Lianas and trees exhibit distinct hydraulic and functional traits in a subtropical forest

Lianas are woody vines that rely on host trees for support to access the forest canopy. Lianas typically occur in tropical and subtropical forests and coexist with trees in subtropical secondary forests, where their interactions strongly influence forests communities and ecosystem functioning. We compared stem and leaf traits of lianas and trees to examine the effects of growth form and leaf habit. We measured 20 functional traits (9 stem anatomical/hydraulic and 11 leaf morphological/nutrient) from 10 liana and 14 tree species coexisting in a subtropical forest of south China. Lianas exhibited 3.5‐fold higher sapwood specific conductivity ( K s ) than trees, as well as higher predawn leaf water potential (Ψ predawn ) and hydraulically weighted vessel diameter ( D h ). Additionally, maximum vessel diameter ( D max ) of lianas approximately three times higher than that of trees, and theoretical hydraulic conductivity ( K p ) was ~20 times higher than trees. Functional trait analysis indicated that lianas grouped separately from trees along a leaf and stem economics spectrum: lianas were grouped together at the fast end of the plant economics spectrum, with high hydraulic diameter ( D h ) and high nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentration, exhibiting an acquisition‐focused water and nutrient strategy, permitting rapid growth and tissue turnover. Trees were grouped at the low end of the plant economics spectrum, with a high C:N ratio, high vessel thickness/diameter (VT/VD) and high wood density (WD), exhibiting a conservative resource acquisition strategy. Moreover, lianas exhibited significantly higher modularity in their trait networks compared to trees (0.490 vs 0.345; p = 0.043), reflecting stronger local integration of function, with tightly coordinated traits that may enhance system adaptability by limiting the spread of local drought‐induced stress. These findings improve our understanding of the mechanisms shaping ecological strategies across woody plants with different growth forms and leaf habits, and addresses the limited trait‐based knowledge of subtropical forests relative to tropics. This study provides novel insight into how growth form and leaf habit shape resource acquisition and niche partitioning in co‐occurring woody species in a subtropical and secondary forests. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.