Abstract
Tropical rain forests are remarkably diverse in tree species. The maintenance of such a high biodiversity is, amongst others, possible through niche differentiation. Niche differentiation occurs when species have different life history traits, and exploit limiting resources in different ways. Insight in the life-history trade-offs that drive species coexistence is far from complete, but pertinent to our understanding of rain forest functioning and diversity. This study focuses on the two major environmental gradients in tropical forest; light and rainfall. Hundred species from dry and wet tropical forests will be screened for a large number of functional plant traits related to shade and drought tolerance. The association of co-evolved plant traits will be shown using a trait-correlation network. Trait correlation networks reveal the main avenues of specialisation of plants, highlight their functional differences, and enable to predict plant responses to environmental change. Based on these networks, species will be classified into functional groups, that respond in a similar way to the environment. The functional grouping of trees is very important for tropical forest conservation, management, and climate change mitigation efforts. The classification of the wealth of tree species into a limited number of functional groups allows to model forest communities, and predict species responses to different management scenarios. Key-words: species coexistence, niche differentiation, functional groups, life history trade offs, trait correlation network
Netherlands