Relations between functional traits of plants in high Andean secondary forests of the Cordillera Oriental, Colombia

Abstract

Six functional traits of the stem and leaves of species with basal diameters greater than or equal to 5 cm were measured in eight permanent plots with successional shrub coverings, in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, in order to describe the functional traits of the species. For each trait, distribution frequencies and correlations were obtained, and used to determine acquisitive and conservative strategies. Most of the 45 species recorded had small leaves, low specific leaf area, low maximum photosyntetic assimilation and low maximum height; wood density was centered on the median of the distribution. There was no correlation among leaf traits, wood density and maximum height,. Nine species had acquisitive traits, with high rates of maximum photosyntetic assimilation, high specific leaf area, low leaf dry matter content, and low wood density. On the contrary, 36 species with conservative traits, showed low rates of maximum photosyntetic assimilation, low specific leaf area, high leaf dry matter content and average wood density.