Leaf habit, maximum height, and wood density of tropical woody flora in Africa: Phylogenetic constraints, covariation, and responses to seasonal drought

How woody floras have evolved to cope with seasonal drought is still poorly known, especially in tropical Africa, which experiences a drier and more seasonal climate compared to other tropical regions. Here, we characterized the phylogenetic and climatic distribution of three key traits associated with desiccation avoidance or tolerance, focusing on self-supporting woody species of tropical African forests and savannas. We assembled a large database with newly compiled data on species leaf habit (evergreen vs deciduous, 1,255 species) and maximum height (1,281 species), along with new data on oven-dry wood density (1,363 species), climatic niche, and phylogenetic relatedness. Bayesian phylogenetic mixed models were used to assess the phylogenetic signal in niches and trait attributes, to explore individual trait responses to climate and to investigate trait covariations, both in general and for each characterisation of the climatic niche. To date, this study represents the first quantit..., For the tropical woody flora of Africa, we compiled trait attributes at the species level for leaf habit (n=1,255 species), and maximum height (n=1,281 species) using previously published database, original studies, and flora (the list of data sources is provided in the manuscript, , # Leaf habit, maximum height, and wood density of tropical woody flora in Africa: Phylogenetic constraints, covariation, and responses to seasonal drought

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q573n5ttn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q573n5ttn)

## Description of the data and file structure

For the tropical woody flora of Africa, we compiled trait attributes at the species level for leaf habit (n=1,255 species), and maximum height (n=1,281 species) using previously published database, original studies, and flora (the list of data sources is provided in the publication in the Data sources section). For species both defined as evergreen and deciduous, the deciduous leaf habit was systematically retained as it expresses the ability of the species for leaf shedding, even barely. When multiple measures for maximum height were available, mean values were computed. The species were previously assigned to two broad groups corresponding to the forest and the savanna biomes and six phytoclimatic group...,