Growth response of spruce saplings in relation to climatic conditions along a gradient of gap size
To evaluate the relative importance of climatic factors and the level of natural canopy disturbance on sapling growth rates, terminal shoot increment of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) saplings was analyzed in old-growth Sphagnum-Myrtillus forests of the European southern boreal zone (Tver Region, Russia). For a 5-year period, terminal increments were retrospectively measured in 225 saplin
