Improving predictions of tropical tree survival and growth by incorporating measurements of whole leaf allocation

1. Individual-level demographic outcomes should be predictable upon the basis of traits. However, linking traits to tree performance has proven challenging likely due to a failure to consider physiological traits (i.e., hard-traits) and the failure to integrate organ-level and whole plant-level trait information. 

2. Here, we modeled the survival rate and relative growth rate of trees while considering crown allocation, hard-traits, and local-scale biotic interactions, and compared these models to more traditional trait-based models of tree performance. 

3. We found that an integrative trait, total tree-level photosynthetic mass (estimated by multiplying specific leaf area and crown area) results in superior models of tree survival and growth. These models had a lower AIC than those including the effect of initial tree size or any other combination of the traits considered. Survival rates were positively related to higher values of crown area and photosynthetic mass, while relativ...