Neighbor effects on population growth rate differ among populations due to variation in demographic rate sensitivities in <i>Sedum lanceolatum</i>

Population growth rates will respond to an environmental driver only if the driver impacts demographic rate(s) and the population is sensitive to impacted demographic rate(s). If populations vary in the sensitivity of population growth rate to demographic rates, the effect of an environmental driver on population growth rate could vary across populations, even if the effect of the driver on demographic rates does not vary across populations. Here, we use five years of demographic data of a common alpine plant, including data from a neighbor removal experiment and a climate warming experiment, to quantify the relative contribution of neighbor effects on demographic rates versus sensitivity of population growth rate to demographic rates to across‐population variation in neighbor effects on population growth rate. We find neighbor effects on population growth rate vary significantly across populations, and this effect is driven primarily by variation in sensitivity of population growth rate to demographic rates across populations. Further, results from our climate warming experiment suggests variation in sensitivity across populations is partly driven by temperature differences. Our results highlight the importance of considering changes in the sensitivity of population growth rate to demographic rates across space, and show how changes in sensitivity can contribute to spatial variation in the effects of a driver on population growth rate.