As a result of climate change, several forest biomes are facing increasing temperatures, extreme cold waves in winter and/or more frequent and severe droughts. In this context, a fundamental question is how trees will cope with these changes, given their long generational time that yield low population turnover. In this talk I will show recent research that includes collaboration in the frame of the LIA FORESTIA laboratory, aimed at contributing to this question. We will see the way in which we use a natural elevation gradient in combination with indoor experiments, to elucidate the response of trees to the environment. Additionally, I will show current projects aimed at exploring phenotypic, genetic (molecular) and environmental variation of relevant plant traits. Our experimental system is located in the southernmost woody ecosystem of the world: the subAntarctic temperate Nothofagus forests of Patagonia, and involves multidisciplinary approaches that bring together the expertise of specialists in wood science, ecology, physiology, molecular biology and bioinformatics.