LAUSR

Leaf stoichiometry can characterize plant ecological strategies and correlate with plant responses to climate change. Although a large interspecific variability in leaf stoichiometry has been found across vascular epiphyte species, it remains unclear whether leaf stoichiometry can help explain and predict the dynamics of vascular epiphyte populations under climate change. Here, we present data for 19 vascular epiphyte species that were collected during four consecutive censuses (in 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020) over 15 years in a subtropical montane cloud forest. We assessed the relationships between the population dynamics and leaf stoichiometry of these vascular epiphytes. The study area experienced an extreme drought event from the end of 2009 to early 2010 - 14 of the 19 species showed an obvious decrease in the number of individuals, and all species showed negative growth in the number of populations. Subsequently, the total number of individuals gradually recovered, increasing from 7,195 in 2010 to 10,121 in 2015, then to 13,667 in 2020. We found that the increase in the number of vascular epiphyte individuals from 2010 to 2015 was significantly negatively correlated with leaf nitrogen and phosphorus concentration, and was significantly positively correlated with the leaf C:N- ratio, suggesting that a resource-conservative strategy is advantageous for the recovery of populations following an extreme drought. This study demonstrates that ecological stoichiometry can be a useful framework for forecasting the dynamics of vascular epiphyte populations in response to climate change.