Understanding the link between functional traits and environmental gradients can provide important information to face global change. Here, we assessed how environmental variables act on functional trait-based ecological strategies of the acquisitive-conservative continuum and dispersal syndromes in forests of the Rio Doce Basin in Brazil's Atlantic Forest. Through literature and herbarium measurements, we gathered data on ten functional traits related to light interception, leaf economics spectrum, and reproductive ability from 1912 woody species across 79 localities. Relationships between community-weighted means of functional traits and an altitudinal gradient encompassing thermal and water availability variables were quantified using generalized linear models and principal component analysis. We found that in higher altitudes are predominant vegetative conservative functional strategies (smaller leaves and petioles) and reproductive acquisitive functional strategies (smaller fruits and seeds and abiotic dispersed species). The thermal variables mainly influenced vegetative functional traits, which showed a predominantly acquisitive strategy in warmer areas, where there are more favorable and stable conditions for rapid growth and resource uptake. The water variables had a pronounced impact on reproductive functional traits, particularly in terms of dispersal patterns. Water availability tends to impact the costs of fleshy fruits and seeds with higher energy content. The patterns found for the altitudinal gradient reflected a combination of thermal and water variables, which is congruent with the aggregative role of altitude, composed of multiple physical and climatic conditions. In conclusion, the abiotic factors are operating on a large landscape scale in the plant communities, exerting influence on functional traits along the altitudinal gradient in a tropical forest region.

了解功能特征与环境梯度之间的联系可以为应对全球变化提供重要信息。在这里，我们评估了环境变量如何作用于巴西大西洋森林里奥多西盆地森林中基于功能性状的获取-保守连续体和扩散综合症的生态策略。通过文献和植物标本室测量，我们收集了 79 个地区 1912 个木本物种的 10 个与光截获、叶片经济谱和繁殖能力相关的功能性状的数据。使用广义线性模型和主成分分析对功能性状的群落加权平均值与包含热量和水可用性变量的海拔梯度之间的关系进行量化。我们发现，在较高海拔地区，主要是营养保守功能策略（较小的叶子和叶柄）和繁殖获取功能策略（较小的果实和种子以及非生物分散物种）。热变量主要影响植物的功能性状，这在较温暖的地区表现出主要的获取策略，那里有更有利和稳定的快速生长和资源吸收的条件。水变量对生殖功能特征有显着影响，特别是在传播模式方面。水的供应往往会影响能量含量较高的肉质水果和种子的成本。发现的海拔梯度模式反映了热量和水变量的组合，这与由多种物理和气候条件组成的海拔的聚合作用一致。总之，非生物因素在植物群落的大景观尺度上发挥作用，对热带森林地区沿海拔梯度的功能性状产生影响。