Data from: Can faster growth compensate for increased mortality in subtropical dry forest fragments?

Capturing the effects of fragmentation and ongoing changing climate on the
population dynamics of long-lived trees requires long-term datasets, but
these are uncommon in rainforests and dry forests outside of the tropics.
This study capitalised on nine 0.04-ha permanent plots established in 1982
within corridors of old-growth subtropical dry forest (Araucarian vine
forest) retained as fire breaks within forestry plantations in Imbil
(southern Queensland, Australia). Tree diameter growth and survival were
censused in 1997 and 2021, resulting in two monitoring periods. The most
recent period was associated with an increasing trend in vapour-pressure
deficit (VPD). Consistent with this trend, we found that survival was
substantially lower across all size classes in the second period.
Mortality-induced reductions in stem density were associated with faster
growth rates in all but the largest stems in the second period. Growth was
also moderately faster in plots near forest edges in the second
period.  The richness of obligate understory species declined
significantly by an average of 1.44 species over the 40-year study period.
Synthesis and applications: Overall, our results are consistent with
increasing tree mortality rates reported recently for the Australian wet
tropics and suggest widespread and alarming impacts of increasing VPD on
rainforest and dry forest community dynamics. To increase forest
resilience in a changing climate, we recommend the retention of a buffer
of plantation trees adjacent to old growth forest corridors; widening the
forest corridors using faster-growing species identified in this study and
maintaining connections between scrub breaks and larger tracts of forest
for species dispersal.