Context matters: Natural tree mortality can lead to neighbor growth release or suppression

•The natural mortality of an individual tree’s nearest neighbor alters the growth trajectory of the surviving tree, generally leading to growth release (increased growth) due to the removal of competitive effects.•Small individual trees (<15 cm in diameter) typically exhibit reduced growth following neighbor death, suggesting that their growth had previously been enhanced by a facilitative interaction with their neighbor.•Growth release following neighboring tree mortality was typically observed only where the lost tree was of a different species than the surviving tree, though this was not the case among all tree species.•The magnitude of growth release following nearest neighbor death was greatest in low-density stands with large trees.