DOI: 10.1111/btp.70297 ISSN: 0006-3606
Climate‐Growth Relationships of
Juglans australis
Griseb and
Cedrela angustifolia
Sessé & Moc. ex DC in the Bolivian Cloud Forests
Lidio Lopez, David Stahle, Ricardo Villalba ABSTRACT
Long‐term tree‐growth records provide critical insights into how tropical montane forests respond to climatic variability over decadal to centennial timescales. In the tropical montane cloud forests of Postrervalle, Bolivia (18° S, 63° W), distinct annual rings in
Juglans australis
and
Cedrela angustifolia
allowed the development of three tree‐ring width chronologies: Los Juncos (JUN,
J. australis
), Los Churcos (CHU,
C. angustifolia
), and Loma de las Estacas (LDE,
C. angustifolia
), spanning 207, 186, and 77 years, respectively. The chronologies include 39, 25, and 21 trees. Radial growth of
J. australis
was positively related to dry‐season precipitation (April–October;
r
= 0.52,
p
< 0.05) and negatively related to dry‐season temperatures (July–October;
r
= −0.48,
p
< 0.05). Growth of
C. angustifolia
was positively associated with wet‐season precipitation at CHU (November–March;
r
= 0.52,
p
< 0.05) and LDE (November–January;
r
= 0.48,
p
< 0.05). Negative temperature relationships occurred during July–November at CHU (
r
= −0.57,
p
< 0.05) and January–February at LDE (
r
= −0.37,
p
< 0.05). Narrow rings in both species were associated with warmer and drier conditions, with climatic differences emerging earlier in
J. australis
. At longer timescales,
J. australis
showed a sustained increase in standardized growth since the mid‐1970s, whereas
C. angustifolia
showed no comparable trend. These results reveal species‐specific climate sensitivity and provide a baseline for anticipating forest responses to ongoing climate change.