Facilitation by nurse plants is a common interaction, whereby climatic harshness and/or other limiting factors are reduced under the canopy of the “nurse” plant, favoring the regeneration of other plant species. In mountain systems, nurse plant interactions among coexisting native and non-native woody species might reciprocally affect the regeneration patterns of the involved species. Elucidating these relationships might contribute to the understanding of interactions that facilitate the success of non-native woody species at high elevations. We assessed whether the non-native shrub Cotoneaster franchetii and the dominant native trees Polylepis australis and Maytenus boaria, reciprocally affect each other’s regeneration in highland woodlands of central Argentina. We recorded woody recruits (seedlings and saplings) and micro-environmental conditions under the three nurse plants and in gaps without woody cover. The frequency of occurrence of Cotoneaster and Maytenus recruits differed among microhabitats. Polylepis regeneration in the area was almost null. The highest Cotoneaster recruit frequency was under the canopy of conspecifics and Polylepis. Maytenus recruit frequencies did not differ among microhabitats, but saplings had higher frequency under Polylepis than under conspecific nurses. The apparently higher quality of Polylepis as nurse plant might be related to intermediate conditions of photosynthetically active radiation and milder winter temperatures under its canopy. Non-native shrub regeneration seems to be facilitated by one of the native species, whereas neither of the natives seems to be favored by the invader. These results support the importance of biotic interactions as drivers of woody invasion success in mountain ecosystems.

护士植物的促进是一种常见的相互作用，由此减少了“护士”植物冠层下的气候恶劣和/或其他限制因素，有利于其他植物物种的再生。在山区系统中，本地和非本地木本植物共存的护理植物相互作用可能会相互影响所涉及物种的再生方式。阐明这些关系可能有助于理解相互作用，从而促进非本地木本物种在高海拔地区的成功。我们评估了非本地灌木枸子枸杞和优势原生树Polylepis australis和Maytenus boaria互相影响在阿根廷中部高地林地的再生。我们记录了三棵护士植物在没有木质覆盖物的间隙中的木质吸收物（幼苗和幼树）和微环境条件。不同的微生境中，子tone和Maytenus新兵的出现频率不同。该地区的多虫病再生几乎为零。最高的Cotoneaster募集频率在同种和Polylepis的树冠下。Maytenus的新手频率在微生境中没有差异，但是幼树在Polylepis下的发生频率高于在特定护士的情况下。明显更高的质量Polylepis作为保育植物可能与光合有效辐射的中间条件和冠层下较温和的冬季温度有关。其中一个本地物种似乎促进了非本地灌木的再生，而入侵者似乎都没有一个本地人。这些结果支持了生物相互作用作为山区生态系统中木本入侵成功的驱动力的重要性。