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To investigate complex growth compensation patterns, white pine (Pinus strobus L.) seedlings were clipped to simulate different herbivory levels. Seedlings were growing with different understory competition levels (created through monthly weeding vs no brush control) under a range of overstory canopy closures. Compensation patterns varied for the different growth and size measures. After one growing season, seedlings did not fully compensate for lost biomass regardless of the competitive environments of the seedlings. Although relative height growth was stimulated by light intensity clipping (20–40% of last-year shoots removed), relative diameter growth, total biomass, and biomass growth of seedlings declined sharply with increasing clipping intensity. Likewise, all growth parameters declined with increasing interspecific competition. Results showed that seedlings in highly competitive environments …