Community-level trait variation of epiphytic bryophytes supports trade-off aligned with leaf-economic spectrum in vertically stratified tropical montane cloud forest canopies

Tropical montane cloud forests are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, and are vulnerable to climate change due to reliance on atmospheric moisture. Epiphytic bryophytes (i.e., mosses, liverworts, hornworts) dominate these ecosystems and drive important ecosystem processes, yet their underlying strategies of resource use and functional structure within the canopy are not well understood. Community-level functional trait analyses along environmental gradients are valuable for understanding patterns of plant resource use in ecosystems. Along environmental gradients, intraspecific trait variation may obscure or drive patterns of functional structure but has often been overlooked. We examined bryophyte community functional structure among three vertically stratified zones in a Caribbean slope tropical montane cloud forest near Monteverde, Costa Rica. We tested how morphological and water-related traits associated with bryophyte economic spectra differ among vertical zones within ..., Materials and methods:
Study site and tree selection
This study was conducted in May–July of 2023 at the private ranch “Finca Agroecoturística BARPE” in mature secondary Tropical Montane Cloud Forest on the Caribbean slope of the Cordillera de Tilarán, 13km north-west of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, in the Cordillera de Tilarán, Costa Rica (1400 m a.s.l, 10° 22' 5'' N, 84° 49' 30'' W) (Fig. 1A). Research was conducted with permissions from SINAC and ACAT (M-P-SINAC-PNI-ACAT-0022-2023), and the private land owner. Mean annual rainfall, temperature, and relative humidity at the study site were 3720mm, 18.3 ºC, and 96.9% respectively, as determined by two years of continuous monitoring (2022–2024) (Gotsch et al. 2024 unpublished data). The vascular vegetation is characterised by a tall evergreen angiosperm-dominated canopy (to 30 m tall) with abundant lianas and epiphytes in the Piperaceae, Ericaceae, Clusiaceae, Pteridaceae, Hymenophyllaceae, Orchidaceae, and Bromeliaceae.
At Mon..., # Data from: Community-level trait variation of epiphytic bryophytes supports trade-off aligned with leaf-economic spectrum in vertically stratified tropical montane cloud forest canopies

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9kxt](10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9kxt)

## Description of the data and file structure

### Files and variables

#### File: Tucker_et_al_2025_Trait_Data.xlsx

**Description:** This dataset is the raw trait data. Each trait is a new sheet in the excel file. 

##### Traits:

* SM: Shoot mass (mg)
* SW: Shoot width (mm)
* SL: Shoot length (mm)
* SLW: Shoot length to width ratio (mmL/mmW)
* T50: Shoot half-dessication rate (mins to 50% saturated weight)
* WHC: Shoot water holding capacity ( % drymass)
* SSA: specific shoot area (mm2/mg)
* SA: Shoot area (mm2)

##### Variables:

* Note: For WHC and SSA which are derrived from calculations, it was not possible to calculate values for each individual independantly, therefore the values represent the mean value across all shoots for th...,