, (2)
with * indicating the measurement at the beginning of the time series, taken as a reference. Once the predicted elastic changes in bark thickness obtained via Eqn. (1) are subtracted from observed bark thickness changes, D G is obtained using the differential-evolution minimization algorithm described in Mencucciniet al. (2017). This final step separates irreversible growthD G from the remaining component of elastic changes, i.e., local changes in bark osmotic pressure that are caused by shifts in the balance between phloem carbohydrate supply and radial growth. For clarity, we introduce the term D G+to indicate the novel capacity of our model to isolate not only vertical, but also small, yet physiologically important radial processes related to hydraulic and osmotic adjustments that impact the reversible expansion dynamics in live bark and xylem. D G+supersedes D G. Cumulative daily increments ofD Gempir andD G+ were calculated to assess the fit between our empirical dendrometer measurements with model predictions for irreversible stem growth.