Lianas and trees exhibit distinct hydraulic and functional traits in a subtropical forest

Lianas are woody vines that rely on host trees for support to access the forest canopy. Lianas typically occur in tropical and subtropical forests and coexist with trees in subtropical secondary forests, where their interactions strongly influence forest communities and ecosystem functioning. We compared stem and leaf traits of lianas and trees to examine the effects of growth form and leaf habit. We measured 20 functional traits (9 stem anatomical/hydraulic and 11 leaf morphological / nutrient) from 10 liana and 14 tree species coexisting in a subtropical forest of South China. Lianas exhibited 3.5-fold higher sapwood specific conductivity (Ks) than trees, as well as higher predawn leaf water potential (Ψpredawn) and hydraulically weighted vessel diameter (Dh). Additionally, the maximum vessel diameter (Dmax) of lianas is approximately three times higher than that of trees, and the theoretical hydraulic conductivity (Kp) was ~20 times higher than trees. Functional trait analysis indica..., , # Lianas and trees exhibit distinct hydraulic and functional traits in a subtropical forest

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4qq](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4qq)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains plant trait data and associated metadata used in the publication: 
Liu et al. (2025) — Lianas and Trees Exhibit Distinct Hydraulic and Functional Traits in a Subtropical Forest. Functional Ecology.

The data were collected from woody species in a subtropical forest in South China. They include key hydraulic, morphological, and structural traits used to construct trait networks and conduct comparative analyses between trees and lianas.

### Files and variables

#### File: trait_data_clean.csv

Description of the variables: 

* species: Scientific name of the species
* Growth form: Tree and Liana
* Leaf habits: Deciduous and Evergreen
* Ψ predawn: Predawn potential, bar
* Ψ midday: Midday potential, bar
* TLP: Leaf water potential at turgor loss poin...,