Behavioral and economic traits reflect distinct resource acquisition strategies in tendril vines and stem twining vines.

Climbing plants are important components of tropical and many temperate forest ecosystems. Current studies regard climbing plants as a single ecological plant type and ignore the ecological differences resulting from their climbing mechanisms, which may lead to a misrepresentation of the role of climbing plants in forest dynamics. Based on behavioral traits and economic traits of climbing plants, we test the hypothesis that tendril climbers and stem twiners are characterized by different resource acquisition strategies.

Antarctic Soils Select Copiotroph-Dominated Bacteria.

The life strategies of bacterial communities determine their structure and function and are an important driver of biogeochemical cycling. However, the variations in these strategies under different soil resource conditions remain largely unknown. We explored the bacterial life strategies and changes in structure and functions between Antarctic soils and forest (temperate, subtropical, and tropical) soils.

Responses of particulate and mineral-associated organic carbon to temperature changes and their mineral protection mechanisms: A soil translocation experiment.

Mineral protection mechanisms are important in determining the response of particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) to temperature changes. However, the underlying mechanisms for how POC and MAOC respond to temperature changes are remain unclear. By translocating soils across 1304 m, 1425 m and 2202 m elevation gradient in a temperate forest, simulate nine months of warming (with soil temperature change of +1.

Unknown bacterial species lead to soil CO emission reduction by promoting lactic fermentation in alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Highly variable soil microbial respiration among grasslands has been identified as a major cause of uncertainty in regional carbon (C) budget estimation in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau; microbial metabolism mechanisms might explain this variation, but remain elusive. Therefore, we investigated soil CO production in incubated soils and detected the associated functional genes at four sampling sites from two major alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that the cumulative CO emissions from alpine meadow soils were 71 %-83 % lower than those from alpine steppe soils.

Temperate Lianas Have More Acquisitive Strategies than Host Trees in Leaf and Stem Traits, but Not Root Traits.

Increasingly, tropical studies based on aboveground traits have suggested that lianas have a more acquisitive strategy than trees, thereby possibly explaining the increase in lianas relative to trees in many tropical forests under global change. However, few studies have tested whether this pattern can be extended to root traits and temperate forests. In this study, we sampled 61 temperate liana-host tree pairs and quantified 11 commonly studied functional traits representative of plant economics in roots, stems, and leaves; we aimed to determine whether root, stem and leaf traits are coordinated across lifeforms, and whether temperate lianas are also characterized by more fast and acquisitive traits than trees.

Different mechanisms driving increasing abundance of microbial phosphorus cycling gene groups along an elevational gradient.

Microbes play an integral role in forest soil phosphorus (P) cycling. However, the variation of microbial P-cycling functional genes and their controlling factors in forest soils is unclearly. We used metagenomics to investigate changes in the abundance of genes involved in P-starvation response regulation, P-uptake and transport, and P-solubilization and mineralization along the five elevational gradients.

Responses of AM fungal abundance to the drivers of global climate change: A meta-analysis.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), playing critical roles in carbon cycling, are vulnerable to climate change. However, the responses of AM fungal abundance to climate change are unclear. A global-scale meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the response patterns of AM fungal abundance to warming, elevated CO concentration (eCO), and N addition.

Microbial traits determine soil C emission in response to fresh carbon inputs in forests across biomes.

Soil priming is a microbial-driven process, which determines key soil-climate feedbacks in response to fresh carbon inputs. Despite its importance, the microbial traits behind this process are largely undetermined. Knowledge of the role of these traits is integral to advance our understanding of how soil microbes regulate carbon (C) emissions in forests, which support the largest soil carbon stocks globally.

[Stability of Soil Aggregates at Different Altitudes in Qinling Mountains and Its Coupling Relationship with Soil Enzyme Activities].

To explore changes in soil aggregate stability along an elevation gradient, and its regulating factors, soil samples were taken from the 0-10 cm surface layer at 3 different elevations on Taibai Mountain. We measured and analyzed the distribution of soil aggregates, physical and chemical properties, microbial biomass, and extracellular enzymes. The results showed that: ① the soil aggregates from the 3 elevations had mean weight diameters (MWD) of 2.

Canopy disturbance and gap partitioning promote the persistence of a pioneer tree population in a near-climax temperate forest of the Qinling Mountains, China.

An unresolved question of temperate forests is how pioneer tree species persist in mature forests. In order to understand the responsible mechanisms, we investigated a near-climax mixed temperate forest dominated by in the Qinling Mountains of China. Through establishing four 50 m × 50 m plots, we examined the canopy disturbance characteristics and its effects on tree recruitments.

Shifts in Plant Community Assembly Processes across Growth Forms along a Habitat Severity Gradient: A Test of the Plant Functional Trait Approach.

Species respond to changes in their environments. A core goal in ecology is to understand the process of plant community assembly in response to a changing climate. Examining the performance of functional traits and trait-based assembly patterns across species among different growth forms is a useful way to explore the assembly process.

Using phylogeny and functional traits for assessing community assembly along environmental gradients: A deterministic process driven by elevation.

Community assembly processes is the primary focus of community ecology. Using phylogenetic-based and functional trait-based methods jointly to explore these processes along environmental gradients are useful ways to explain the change of assembly mechanisms under changing world. Our study combined these methods to test assembly processes in wide range gradients of elevation and other habitat environmental factors.

Patterns of taxonomic, phylogenetic diversity during a long-term succession of forest on the Loess Plateau, China: insights into assembly process.

Quantifying the drivers underlying the distribution of biodiversity during succession is a critical issue in ecology and conservation, and also can provide insights into the mechanisms of community assembly. Ninety plots were established in the Loess Plateau region of northern Shaanxi in China. The taxonomic and phylogenetic (alpha and beta) diversity were quantified within six succession stages.

Population structure and spatial pattern of main tree species in secondary Betula platyphylla forest in Ziwuling Mountains, China.

This study investigated a typical secondary Betula platyphylla forest in the Ziwuling Mountains, Loess Plateau, China. In the sample plot, the DBH (diameter at breast height) class structure of B. platyphylla was bimodal.

Regeneration of Betula albosinensis in strip clearcut and uncut forests of the Qinling Mountains in China.

To contribute to a better understanding of the regeneration strategy of Betula albosinensis forests and the likely reasons behind either the successful recovery or failure after strip clearcutting, we compared the population structures and spatial patterns of B. albosinensis in eight B. albosinensis stands in Qinling Mountains, China.

[Species composition and point pattern analysis of standing trees in secondary Betula albosinensis forest in Xiaolongshan of west Qinling Mountains].

An investigation was conducted on the species composition and population diameter-class structure of a typical secondary Betula albo-sinensis forest in Xiaolongshan of west Qinling Mountains, and the spatial distribution pattern and interspecific correlations of the main populations were analyzed at multiple scales by the O-ring functions of single variable and double variables. In the test forest, B. albo-sinensis was obviously dominant, but from the analysis of DBH class distribution, the B.