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.
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López et al. (2026) studied this question.
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