Wood anatomical trait correlations with hydraulic efficiency and safety in an aseasonal wet tropical forest

Tavares, Julia V.1 2 ; Farrar, Samuel L.1; Smith-Martin, Chris M.3; Bibbo, Silvia1 4; Ziemińska, Kasia1 5; Solis Petz, Farah Brenda1; Uriarte, María6; Zimmerman, Jess K.7; Muscarella, Robert1

Published Jun 04, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.t4b8gtjhp

Data files

Jun 04, 2026 version files 12.58 KB

Dataset_Tavares_et_al_2026_Functional_Ecology.csv

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README.md

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Abstract

In this study, we investigated relationships between branch wood anatomical traits and their hydraulic properties in an aseasonal wet tropical forest in Puerto Rico. This dataset includes metrics of vessel size, vessel grouping, and tissue fractions, as well as key hydraulic traits, including theoretical hydraulic conductivity (K_th), embolism resistance (𝜳₅₀), and stem capacitance at full turgor (C_ft). It comprises raw- individual data from 78 trees representing 13 species.

This dataset allowed us to address two questions:

(1) Do species in an aseasonal wet tropical forest exhibit a trade-off between xylem safety and efficiency?

(2) Which anatomical traits are associated with hydraulic safety strategies, ranging from drought tolerance to drought avoidance?

DOI:10.5061/dryad.t4b8gtjhp

author: Julia Valentim Tavares

date: 2026-05-11

In this study, we investigated relationships between branch wood anatomical traits and their hydraulic properties in an aseasonal wet tropical forest in Puerto Rico. This dataset includes metrics of vessel size, vessel grouping, and tissue fractions, as well as key hydraulic traits, including theoretical hydraulic conductivity (Kth), embolism resistance (𝜳50), and stem capacitance at full turgor (Cft). It comprises raw- individual data from 78 trees representing 13 species.

Title of Dataset: Dataset_Tavares_et_al_2026_Functional_Ecology.csv

File description:

Dataset_Tavares_et_al_2026_Functional_Ecology.csv file is semicolon-delimited.

Column descriptions:

Family

Genus

Species

Sp_code: Six letter code for each species

Succession: Species successional association (following Rüger et al., 2023), used in our study as a descriptive framework rather than as formal groupings for hypothesis testing. LLP - long lived pioneers; SLB - short lived breeders with relatively fast demography; shade tolerance spectrum ranging from shade-intolerant with fast demographic strategies, intermediate tolerance and strategies, to shade-tolerant species with slow demographic strategies.

Vdiam: Median vessel diameter (μm)

Kth: Maximum theoretical hydraulic conductivity (m4/MPa−1 × s−1)

SVI: Solitary vessel index

Vfrac: Fractional area of vessel lumen

Pfrac: Fractional area of pith

Afrac: Fractional area of axial parenchyma

Rfrac: Fractional area of ray parenchyma

Ffrac: Fractional area of fibre

RAPfrac: Fractional area of total parenchyma (axial + ray)

P50: Stem embolism resistance (MPa) - stem water potential at which 50% of the cumulative embolisms had occurred in stem

Cft: Stem Capacitance at full turgor (MPa)

𝜳50 and Cft data were originally published by Smith‐Martin et al., (2023).

References:

Smith‐Martin, Chris M., Robert Muscarella, Roi Ankori‐Karlinsky, Sylvain Delzon, Samuel L. Farrar, Melissa Salva‐Sauri, Jill Thompson, Jess K. Zimmerman, and María Uriarte. "Hydraulic traits are not robust predictors of tree species stem growth during a severe drought in a wet tropical forest." Functional Ecology 37, no. 2 (2023): 447-460.

Rüger, Nadja, Markus E. Schorn, Stephan Kambach, Robin L. Chazdon, Caroline E. Farrior, Jorge A. Meave, Rodrigo Muñoz et al. "Successional shifts in tree demographic strategies in wet and dry Neotropical forests." Global Ecology and Biogeography 32, no. 6 (2023): 1002-1014.