One of the main environmental threats in the tropics is selective logging, which has degraded large areas of forest. In southeast Asia, enrichment planting with seedlings of the dominant group of dipterocarp tree species aims to accelerate restoration of forest structure and functioning. The role of tree diversity in forest restoration is still unclear, but the ‘insurance hypothesis’ predicts that in temporally and spatially varying environments planting mixtures may stabilize functioning owing to differences in species traits and ecologies. To test for potential insurance effects, we analyse the patterns of seedling mortality and growth in monoculture and mixture plots over the first decade of the Sabah biodiversity experiment. Our results reveal the species differences required for potential insurance effects including a trade-off in which species with denser wood have lower growth rates but higher survival. This trade-off was consistent over time during the first decade, but growth and mortality varied ... : SBE First Decade Survival and GrowthThis ZIP file contains three data sets needed to reproduce the models and figures presented in the associated research paper. One data set for tree survival, one for tree growth and a third for species traits. The data sets provided here have already been prepared, meaning they are in the same form as they were analysed for the paper. The R code needed to reproduce the research results can be found as supplementary material for the paper. For descriptions of columns in each data set, see the ReadMe.sbeDryad.zip ...