Epiphytes need to balance the chances and risks of longterm survival and those of colonizing new branches in their high-stress and high-risk canopy habitats. Populations of three epiphytic orchids and five bromeliads were declining except for the most xeric species. High seedling mortality had only little effects on population growth rates, which were most sensitive to the survival of large stages. Branch characteristics related to light affected time to germination, survival rates and the probability of growing from the pre-reproductive to the reproductive stage. The breeding systems of the...