Functional traits as predictors of vital rates across the life cycle of tropical trees

The ‘functional traits’ of species have been heralded as promising predictors for species’ demographic rates and life history. Multiple studies have linked plant species’ demographic rates to commonly measured traits. However, predictive power is usually low – raising questions about the practical usefulness of traits – and analyses have been limited to size-independent univariate approaches restricted to a particular life stage. Here we directly evaluated the predictive power of multiple traits simultaneously across the entire life cycle of 136 tropical tree species from central Panama. Using a model-averaging approach, we related wood density, seed mass, leaf mass per area and adult stature (maximum diameter) to onset of reproduction, seed production, seedling establishment, and growth and survival at seedling, sapling and adult stages. Three of the four traits analysed here (wood density, seed mass and adult stature) typically explained 20–60% of interspecific variation at a given vi...