{
  "abstract": "Predicting boreal forest growth is hindered by limited experimental tests on the compounding effects of climate change and atmospheric CO₂. We integrated regional tree-ring data with a peatland warming and CO₂ manipulation experiment, including 45 trait measurements, to assess growth responses of two widespread boreal conifers, Larix laricina and Picea mariana, to temperature, vapor pressure deficit (VPD), soil moisture, and elevated CO₂. L. laricina growth was consistently more climate-sensitive than P. mariana, increasing strongly with soil moisture and declining slightly with VPD at the regional scale, but responding positively to VPD and temperature-not soil moisture or CO₂-at the experimental peatland. L. laricina's acquisitive strategy enhanced water and nutrient uptake, sustaining growth but reducing hydraulic safety. By contrast, P. mariana's conservative strategy maintained water-use efficiency and hydraulic resilience without compromising growth. Our results challenge projections of widespread CO₂ fertilization in boreal forests and highlight conservative conifers as potential winners under warming and drying, sustaining growth while maintaining low mortality risk. This dynamic could reshape projections of the boreal carbon sink and its role in global climate feedback.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA.",
    "Biology Department, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, USA.",
    "Department of Forestry & Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh.",
    "Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.",
    "Department of Biological Sciences, Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata, California, USA.",
    "Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAE, PIAF, Clermont-Ferrand, France.",
    "Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientıficas (CSIC), Seville, Spain.",
    "Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA.",
    "INRAE, Univ. Bordeaux, UMR BIOGECO, Pessac, France.",
    "Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå universitet, Umeå, Sweden.",
    "ANU Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.",
    "Climate Change Science Institute and Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA.",
    "Institute for Global Change Biology, and School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.",
    "Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.",
    "Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia.",
    "Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.",
    "Of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.",
    "Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Lab, Richland, Washington, USA.",
    "Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 20,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yanjun Song",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6495-7133"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Alexandria Pivovaroff",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3104-1900"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Mahmuda Islam"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Martin P Girardin",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0436-7486"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Alana Chin",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3862-9563"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Hervé Cochard"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "José M Torres-Ruiz",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1367-7056"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "José A Medina-Vega",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5468-5605"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Sylvain Delzon",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3442-1711"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Xiaohan Yin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Xiao Jing Guo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Mirindi E Dusenge",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4218-0911"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Jeffrey M Warren",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0680-4697"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Paul J Hanson"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12,
        13,
        14
      ],
      "name": "Peter B Reich",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4424-662X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15,
        16
      ],
      "name": "Andrew D Richardson",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0148-6714"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        17
      ],
      "name": "Lingcheng Li",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6834-5844"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        18
      ],
      "name": "Avni Malhotra",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7850-6402"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Verity G Salmon",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2188-551X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        17
      ],
      "name": "Nate G McDowell"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cgs75k5nemwmc.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1111/gcb.71157",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13695017",
  "id": "cgs75k5nemwmc",
  "issns": [
    "1354-1013",
    "1365-2486"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42920355",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2306|Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223457189",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13695017?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13695017",
  "pmid": "42920355",
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cgs75k5nemwmc.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:36Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42920355",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42920355"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "openalex:2306|Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics",
      "subfield": "climate"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Conservative Spruce Outperforms Acquisitive Larch Under Warming and CO₂.",
  "title_text": "Conservative Spruce Outperforms Acquisitive Larch Under Warming and CO₂.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:36Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cgs75k5nemwmc",
  "venue": "Global change biology",
  "versions": []
}