Integrated demographic strategies are more strongly associated with variation in conspecific density dependence than single traits in tropical tree seedlings

Conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) is considered a key mechanism shaping species diversity in plant communities. However, species vary widely in CNDD strength, and the main ecological drivers of this variation remain unclear. We tested whether interspecific variation in CNDD is linked to (i) species’ demographic strategies related to growth–survival and stature–recruitment trade-offs, (ii) functional traits, including wood density, seed mass, maximum height, and four leaf traits, and (iii) species’ relative abundance. Using 18 years of seedling mortality data (145,768 individuals, 260 tree species) from a tropical moist forest in Panama and a robust modeling framework that accounts for potential biases due to non-linearities and variation in baseline mortality, we calculated species-specific estimates of  CNDD that quantify the effect of conspecific relative to heterospecific neighbors and tested for relationships between CNDD strength and demographic strategies, functi..., , # Integrated demographic strategies are more strongly associated with variation in conspecific density dependence than single traits in tropical tree seedlings

## Overview

This repository contains the data and R scripts required to reproduce the analyses from the manuscript titled **\"**Integrated demographic strategies are more strongly associated with variation in conspecific density dependence than single traits in tropical tree seedlings.**\"**

The study quantifies species-specific CNDD (Conspecific Negative Density Dependence) using long-term seedling survival data and links variation in CNDD to species traits, life-history axes, and relative abundance via meta-regression.

All files are contained in **Data_Script_NHN.zip**.

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#### Directory Structure and File Descriptions

**1. Data Processing**

* **File:** `Data_processing.R`
* **Purpose:** Prepares the raw seedling census data (2001–2018) for modeling mortality.
* **Variable Definitions (Main Census File)**

Raw census var...,