Data from: Tropical dry forest trees and lianas differ in leaf economic spectrum traits but have overlapping water-use strategies

Tree species in tropical dry forests employ a wide range of strategies to
cope with seasonal drought, including regulation of hydraulic function.
However, it is uncertain if co-occurring lianas also possess a diversity
of strategies. For a taxonomically diverse group of 14 tree and 7 liana
species, we measured morphological and hydraulic functional traits during
an unusual drought and under non-drought conditions to determine (i) if
trees have different water-use strategies than lianas and (ii) if
relationships among these traits can be used to better understand how tree
and liana species regulate diurnal leaf water potential (Ψdiurnal). In
this Costa Rican tropical dry forest, lianas and trees had overlapping
water-use strategies, but differed in many leaf economic spectrum traits.
Specifically, we found that both lianas and trees employed a diversity of
Ψdiurnal regulation strategies, which did not differ statistically.
However, lianas and trees did significantly differ in terms of certain
traits including leaf area, specific leaf area, petiole length, wood
vessel diameter and xylem vessel density. All liana and tree species we
measured fell along a con- tinuum of isohydric (partial) to anisohydric
(strict or extreme) Ψdiurnal regulation strategies, and leaf area, petiole
length, stomatal conductance and wood vessel diameter correlated with
these strategies. These findings contribute to a trait-based understanding
of how plants regulate Ψdiurnal under both drought stress and sufficient
water availability, and underscore that lianas and trees employ a
similarly wide range of Ψdiurnal regulation strategies, despite having
vastly different growth forms.