEvo.csv
Description: Seedling survival at the end of the experiment was recored as alive = 1 and dead = 0. For 14 species the experiment ended at 16th week number but for Aporosa lindleyana and Diospyros angustifolia the experiment lasted only 12 weeks due COVID-19 restrictions.
Variables
Sr.: Serial number
SPECIES: Species Short form for the 16 species included in the experiment:
- ACTMAL = Actinodaphne malabarica
- ARTHET = Artocarpus heterophyllus
- APOLIN = Aporosa lindleyana
- DIOANG = Diospyros angustifolia
- ELASER = Elaeocarpus serratus
- ELATUB = Elaeocarpus tuberculatus
- GARIND = Garcinia indica
- GARTAL = Garcinia talbotii
- HOLGRA = Holigarna grahamii
- MYRMAL = Myristica malabarica
- OLEDIO = Olea dioica
- PALELL = Palaquium ellipticum
- PERMAC = Persea macrantha
- SYZCAR = Syzygium caryophyllatum
- SYZCUM = Syzygium cumini
- SYZGAR = Syzygium gardneri.
species_code: Unique id for each seedling. A combination of entries from columns block_code + treatment + Species + individual number.
treatment: Experimantal treatments; C = Control treatment, D = drought treatment
week_num: week of experiment end
DOA: Survival at the end of experiment entered as 1 = alive and 0 = dead
block_code: Experimental block B1 – B6
MEAN_SLA: mean Specific leaf area (SLA) for species. Unit = centimeter square per grams (cm.2 g.-1). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_LDMC: mean leaf dry matter content (LDMC) for species. Unit = Micrometer per milligram (μm mg -1). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_SS: mean stomatal size (SS) for species. Unit = Micrometer square (μm.2). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_SL: mean stomatal length (SL) for species. Unit = Micrometer (μm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_XD: mean xylem diameter (XD) for species. Unit = Micrometer (μm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)
MEAN_SD: mean stomatal density (SD) for species. Unit = number of stomata per centimeter (number cm. -2)
MEAN_VD: mean vein density (VD) for species. Unit = number of vein per centimeter (number cm. -2)
MEAN_RL: mean root length (RL) for species. Unit = millimeter (mm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_RA: mean root area (RA) for species. Unit = millimeter square (mm.2). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_RD: mean root diameter (RD) for species. Unit = millimeter (mm.). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_SRL: mean specific root length (SRL) for species. Unit = centimeter per grams (cm. g. -1). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN and DIOANG)
MEAN_RF: mean root mass fraction (RF) for species. Unit = gram of root per gram of whole plant (g. g. -1)
SI: Seasonality index (SI) for species. Index values extracted from Krishnadas, M., M. Sankaran, N. Page, J. Joshi, S. Machado, N. Nataraj, S. K. Chengappa, V. Kumar, A. Kumar, and R. Krishnamani. 2021. Seasonal drought regulates species distributions and assembly of tree communities across a tropical wet forest region A. Hampe (Ed.). Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. geb.13350. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.13350.
MEAN_SA: Mean Stomatal area fraction (SAF) for species. Unit = SD * SS * 10 -8 per centimeter of leaf (cm.2 cm -2). NA = missing data (data missing for APOLIN)