Functional traits of wood in three forests in Colombia: Dry, Andean and High Andean Forests

Abstract

This research analyzed twelve (12) wood functional traits in 144 species of three forests in Colombia. The traits were classified according to their incidence in the functions of storage, support and conduction in the xylem. The conduction relations in the three forests suggest that when the pores diameter is big, its density decrease, and at the same time the pits diameter increase, as a strategy to guarantee exchange between vessels. The tracheid length is related to the fibers length and the pores diameter, because the tracheids fulfill both functions: conduction and support. Tracheids are only in the Andean and High Andean Forest species. The species of the High Andean Forest have long and wide rays allowing greater storage capacity and horizontal conduction. In the Andean Forest species, the fibers length and tracheids length were higher. The Dry forest species had the highest wood densities, however, the values of fiber length and thickness fiber were the lowest, reducing their support capacity. Six functional plant types (TFPs) are established and described from the evaluated traits.

Keywords:
Functional ecology; Plant functional types; Wood density; Xylem anatomy