Functional Traits of a Rainforest Vascular Epiphyte Community: Trait Covariation and Indications for Host Specificity

Trait matching between interacting species may foster diversity. Thus, high epiphyte diversity in tropical forests be partly due to the of trees and some degree host specificity. However, possible trait is basically unexplored. Since epiphytic habitat poses particular challenges plants, their correlations should differ from terrestrial but what extent unclear as epiphytes are underrepresented or missing large databases. We quantified 28 traits 99 vascular a lowland forest Panama that were related plant size, leaf, stem, root morphology; photosynthetic mode; nutrient concentrations. analyzed covariation, community weighted means, functional for assemblages on stems crowns four tree species. found intriguing differences plants regarding covariation relations maximal height, stem specific density, length, tissue den-sity, i.e., economic spectra. Regarding specificity, we strong evidence environmental filtering traits, only crowns. On stems, means differed one case, whereas > 2/3 all Although able interpret these light differences, findings mark an important step towards understanding