High-elevation forests are among the most climate-sensitive ecosystems, and understanding their growth responses is crucial for predicting ecological consequences under future climate change. The climate sensitivity of tree species in the Hyrcanian forests in the Alborz Mountains of northern Iran, one of the southernmost temperate deciduous forests in the Northern Hemisphere, remains largely unexplored. In particular, Acer hyr...

Aim Species–area relationships (SARs) are among the best investigated patterns in ecology, yet the shape of the function that should describe SARs and the biological meaning of the function parameters are disputed. Elevational gradients offer the opportunity of investigating how biodiversity responds to large variations in environmental characteristics within small geographical areas. We asked which function describes SARs at...