Roman M. Link

1 INTRODUCTION In the wake of climate change-driven mass tree mortality events in Europe (Schuldt et al., 2020) and elsewhere (Hammond et al., 2022), there is a growing interest in the biotic and abiotic factors that influence tree vitality (Cailleret et al., 2017; Chakraborty et al., 2017). This is particularly true for competition, which is directly amenable to silvicultural measures such as thinning and therefore important for forest management (cf. Bose et al., 2021).

1 INTRODUCTION A central goal of trait-based ecology is to identify general axes of trait covariation and link them with environmental gradients as a tool for understanding plant strategies and ecosystem processes as well as improving predictions (Bardgett et al., 2014; Bruelheide et al., 2018; Díaz et al., 2016; Laughlin, 2014; Suding et al., 2008; Westoby & Wright, 2006).