Abiotic and biotic factors constrain species occurrences, although many species are widely distributed. We investigated the performance of two populations of Hirtella glandulosa Spreng. (Chrysobalanaceae), a tropical tree or shrub that occurs from Venezuela to southeastern Brazil. This study was carried out in two evergreen Atlantic Forests fragments in the Chapada Diamantina Mountains (Brazil) growing on sites with different soil types and different water availabilities: a river margin on litholic soils (river/lithosol) and a plateau with the deep clayey soils (plateau/latosol). We examined leaf phenology, water potential (Ψ_W), wood density, leaf traits, and leaf gas exchange of populations growing at both sites in the rainy and dry seasons. Despite differences in their Ψ_W values, both populations maintained similar leaf phenological patterns. Leaf traits, Ψ_W, and leaf gas exchange differed spatially and temporally. The maintenance of phenological strategies conditioned by distinct leaf and gas exchange traits compensated for lower water potential levels in the river margin/lithosol site and favored the maintenance of a positive water balance and greater water use efficiency than in the plateau/latosol site. Morphological and physiological trait adjustments could allow the wide distribution of H. glandulosa in contrasting soil types with different water availabilities.

尽管许多物种分布广泛，但非生物和生物因素限制了物种的出现。我们调查了两个Hirtella lagulosa Spreng种群的表现。(Chrysobalanaceae)，一种热带乔木或灌木，分布于委内瑞拉至巴西东南部。这项研究是在 Chapada Diamantina 山脉（巴西）的两个常绿大西洋森林片段中进行的，这些森林生长在不同土壤类型和不同可用水量的地点：岩质土壤（河流/岩质土壤）上的河流边缘和具有深层粘质土壤的高原（高原/拉托索尔）。我们检查了在雨季和旱季在两个地点生长的种群的叶片物候学、水势 ( Ψ _W )、木材密度、叶片性状和叶片气体交换。尽管他们在Ψ _W值，两个种群都保持相似的叶物候模式。叶片性状、Ψ _W和叶片气体交换在空间和时间上都不同。以不同的叶和气体交换特性为条件的物候策略的维持补偿了河流边缘/岩溶土壤中较低的水势水平，并有利于维持正的水平衡和比高原/拉托土壤更高的水利用效率。形态和生理性状的调整可以使H. gearulosa广泛分布在具有不同可用水量的对比土壤类型中。