The present study aimed to determine how plant functional traits change both at the intra- and interspecific levels along three successional stages (early, intermediate and late) in a Brazilian tropical dry forest (TDF). Plants in early-successional plots are expected to exhibit conservative traits to increase photoprotection and water conservation, whereas late successional plants would invest on acquisitive traits. Sampling was conducted in three plots of 50 × 20 m per successional stage, where plant species composition and structural parameters were previously determined for individuals with DBH ≥ 5 cm. From each of three plots, the five tree species with the highest importance values were selected. This resulted in a total of 13 species from seven families selected for this study. We quantified specific leaf area (SLA), leaf slenderness, polyphenols and chlorophyll contents, and leaf lifespan. Based on leaf traits, we detected two major tree functional species groups: the early-intermediate and the late successional groups. Confirming our expectations, the former was positively associated with drought tolerance traits (polyphenols and slenderness) related to conservative resource use; and the latter was positively associated with acquisitive traits (SLA). This pattern was partially corroborated at the intraspecific level for species that occurred in more than one successional stage. We found a weak phylogenetic signal for the functional grouping (only for polyphenols). The analysis of variance structure across scales indicated that a very small proportion (up to 2.8%) of the general variance in leaf traits occurred at intraspecific level suggesting that, compared to interspecific variations, trait differences among individuals due to phenotypic plasticity are low. Although further studies with a larger number of species are needed, our findings suggest a decoupling between functional and structural/species composition regeneration, contradicting several studies on secondary succession where species composition is regarded as the main indicator of the regeneration of ecological functions.

本研究旨在确定在巴西热带干旱森林（TDF）中，植物功能性状在三个连续演替阶段（早期，中期和后期）如何在种内和种间变化。预计在早期成功地块中的植物将表现出保守性状，以增加光保护和节水作用，而在后期继承性植物中，植物将对获得性状进行投资。在每个演替阶段的50×20 m的三个地块中进行采样，事先确定了DBH≥5 cm的个体的植物物种组成和结构参数。从三个地块的每一个中，选择具有最高重要性值的五个树种。这导致从七个科中选择了总共13种来进行这项研究。我们量化了比叶面积（SLA），叶细长度，多酚和叶绿素含量，以及叶片寿命。根据叶的性状，我们检测到两个主要的树木功能物种组：早期中级和后期演替组。证实我们的期望，前者与与保守资源使用有关的耐旱性状（多酚和苗条度）成正相关；后者与获得性特质（SLA）呈正相关。对于在一个以上连续演替阶段中发生的物种，这种模式在种内水平上得到了部分证实。我们发现该功能分组的弱系统发生信号（仅对于多酚）。跨尺度的变异结构分析表明，叶片性状的一般变异中只有极小部分（最高2.8％）发生在种内水平上，这表明，与种间变异相比，由于表型可塑性，个体之间的性状差异较低。尽管需要对大量物种进行进一步的研究，但我们的发现表明功能和结构/物种组成的再生之间存在脱钩，这与关于次生继代的一些研究相矛盾，在次生演替中，物种组成被视为生态功能再生的主要指标。