Edaphic factors mediate the responses of forest soil respiration and its components to nitrogen deposition along an urban-rural gradient.

Exploring the influences of nitrogen deposition on soil carbon (C) flux is necessary for predicting C cycling processes; however, few studies have investigated the effects of nitrogen deposition on soil respiration (Rs), autotrophic respiration (Ra) and heterotrophic respiration (Rh) across urban-rural forests. In this study, a 4-year simulated nitrogen deposition experiment was conducted by treating the experimental plots with 0, 50, or 100 kg·ha-1·year-1 of nitrogen to check out the mechanisms of nitrogen deposition on Rs, Ra, and Rh in urban-rural forests. Our finding indicated a positive association between soil temperature and Rs. Soil temperature sensitivity was significantly suppressed in the experimental plots treated with 100 kg·ha-1·year-1 of nitrogen only in terms of the urban forest Rs and Ra and the rural forest Ra. Nitrogen treatment did not significantly increase Rs and had different influencing mechanisms. In urban forests, nitrogen addition contributed to Rh by increasing soil microbial biomass nitrogen and inhibited Ra by increasing soil ammonium­nitrogen concentration. In suburban forests, the lack of response of Rh under nitrogen addition was due to the combined effects of soil ammonium­nitrogen and microbial biomass nitrogen; the indirect effects from nitrate­nitrogen also contributed to a divergent effect on Ra. In rural forests, the soil pH, dissolved organic C, fine root biomass, and microbial biomass C concentration were the main factors mediating Rs and its components. In summary, the current rate of nitrogen deposition is unlikely to result in significant increases in soil C release in urban-rural forests, high nitrogen deposition is beneficial for reducing the temperature sensitivity of Rs in urban forests. The findings grant a groundwork for predicting responses of forest soil C cycling to global change in the context of urban expansion.

Evolutionary history shapes variation of wood density of tree species across the world.

The effect of evolutionary history on wood density variation may play an important role in shaping variation in wood density, but this has largely not been tested. Using a comprehensive global dataset including 27,297 measurements of wood density from 2621 tree species worldwide, we test the hypothesis that the legacy of evolutionary history plays an important role in driving the variation of wood density among tree species. We assessed phylogenetic signal in different taxonomic (e.g., angiosperms and gymnosperms) and ecological (e.g., tropical, temperate, and boreal) groups of tree species, explored the biogeographical and phylogenetic patterns of wood density, and quantified the relative importance of current environmental factors (e.g., climatic and soil variables) and evolutionary history (i.e., phylogenetic relatedness among species and lineages) in driving global wood density variation. We found that wood density displayed a significant phylogenetic signal. Wood density differed among different biomes and climatic zones, with higher mean values of wood density in relatively drier regions (highest in subtropical desert). Our study revealed that at a global scale, for angiosperms and gymnosperms combined, phylogeny and species (representing the variance explained by taxonomy and not direct explained by long-term evolution process) explained 84.3% and 7.7% of total wood density variation, respectively, whereas current environment explained 2.7% of total wood density variation when phylogeny and species were taken into account. When angiosperms and gymnosperms were considered separately, the three proportions of explained variation are, respectively, 84.2%, 7.5% and 6.7% for angiosperms, and 45.7%, 21.3% and 18.6% for gymnosperms. Our study shows that evolutionary history outpaced current environmental factors in shaping global variation in wood density.

Comparative analyses of functional traits based on metabolome and economic traits variation of Bletilla striata: Contribution of intercropping.

