Demographic trade-offs and functional shifts in a hurricane-impacted tropical forest.

This article focuses on the demographic trade-offs and shifts in functional traits of a hurricane-disturbed tropical forest in Puerto Rico, using long-term data from the Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot (LFDP). The study found that, contrary to the typical growth–survival trade-off observed in undisturbed forests, tree species in this disturbance-prone forest exhibit a fecundity–growth trade-off and an independent survival axis, with resprouting ability forming a separate demographic dimension. Over the post-hurricane recovery period (2000–2016), the forest community shifted from species with acquisitive leaf traits and small seeds toward species with more conservative leaf economics traits and larger seed mass, while wood specific gravity showed no significant directional change. These findings suggest that frequent hurricane disturbances alter demographic strategies and functional composition in tropical forests, with implications for predicting forest responses to increasing disturbance regimes under climate change.