Data from: Trait interactions effects on tropical tree demography depend on the environmental context

Although functional traits are defined based on their impact on
demographic parameters, trait-demography relationships are often reported
as weak. These weak relationships might be due to disregarding trait
interactions and environmental contexts, which should modulate species
trait-demography relationships. We applied different models, including
boosted regression tree (BRT) models, to investigate changes in the
relationship between traits and demographic rates of tropical tree species
in plots along an elevational gradient and among time intervals between
censuses, analyzing the effect of a strong drought event. Based on a large
dataset of 18,000 tree individuals from 133 common species, distributed
among twelve 1-ha plots (habitats) in the Atlantic Forest (Brazil), we
evaluated how trait interactions and the environmental context influence
the demographic rates (growth, mortality, and recruitment). Functional
traits, trait-trait, and trait-habitat interactions predicted demography
with a good fit through either BRTs or linear mixed-models. Changes in
growth rates were best related to size (diameter), and mortality rates to
habitats, while changes in recruitment rates were best related to the
specific leaf area. Moreover, the influence of traits differed among time
intervals, and for demographic parameters, habitat affected growth and
mortality by interacting with diameter. Here, we provide evidence that
trait-demography relationships can be improved when considering the
environmental context (space and time) and trait interactions to cope with
the complexity of changes in the demography of tropical tree communities.
Thus, to expand predictions of demography based on functional traits, we
show that it is useful to fully incorporate the concept of multiple
trait-fitness optima, resulting from trait interactions in different
habitats and growth conditions.