The intercropping practice has been regarded as a practical land-use selection to improve the management benefits of Bletilla striata plantations. The reports about the variety of economic and functional traits of Bletilla pseudobulb under intercropping systems were limited. The present study investigated the variation of economic and functional traits of Bletilla pseudobulb under different intercropping systems (the deep-rooted intercropping system: B. striata - Cyclocarya paliurus, CB; and the shallow-rooted intercropping system: B. striata - Phyllostachys edulis, PB). The functional traits were analyzed through non-targeted metabolomics based on GC-MS. The results indicated that the PB intercropping system significantly decreased the yield of Bletilla pseudobulb while significantly increasing the total phenol and flavonoids compared with the control (CK). However, there were no significant differences in all economic traits between CB and CK. The functional traits among CB, PB, and CK were separated and exhibited significant differences. Under different intercropping systems, B. striata may adopt different functional strategies in response to interspecific competition. The functional node metabolites (D-galactose, cellobiose, raffinose, D-fructose, maltose, and D-ribose) were up-regulated in CB, while the functional node metabolites (L-valine, L-leucine, L-isoleucine, methionine, L-lysine, serine, D-glucose, cellobiose, trehalose, maltose, D-ribose, palatinose, raffinose, xylobiose, L-rhamnose, melezitose, and maltotriose) were up-regulated in PB. The correlation between economic and functional traits depends on the degree of environmental stress. Artificial neural network models (ANNs) accurately predicted the variation in economic traits via the combination of functional node metabolites in PB. The correlation analysis of environmental factors indicated that Ns (including TN, NH4 +-, and NO3 --), SRI (solar radiation intensity), and SOC were the main factors that affected the economic traits (yield, total phenol, and total flavonoids). TN, SRI, and SOC were the main factors affecting the functional traits of the Bletilla pseudobulb. These findings strengthen our understanding of the variation of economic and functional traits of Bletilla pseudobulb under intercropping and clarify the main limiting environmental factors under B. striata intercropping systems.

Global distributions of foliar nitrogen and phosphorus resorption in forest ecosystems.

Nutrient resorption is an important mechanism for nutrient conservation and can maintain ecosystem stoichiometry. Here, we examined the global-scale variation of nitrogen resorption efficiency (NRE) and phosphorus resorption efficiency (PRE) by analyzing observations from 218 published papers. We used Pagel's λ to test the phylogenetic limitation on NRE and PRE and applied the random forest model to assess biotic and abiotic drivers, which included climate, soil, species characteristics, and topographical factors, and predicted the global NRE and PRE distributions. We found that NRE and PRE had oppositing trends among climatic zones, plant functional groups, and foliar nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) ratios. Nutrient resorption was higher in ectomycorrhizal trees than in arbuscular mycorrhizal trees. Moreover, foliar NRE and PRE were not linked to phylogeny. On average, the random forest overall explained 38 % (21 %-55 %) variation in NRE and 36 % (16 %-55 %) variation in PRE. Both NRE and PRE varied greatly with climate and soil organic carbon (SOC). The spatial variation of NRE and PRE was coupled to N-limitation and P-limitation, respectively. Our evaluation of the factors that influenced NRE and PRE and their global distributions, and our novel approach for evaluating plant utilization of nutrients, advances our understanding of the relative stability of ecosystem randomness in forest ecosystems and the global forest nutrient cycle.

Global patterns of allometric model parameters prediction.

Variations in biomass-carbon of forest can substantially impact the prediction of global carbon dynamics. The allometric models currently used to estimate forest biomass face limitations, as model parameters can only be used for the specific species of confirmed sites. Here, we collected allometric models LnW = a + b*Ln(D) (n = 817) and LnW = a + b*Ln(D2H) (n = 612) worldwide and selected eight variables (e.g., mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), altitude, aspect, slope, soil organic carbon (SOC), clay, and soil type) to predict parameters a and b using Random Forest. LnW = a + b*Ln(D), drove mainly by climate factors, showed the parameter a range from - 5.16 to - 0.90 [VaR explained (model evaluation index): 66.21%], whereas parameter b ranges from 1.84 to 2.68 (VaR explained: 49.96%). Another model LnW = a + b*Ln(D2H), drove mainly by terrain factors, showed the parameter a range from - 5.45 to - 1.89 (VaR explained: 69.04%) and parameter b ranges from 0.43 to 1.93 (VaR explained: 69.53%). Furthermore, we captured actual biomass data of 249 sample trees at six sites for predicted parameters validation, showing the R2 (0.87) for LnW = a + b*Ln(D); R2 (0.93) for LnW = a + b*Ln(D2H), indicating a better result from LnW = a + b*Ln(D2H). Consequently, our results present four global maps of allometric model parameters distribution at 0.5° resolution and provides a framework for the assessment of forest biomass by validation.

Distribution of SOCD along different offshore distances in China's fresh-water lake-Chaohu under different habitats.

