Climate change affects forest dynamics with potential consequences for essential ecosystem services. The retrospective analysis of secondary growth unveils the effect of climate on forests. However, most tree-ring studies focus on dominant trees, and less is known about the climatic response of their neighbor suppressed trees. We evaluated the influence of tree social status (dominant/suppressed) on climate response in Pinus sylvestris L. trees from two sites with contrasting water availability conditions in the forest-steppe ecotone in southern Siberia. Tree-ring width and intra-annual density fluctuations (IADFs) were used as proxies. Late spring to early summer conditions were the main climate drivers in both tree social status, but the climate response of suppressed trees was stronger and had a longer time window (May-June). IADFs’ occurrence was controlled by temperature and its frequency was modulated by local conditions, being more common at the dry site, with tree status just marginally significant. Our results suggest that under the projected warmer and drier climate, suppressed trees in southern Siberia will be prone to increased water shortage, leading to possible higher mortality of more sensitive suppressed trees, with potential consequences for carbon sequestration in the forest-steppe ecosystems in southern Siberia.

气候变化影响森林动态，并对基本的生态系统服务产生潜在影响。二次生长的回顾性分析揭示了气候对森林的影响。但是，大多数树木年轮研究都集中在优势树上，而关于它们的邻近被压抑树的气候响应知之甚少。我们评估了树木社会地位（主要/被抑制）对樟子松气候响应的影响西伯利亚南部森林草原过渡带两地的L.树木具有不同的水利用条件。树轮宽度和年内密度波动（IADF）被用作代理。春末至夏初条件是这两种树的社会地位的主要气候驱动因素，但被压抑的树对气候的响应更强，并且具有更长的时间窗（5月至6月）。IADF的发生受温度控制，其频率受当地条件调节，在干旱地区更为常见，树木的状况略显重要。我们的结果表明，在预计的温暖和干燥的气候下，西伯利亚南部被压抑的树木将更容易出现缺水现象，从而导致更敏感的被压抑树木的死亡率更高，