Species and Competition Interact to Influence Seasonal Stem Growth in Temperate Eucalypts

Abstract

Insights on tree species and competition effects on seasonal stem growth are critical to understanding the impacts of changing climates on tree productivity, particularly for eucalypts species that occur in narrow climatic niches and have unreliable tree rings. To improve our understanding of climate effects on forest productivity, we examined the relative importance of species, competition and climate to the seasonal stem growth of co‐occurring temperate eucalypts. We measured monthly stem growth of three eucalypts (Eucalyptus obliqua, E. radiata, and E. rubida) over four years in a natural mixed‐species forest in south‐eastern Australia, examining the relative influences of species, compet..