Forest cover and light availability comprise key factors for plant establishment in tropical forests. In the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (AF), Euterpe edulis (Areacaceae) is an endangered and keystone food resource contributing to forest functionality. We investigated the influence of forest loss and light availability on leaf traits and acclimatization of young individuals of E. edulis in AF fragments. We aimed to understand (i) how canopy openness and transmitted light are affected by forest cover at the landscape scale and the individual palm level; and (ii) how local and landscape features, combined and separately, affect key leaf traits widely known to be related to plant growth. The study was carried out in 15 forest fragments, ranging from 16 to 97% of surrounding forest cover. In each fragment, we sampled 10–20 individuals of E. edulis and analyzed nine leaf traits related to morphological, biochemical and chemical aspects. We also took hemispherical photographs to estimate canopy openness on the top of each E. edulis and also within fragment plots. We found that young plants predominantly occurred in more shaded environments. Additionally, E. edulis succeeded to acclimate in six of the nine traits analyzed, with most traits being affected by local and landscape features. It is likely that the lack of variation in traits related to protection against herbivory are limiting the species establishment in highly deforested landscapes. Our results provide novel evidence that both landscape and local contexts affect the leaf traits of E. edulis young plants leading to biochemical, chemical and morphological adjustments.

森林覆盖和光照是热带森林植物建立的关键因素。在巴西大西洋森林 (AF)，Euterpe edulis (Areacaceae) 是一种濒临灭绝的关键食物资源，有助于森林功能。我们调查了森林损失和光照对E. edulis年轻个体的叶子性状和驯化的影响在 AF 片段中。我们的目的是了解 (i) 树冠开度和透射光如何在景观尺度和个体棕榈水平上受到森林覆盖的影响；(ii) 局部和景观特征如何结合和单独影响众所周知的与植物生长相关的关键叶片性状。该研究在 15 个森林碎片中进行，范围从周围森林覆盖的 16% 到 97%。在每个片段中，我们对 10-20 个E. edulis个体进行了采样，并分析了与形态、生化和化学方面相关的 9 个叶片性状。我们还拍摄了半球形照片，以估计每个E. edulis顶部以及碎片图内的冠层开放度。我们发现幼苗主要出现在更阴凉的环境中。此外，E. edulis成功地适应了所分析的九个性状中的六个，其中大多数性状受当地和景观特征的影响。与防止食草动物相关的性状缺乏变化很可能限制了在高度砍伐森林中的物种建立。我们的研究结果提供了新的证据，表明景观和当地环境都会影响E. edulis幼苗的叶片性状，导致生化、化学和形态调整。