['Under equal conditions, plants that allocate a larger proportion of resources to growth must do so at the expense of investing fewer resources to storage. The critical balance between growth and storage leads to the hypothesis that in high-resource environments, plants that express high growth rates are more susceptible to episodic disturbance than plants that express lower growth rates.', 'This hypothesis was tested by measuring the radial growth, basal area increment (BAI) and carbon isotope ratios (δ(13)C) in tree-ring α-cellulose of 62 mature tamarisk trees (Tamarix spp.) occurring at three sites in the western USA (n = 31 live and 31 killed trees across all sites, respectively). All of the trees had been subjected to periods of complete foliage loss by episodic herbivory over three or more consecutive growing seasons by the tamarisk leaf beetle (Diorhabda carinulata), resulting in approx. 50 % mortality at each site.', 'Mean annual BAI (measured from annual ring widths) in the 10 years prior to the onset of herbivory was on average 45 % higher in killed trees compared with live trees (P < 0·0001). Killed trees that had higher growth rates also expressed higher (less negative) δ(13)C ratios compared with live trees. In fact, at one site near Moab, UT, the mean annual BAI was 100 % higher in killed trees despite having about a 0·5 ‰ higher δ(13)C relative to live trees (P = 0·0008). Patterns of δ(13)C suggest that the intrinsic water-use efficiency was higher in killed than surviving trees, possibly as a consequence of lower whole-canopy stomatal conductance relative to live trees.'] Does herbivory-induced mortality increase with radial growth in an invasive riparian phreatophyte?