Life in the fast lane: early-successional species show four different strategies

Clicks: 2
ID: 337811
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #264 of 266 articles by views in Annals of botany

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 266 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Global land-use change and climate change are transforming tropical forests into regrowing secondary forests, where early-successional species play a crucial role by colonizing abandoned lands and paving the way for later-successional species. While often considered a homogeneous group with uniformly fast strategies, this study evaluates the diversity of early-successional strategies from Ghanaian tropical dry and wet forests. METHODS: We selected 30 early-successional species from Ghanaian dry and wet forests differing in leaf habit (deciduous vs. evergreen), and measured wood density and 12 morphological and physiological leaf traits related to drought adaptation and resource acquisition. Traits were compared between forest types and leaf habits using two-way ANOVA, and multivariate analyses identified trait associations and trade-offs. KEY RESULTS: Dry forest species were more drought-tolerant and had slower gas exchange rates than wet forest species, reflecting reduced water use under limited water availability. Multivariate trait analysis showed that early-successional species span a two-dimensional trait space with two main trade-offs: (1) drought tolerance (i.e. high absolute leaf turgor loss point and wood density) versus gas exchange, and (2) investment in leaf structural carbon versus nutrients. The two axes defined four strategies: species that (1) tolerate drought and have tough leaves ("tolerant-and-tough"), (2) tolerate drought and have nutrient-rich leaves ("tolerant-and-rich"), (3) grow rapidly and have tough leaves ("fast-and-tough"), and (4) grow rapidly and have nutrient-rich leaves ("fast-and-rich"). CONCLUSIONS: Early-successional species followed four diverse strategies rather than converging on a single, fast-growing, acquisitive strategy. Their strategies also extended beyond the commonly described fast-slow gradient, with unexpected trait combinations reflecting the contrasting demands of rapid carbon gain and water conservation during early succession. Such variation may steer successional trajectories because different environmental conditions select for different early-successional strategies.
Reference Key
openalex_W7224590768 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Jazz Kok, Frans Bongers, Lucy Amissah, Alexander Baah, Tomonari Matsuo, Lourens Poorter
Journal Annals of botany
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/aob/mcag344
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag344
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.