Demographic rates and stature of tree species in 13 sub-tropical forests: annual growth, annual survival, annual recruitment >( 1 cm dbh), stature (max dbh)

Organisms of all species must balance their allocation to growth, survival
and recruitment. Among tree species, evolution has resulted in different
life-history strategies for partitioning resources to these key
demographic processes. Life-history strategies in tropical forests have
often been shown to align along a trade-off between fast growth and high
survival, i.e. the well-known fast-slow continuum. In addition, an
orthogonal trade-off has been proposed between tall stature – resulting
from fast growth and high survival – and recruitment success, i.e. a
stature−recruitment trade-off. However, it is not clear if these two
independent dimensions of life-history variation structure tropical
forests worldwide. We used data from 13 large-scale and long-term tropical
forest monitoring plots in three continents to explore the principal
trade-offs in annual growth, survival and recruitment as well as tree
stature. These forests included relatively undisturbed forests as well as
typhoon-disturbed forests. Life-history variation in twelve forests was
structured by two orthogonal trade-offs, the growth−survival trade-off and
the stature−recruitment trade-off. Pairwise Procrustes analysis revealed a
high similarity of demographic relationships among forests. The small
deviations were related to differences between African and Asian plots.
Synthesis. The fast-slow continuum and tree stature are two independent
dimensions structuring many, but not all tropical tree communities. Our
discovery of the consistency of demographic trade-offs and life-history
strategies across different forest types from three continents
substantially improves our ability to predict tropical forest dynamics
worldwide.