Carpathian tree-ring network for European beech and Norway spruce

Basic ecological theory suggests that a tradeoff between competitiveness and stress tolerance dictates species range limits at regional extents. However, empirical support for this key theory remains deficient because the necessary spatial and temporal coverage and scalability of field observations have rarely been achieved. We harnessed an extensive dendroecological network (>22,000 tree-ring samples from 816 forest inventory plots) to disentangle competition-limited from climate-limited growth in both overstory and understory trees. Growth synchrony among trees thereby served as an integral metric of climate sensitivity, an approach that we justify in supplementary analyses of growth responses to temperature, precipitation, and the standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index. Sampling plots were arranged along elevational climate and vegetation gradients throughout the Carpathian Mountains, ranging from mixed-species lowland forests to coniferous forests at high elevations...., , , # Carpathian tree-ring network for European beech and Norway spruce

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q2bvq83ss](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q2bvq83ss)

This dataset contains tree-ring width records and associated site metadata from a network of sampling sites and plots that are distributed throughout the Carpathian Mountains. These sites are part of the REMOTE forest network and encompass primary forest locations in Slovakia, Ukraine, and Romania. Sites were identified in collaboration with park managers, land owners, and other local experts. Further details on site selection and sampling protocols can be found in Schurman et al. 2019, *Global Change Biology*, and Schurman et al. 2024, *Ecography.*

## Description of the data and file structure

The data are organized in two primary files that contain the plot-level metadata (\"Svoboda_Carpathian_plots_metadata.xlsx\") and tree-ring chronologies (\"Svoboda_Carpathian_plots_chronologies.xlsx\"). Both files are in a standard Microsoft Excel ...