Carbon storage in wetland ecosystems is an important part of the carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems and provides important ecosystem services. Chaohu Wetland is a typical freshwater lake wetland in China. In this study, soil and plant samples were collected every 500 m through three sample lines of different vegetation habitats (estuarine banks, woodlands and shrub beaches) and different offshore distances, revealing the spatial distribution characteristics of soil organic carbon density (SOCD) in Chaohu wetland. The overall SOCD of Chaohu wetland was low, with different habitats ranking as Woodland > Estuary and riverside > Shrub and beach. SOCD of different offshore distances had no obvious law, and the SOCD decreased significantly with soil depth. The plant biomass was significantly higher at the woodland habitat than at other habitats. Most of soil nutrient indicators were the highest at the woodland habitat, while the estuary-riverside habitat had the highest N and P contents. Soil and plant nutrients at different offshore distances had no obvious change patterns. The contents of soil K, Ca, Mg, and N were significantly positively correlated with SOCD, but soil bulk density and pH were significantly negatively correlated with SOCD, and vegetation P content was significantly negatively correlated with SOCD. The spatial pattern of SOCD changes in this lake coastal wetland was determined by the combined effects of plant nutrients, biomass, and soil physical and chemical properties. Our results indicate Chaohu wetlands may have been experiencing serious degradation. The SOCD of Chaohu wetland is lower than that of other wetlands in China, which is mainly affected by human activities. Different offshore distances and habitat heterogeneity are the main factors affecting the soil carbon cycle of the wetland.

An updated Vegetation Map of China (1:1000000).

Vegetation maps are important sources of information for biodiversity conservation, ecological studies, vegetation management and restoration, and national strategic decision making. The current Vegetation Map of China (1:1000000) was generated by a team of more than 250 scientists in an effort that lasted over 20 years starting in the 1980s. However, the vegetation distribution of China has experienced drastic changes during the rapid development of China in the last three decades, and it urgently needs to be updated to better represent the distribution of current vegetation types. Here, we describe the process of updating the Vegetation Map of China (1:1000000) generated in the 1980s using a "crowdsourcing-change detection-classification-expert knowledge" vegetation mapping strategy. A total of 203,024 field samples were collected, and 50 taxonomists were involved in the updating process. The resulting updated map has 12 vegetation type groups, 55 vegetation types/subtypes, and 866 vegetation formation/sub-formation types. The overall accuracy and kappa coefficient of the updated map are 64.8% and 0.52 at the vegetation type group level, 61% and 0.55 at the vegetation type/subtype level and 40% and 0.38 at the vegetation formation/sub-formation level. When compared to the original map, the updated map showed that 3.3 million km2 of vegetated areas of China have changed their vegetation type group during the past three decades due to anthropogenic activities and climatic change. We expect this updated map to benefit the understanding and management of China's terrestrial ecosystems.

Effects of nitrogen deposition on soil microbial communities in temperate and subtropical forests in China.

Increasing nitrogen (N) deposition has aroused large concerns because of its potential negative effects on forest ecosystems. Although microorganisms play a vital role in ecosystem carbon (C) and nutrient cycling, the effect of N deposition on soil microbiota still remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the responses of microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN) and microbial community composition to 4-5years of experimentally simulated N deposition in temperate needle-leaf forests and subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests in eastern China, using chloroform fumigation extraction and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) methods. We found idiosyncratic effects of N addition on microbial biomass in these two types of forest ecosystems. In the subtropical forests, N addition showed a significant negative effect on microbial biomass and community composition, while the effect of N addition was not significant in the temperate forests. The N addition decreased MBC, MBN, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and the F/B ratio (ratio of fungi to bacteria biomass) in the subtropical forests, likely due to a decreased soil pH and changes in the plant community composition. These results showed that microbial biomass and community composition in subtropical forests, compared with the temperate forests, were sensitive to N deposition. Our findings suggest that N deposition may have negative influence on soil microorganisms and potentially alter carbon and nutrient cycling in subtropical forests, rather than in temperate forests.

Long-term growth of temperate broadleaved forests no longer benefits soil C accumulation.

It is widely recognized that the long-term growth of forests benefits biomass carbon (C) sequestration, but it is not known whether the long-term growth of forests would also benefit soil C sequestration. We selected 79 representative soil profiles and investigated the influence of the forest stand age on the soil C dynamics of three soil layers (0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm) in temperate broadleaved forests in East China. The results suggest that the soil C density in temperature broadleaved forests significantly changes with the stand age, following a convex parabolic curve. At an early stand age, the soil C density usually increases, reaching its peak value at a pre-mature stand age (approximately 50 years old). At later stand ages, the soil C density usually decreases. Therefore, our results reveal a turning point in the soil C density at a pre-mature stand age. The long-term growth of temperate broadleaved forests after pre-mature stand age no longer benefits soil C accumulation, probably promotes topsoil C loss. In addition, we found that the soil C density in the upper soil layer usually changes with the forest stand development more significantly than that in deeper soil layers.

