Effects of competition on tree radial‐growth vary in importance but not in intensity along climatic gradients

1. Plant interactions play a central role in regulating plant communities and this role can be altered by abiotic stress. With increasing stress, ecological theory predicts that the role of competition decreases whilst that of facilitation increases. Such predictions have been tested with short‐term plant removal experiments using two distinct indices evaluating the role of plant interactions: the intensity (absolute impact) and the importance (impact relative to that of other abiotic constraints) of plant interactions.

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