Table 1 The relationship between more easily measured “soft functional traits” and less easily measured, but potentially more informative, “hard functional traits”
From: Functional perspectives on tropical tree demography and forest dynamics
Soft traits | Hard traits | Citations |
|---|---|---|
Seed mass | • Seed persistence • Germination requirements • Survival to reproduction • Dispersal mode | Díaz and Cabido (1997); Westoby et al. (2002); Cornelissen et al. (2003); Metz et al. (2010) |
Wood density | • Aboveground storage of carbon • Mechanical failure risk • Diameter growth rate • Mortality rate • Timing of reproduction • Hydraulic capacities | Carlquist (1975); Putz et al. (1983); Niklas (1997); Enquist et al. (1999); Cornelissen et al. (2003); van Gelder et al. (2006); Swenson and Enquist (2007) |
Specific leaf area | • Mass-based maximum photosynthetic rate • Potential relative growth rate • Intrinsic water use efficiency • Leaf palatability • Leaf life span • Leaf instantaneous photosynthetic rate | Blackman and Wilson (1951); Aerts (1990); Poorter and Remkes (1990); Lambers and Poorter (1992); Reich et al. (1992); Díaz and Cabido (1997); Reich et al. (1997); Reich et al. (1998); Diemer (1998); Lavorel and Garnier (2002); Westoby et al. (2002); Cornelissen et al. (2003); Elger and Willby (2003); Angert et al. (2007) |
Leaf nitrogen content and leaf phosphorous content | • Mass-based maximum photosynthetic rate • Nutritional quality • Leaf instantaneous photosynthetic rate |