Intensifying neighbouring tree competition suppresses tree growth at the eastern Tibetan tree line

• Published in: Functional ecology Vol. 39; no. 5; pp. 1234 - 1246
• Main Authors: Lyu, Lixin, Büntgen, Ulf, Li, Mai‐He, Yu, Kailiang, Palosse, Audrey, Zhang, Qi‐Bin, Cherubini, Paolo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.05.2025
• Subjects: alpine tree line; altitude; basal area increment; biotic interaction; census data; China; Climate change; Climatic conditions; Competition; Dendrochronology; Ecotones; Global warming; neighbourhood competition; tree growth; treeline; Trees; China

Although neighbourhood interactions are important for the establishment and survival of tree line trees, it remains poorly understood how they affect growth rates under changing climatic conditions. Here, we combine census data and dendrochronological measurements from 18 tree line plots between 430...