Articles | Volume 22, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4993-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.Tree growth and water-use efficiency at the Himalayan fir treeline and lower altitudes: roles of climate warming and CO2 fertilization
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- Final revised paper (published on 26 Sep 2025)
- Supplement to the final revised paper
- Preprint (discussion started on 13 Mar 2025)
- Supplement to the preprint
Interactive discussion
Status: closed
Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor
| : Report abuse
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RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-952', Anonymous Referee #1, 14 Apr 2025
- AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Lixin Lyu, 30 May 2025
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RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-952', Anonymous Referee #2, 16 Apr 2025
- AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Lixin Lyu, 30 May 2025
Peer review completion
AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (25 Jun 2025) by Matteo Garbarino

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (01 Jul 2025) by Frank Hagedorn (Co-editor-in-chief)

AR by Lixin Lyu on behalf of the Authors (07 Jul 2025)
Author's response
Author's tracked changes
Manuscript
ED: Publish as is (09 Jul 2025) by Matteo Garbarino

ED: Publish as is (14 Jul 2025) by Frank Hagedorn (Co-editor-in-chief)

AR by Lixin Lyu on behalf of the Authors (15 Jul 2025)
Manuscript
This study investigates the physiological and growth responses of Himalayan fir to climate warming and CO2 fertilization across elevational gradients in wet and dry regions of the Tibetan Plateau. The research addresses a critical knowledge gap regarding the interplay between CO2 fertilization, temperature, and drought stress in high-elevation forests. While the manuscript presents valuable insights, several issues need clarification to strengthen the conclusions.
Major Concerns:
1 Interpretation Issue of Ci/Ca Scenarios: The comparison of observed Ci/Ca trends to theoretical scenarios lacks quantitative validation. The statement that Ci/Ca "largely followed Scenario 1" is qualitative and not statistically tested.Please quantify deviations from theoretical scenarios using goodness-of-fit metrics (e.g., RMSE, AIC) and report significance tests.
Specific Concerns:
L14: The species name should be in italic. The same for L64.
L86: Liang et al., (2016) did not analysed this tree species, please remove it from here.
L120: The text briefly mentions that the data on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is derived from ice core data, but does not elaborate on the specific source. Please provide the source and the reference literature.
L217: The sections 4.2 and 4.3 should be merged and summarised by a more physiologically meaningful title.