Seed germination and seedling recruitment are key processes in the life cycle of plants. They enable populations to grow, migrate, or persist. Both processes are under environmental control and influenced by site conditions and plant–plant interactions. Here, we present the results of a seed-sowing experiment performed along an elevation gradient (2000–2900 m a.s.l.) in the European eastern Alps. We monitored the germination of seeds and seedling recruitment for 2 years. Three effects were investigated: effects of sites and home sites (seed origin), effects of gaps, and plant–plant interactions. Seeds of eight species originating from two home sites were transplanted to four sites (home site and ± in elevation). Seed sowing was performed in experimentally created gaps. These gap types (‘gap + roots’, ‘neighbor + roots’, and ‘no-comp’) provided different plant–plant interactions and competition intensities. We observed decreasing germination with increasing elevation, independent of the species home sites. Competition-released gaps favored recruitment, pointing out the important role of belowground competition and soil components in recruitment. In gaps with one neighboring species, neutral plant–plant interactions occurred (with one exception). However, considering the relative vegetation cover of each experimental site, high vegetation cover resulted in positive effects on recruitment at higher sites and neutral effects at lower sites. All tested species showed intraspecific variability when responding to the experimental conditions. We discuss our findings considering novel site and climatic conditions.

种子发芽和幼苗补充是植物生命周期的关键过程。它们使人口能够增长、迁移或持续存在。这两个过程都受到环境控制，并受到场地条件和植物间相互作用的影响。在这里，我们展示了在欧洲东部阿尔卑斯山沿海拔梯度（2000-2900 米）进行的种子播种实验的结果。我们对种子的发芽和幼苗的补充进行了两年的监测。研究了三种影响：地点和家园（种子起源）的影响、间隙的影响以及植物与植物之间的相互作用。来自两个家乡的八个物种的种子被移植到四个地点（家乡和±海拔）。在实验创造的间隙中进行种子播种。这些间隙类型（“间隙+根”、“邻居+根”和“无补偿”）提供了不同的植物间相互作用和竞争强度。我们观察到，随着海拔的升高，发芽率下降，与物种的栖息地无关。竞争释放的差距有利于招募，指出了地下竞争和土壤成分在招募中的重要作用。在与邻近物种的间隙中，发生中性植物与植物之间的相互作用（有一个例外）。然而，考虑到每个实验地点的相对植被覆盖度，高植被覆盖度对较高地点的补充产生积极影响，而对较低地点产生中性影响。所有测试的物种在响应实验条件时都表现出种内变异。我们考虑新地点和气候条件来讨论我们的发现。