Life History Traits of Resprouting Puerto Rican Tropical Dry Forest Trees, Guánica Forest, 1981-2018

This dataset provides trait and demographic data for 44 tropical dry forest tree species from the Guánica State Forest in southwest Puerto Rico. The study area spans 4,500 ha of semi-deciduous TDF, where the sampled species represent over 90% of all individuals with a diameter at breast height (dbh) ≥2.5 cm. The dataset integrates ten functional traits, combining newly collected measurements (2017–2018) with previously published data (Vargas et al. 2021b). Previously published data includes xylem-specific hydraulic conductivity (ks), Huber value (hv), and hydraulic safety margin (HSM), with species-level data availability ranging from 19 to 44 species, except for HSM, which was measured for six species. Trait measurements were primarily collected during the wet season (August–November), except stomatal behaviour traits (psimax, psidv, and gsmax), which were assessed during the winter dry season before leaf fall. Demographic data encompass species-specific growth rates and annual survival rates for adult trees, derived from four permanent census plots (625 m² to 10,000 m²) distributed across the forest. These plots, established in mature upland TDF on limestone substrates with mollisol soils, were monitored between 1992 and 2019. Growth rate estimates are based on diameter increments recorded at regular censuses over 20.4–26.4 years. Survival rates were calculated over a 21-year period (1998–2019), mitigating the influence of extreme drought events. Standardised measurement protocols ensured data consistency, including repeated diameter assessments at multiple stem locations and the exclusion of wet-season measurements to prevent water-related swelling artifacts. Growth rates were derived from the regression slope of dbh against time, incorporating a minimum of two dbh measurements per individual (following Poorter et al. 2010). Annual survival rate was calculated over a 21-year timespan (1998–2019) to avoid bias introduced by an intense drought in 1997. The following equations were used: (1) Annual mortality rate (MR) = logeN0 – logeN1/ time (yr); (2) Annual survival rate (SR) = 100 x e-MRx1 Additionally, the dataset includes post-disturbance resprouting responses for 36 species following three disturbance types: fire, hurricane damage, and clearcutting. Data were collected from sites impacted by wildfires (2012), Hurricane Georges (1998), and experimental clearcutting (1981), spanning a maximum distance of 13 km across the forest. Resprouting was assessed at multiple time points post-disturbance, standardised to include basal and root-origin shoots from trees with ≥60% above-ground biomass loss. In total, 1,015 individuals were surveyed, with 704 exhibiting basal resprouting and 311 producing root shoots. This dataset provides valuable insights into the functional traits, demographic dynamics, and disturbance responses of Caribbean tropical dry forest tree species, supporting ecological research on forest resilience, species-specific disturbance responses, and long-term forest dynamics. The dataset is complete and not ongoing. References cited: Poorter, L., McDonald, I., Alarcón, A., Fichtler, E., Licona, J.-C., Peña-Claros, M., Sterck, F., Villegas, Z., & Sass-Klaassen, U. (2010). The importance of wood traits and hydraulic conductance for the performance and life history strategies of 42 rainforest tree species. New Phytologist, 185(2), 481–492. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.03092.x Vargas, G., Brodribb, T. J., Dupuy, J. M., González‐M., R., Hulshof, C. M., Medvigy, D., Allerton, T. A. P., Pizano, C., Salgado‐Negret, B., Schwartz, N. B., Van Bloem, S. J., Waring, B. G., & Powers, J. S. (2021b). Beyond leaf habit: Generalities in plant function across 97 tropical dry forest tree species. New Phytologist, 232(1), 148–161. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17584