[Eco-hydrological characteristics of a subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest in Japan].

A three years (1998-2000) observation on the eco-hydrological characteristics of Castanopsis sieboldii and Schima wallichii dominated subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest on the Okinawa Island of Japan showed that during the observation period, the mean annual precipitation was 3325 mm, and 42.3% of it was directly or indirectly contributed by typhoon rainfall, implying that typhoon played a very important role in the hydrology of the forest. Through-fall and stem-flow contributed to 53.9% and 30.9% of the annual rainfall, respectively. The higher stem-flow could be due to the high wind velocity, intense rainfall, and the crown morphology of dominant species C. sieboldii with inclined branches and concave-shaped leaves. Interception loss occupied 15.2% of the total rainfall, being the lowest in the range of 15%-30% widely reported for many broadleaved evergreen forests. The annual surface runoff and lateral flow were 1092 mm and 613 mm, respectively, and the high proportion of surface runoff (32.8%) was probably due to the poor physical properties of soil, particularly the low noncapillary porosity (8%-12%), high clay content (51.9%-60.5%), and low infiltration rate (12 ml x min(-1)) in deeper soil layers. The effective and maximum water storage capacity of 0-70 cm soil layer were 85 mm and 324 mm, respectively, and the maximum water-holding capacity of forest floor was 2. 8 mm, which were close to or lower than those of the subtropical and tropical rain forests in China.

[Effects of site condition on litterfall and related nutrient return in Pinus luchuensis plantations].

Over three years study on the dynamics of litterfall and related nutrient return in Pinus luchuensis plantations at different sites of northern Okinawa Island, Japan showed that the annual litterfall biomass ranged from 6.54 to 8.05 Mg x hm(-2) x yr(-1), with a peak from June to July. Typhoons had a strong influence on the timing and mass of litterfall. There were significant differences in nutrient concentrations among the different components of litterfall. The annual total nutrient input from litterfall ranged from 113.4 to 154.6 kg x hm(-2) x yr(-1), of which, N input was the greatest and contributed 42.2% of the total. The nutrient input was in order of N > Ca > K > Mg > Na > P. Due to the significantly different site conditions, there were significant differences in annual litterfall mass and related nutrient inputs between the two sampling stands. The annual mean litterfall mass of the sampling stand P1 on the lower slope reached 8.05 Mg x hm(-2) x yr(-1), which was 23.1% greater than that of P2 on the upper slope. The annual mean nutrient inputs were N 66.04, P 1.63, K 17.42, Ca 48.31, Mg 14.65 and Na 6.57 kg x hm(-2) x yr(-1), and were 39.7%, 48.8%, 39.4%, 32.9%, 24.8% and 49.3% higher in P1 than in P2, respectively. The nutrient use efficiency in litter production was higher in P2 (e.g., N 138, P 5945 and K 523) than in P1 (e.g., N 122, P 4934 and K 462), which should be attributed to the relatively lower fertility of soil in P2. The results from the study suggested that Pinus luchuensis plantation in Okinawa was a high efficiency system.

[Photosynthetic characteristics of Gynostemma pentaphyllum under shade].

The study showed that under summer shade condition, the diurnal variation of net photosynthetic rate of Gynostemma pentaphyllum presented nontypical double apex, the first apex being 13.8 micromol CO2 x m(-2) x s(-1) at 11:00, and the diurnal net photosynthetic rate was about 176.97 micromol CO2 x m(-2), 3.1 times of that under full sunlight. There was a positive correlation between net photosynthetic rate and photon flux density (PFD), and relative humidity had a small effect on net photosynthetic rate. Under full sunlight, the typical "midday depression" of photosynthesis was observed, and the diurnal variation of net photosynthetic rate presented double apex, with the first apex being 3.0 micromol CO2 x m(-2) x s(-1) at 10:00 and the second being 1.25 micromol CO2 x m(-2) x s(-1) at 14:00. There was a positive correlation between net photosynthetic rate and relative humidity, and the latter had a strong effect on net photosynthetic rate. When PFD was higher than 700 micromol CO2 x m(-2) x s(-1), it had a negative correlation with net photosynthetic rate. Stoma conductance was the main factor affecting the transpiration rate of Gynostemma pentaphyllum. Therefore, Gynostemma pentaphyllum was a typical sciophytic plant, and light factor should be considered firstly in its cultivation.