## 5 Conclusions  
Our results suggest that cork-ring width is not a fully reliable proxy for cork oak stem diameter growth of trees subjected to cork harvesting cycles. Tree stem diameter growth and the cork-ring widths showed similar patterns, with a decreasing trend along the successive years. However, while stem diameter growth mostly resulted from cork growth in the first years after cork harvesting, by the end of the cork production cycle, it resulted mostly from a \"non-cork\" (wood) growth. Stem diameter growth is primarily affected by climate conditions prevailing in the growing season, while cork growth and prellogen activity rely on climate conditions prevailing in autumn, prior to the growing season,which support a cork growth flush in spring. Furthermore, the strength of the relationship between stem diameter growth and temperature and precipitation in summer is influenced by tree size (age), while cork growth is not. The increasing severity and frequency of droughts are likely to differently influence tree radial growth rates and patterns, stem basal area growth and biomass modeling. These responses of individual trees, at the local scale, might reflect larger discrepancies in cork oak woodlands at regional scales, and our findings highlight the importance of tailoring cork woodlands forest management, taking the cork harvesting pressure into account. The following are available online at [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10)) 3390/app112411998/s1, Figure S1: Monthly precipitation (P) (full grey bars) and mean temperature (T) (black line) for the period 2000-2012 for the study area. Climate data for the period under study refer to the weather stations of Vila Franca de Xira, located approximately 11 km NW of the study area, for the monthly precipitation and mean temperature, and of Sto Estevao, located in the study area, for the monthly precipitation. Mean total annual precipitation (P\({}_{\text{annual}}\)) and mean annual temperature (T\({}_{\text{mean}}\)) are indicated in the graph. Severe drought of 2005 and moderate drought of 2009 are indicated in light grey; Table S1: Results of the fixed effects of the linear models shown in Table 1 for stem diameter growth index (ID\({}_{\text{bh}}\)) and cork growth index (IC\({}_{\text{rw}}\)). and; Table S2: Results of the random effects of the selected linear models shown in Table 1 for stem diameter growth index (ID\({}_{\text{bh}}\)) and cork growth index (IC\({}_{\text{rw}}\)). Figure S2: Residuals against the estimates of IDbh in the models M0 and M4 (Table 1). [PERSON] conceived the study, developed the concept of the paper, wrote the paper and, together with [PERSON], discussed and commented on the obtained results. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research received funding from the IsoCork project (Climate effects on cork growth assessed by isotope fingerprinting) funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology of the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science (FCT-MEC) (EXPL/AGR/FOR/1220/2012) and funding from the project PDR2020-101-031071 funded by the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development. [PERSON]'s work was funded by FCT-MEC Research Contract CEEINST/00012/2018- ENGFL. Not applicable. Data will be shared upon reasonable request. Authors acknowledge the collaboration of Companhia das Lezirias, S.A. (Benavente, Portugal) for the development of this study. The authors declare no conflict of interest. References  
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