The question whether the strategies of above‐ and belowground plant organs are coordinated as predicted by the plant economics spectrum theory is still under debate. We aim to determine the leading dimensions of tree trait variation for above‐ and belowground functional traits, and test whether they represent spectra of adaptation along a soil fertility gradient in tropical Andean forests. We measured leaf, stem and fine root functional traits, and individual‐level soil nutrient availability for 433 trees from 52 species at three elevations between 1000 and 3000 m a.s.l. We found close coordination between above– and belowground functional traits related to the trade‐off between resource acquisition and conservation, whereas root diameter and specific root length formed an independent axis of covarying traits. The position of a tree species along the acquisition–conservation axis of the trait space was closely associated with local soil nitrogen, but not phosphorus, availability. Our results imply that above‐ and belowground plant functional traits determine at which edaphic microhabitats coexisting tree species can grow, which is potentially crucial for understanding community assembly in species‐rich tropical montane forests. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

中文翻译：

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热带山地树种的地上和地下策略是由小规模氮利用率协调和驱动的

植物地上和地下器官的策略是否如植物经济学谱理论所预测的那样协调仍然存在争议。我们的目标是确定地上和地下功能性状的树木性状变异的主要维度，并测试它们是否代表热带安第斯森林中沿土壤肥力梯度的适应谱。 我们测量了海拔 1000 至 3000 米之间三个海拔地区 52 个物种的 433 棵树的叶、茎和细根功能性状以及个体水平的土壤养分有效性。 我们发现地上和地下功能性状之间的密切协调与资源获取和保护之间的权衡有关，而根直径和特定根长度形成了共变性状的独立轴。树种沿着性状空间的获取-保存轴的位置与当地土壤氮的有效性密切相关，但与磷的有效性无关。 我们的结果表明，地上和地下植物功能性状决定了共存树种可以生长的土壤微生境，这对于了解物种丰富的热带山地森林中的群落组装可能至关重要。 阅读免费的通俗易懂的语言总结这篇文章发表在《期刊》博客上。