Drought shortens subtropical understory growing season by advancing leaf senescence.

Subtropical forests, recognized for their intricate vertical canopy stratification, exhibit high resistance to extreme drought. However, the response of leaf phenology to drought in the species-rich understory remains poorly understood. In this study, we constructed a digital camera system, amassing over 360,000 images through a 70% throughfall exclusion experiment, to explore the drought response of understory leaf phenology. The results revealed a significant advancement in understory leaf senescence phenology under drought, with 11.75 and 15.76 days for the start and end of the leaf-falling event, respectively. Pre-season temperature primarily regulated leaf development phenology, whereas soil water dominated the variability in leaf senescence phenology. Under drought conditions, temperature sensitivities for the end of leaf emergence decreased from -13.72 to -11.06 days °C-1, with insignificance observed for the start of leaf emergence. Consequently, drought treatment shortened both the length of the growing season (15.69 days) and the peak growth season (9.80 days) for understory plants. Moreover, this study identified diverse responses among intraspecies and interspecies to drought, particularly during the leaf development phase. These findings underscore the pivotal role of water availability in shaping understory phenology patterns, especially in subtropical forests.

Nitrogen use strategy drives interspecific differences in plant photosynthetic CO2 acclimation.

Rising atmospheric CO2 concentration triggers an emergent phenomenon called plant photosynthetic acclimation to elevated CO2 (PAC). PAC is often characterized by a reduction in leaf photosynthetic capacity (Asat ), which varies dramatically along the continuum of plant phylogeny. However, it remains unclear whether the mechanisms responsible for PAC are also different across plant phylogeny, especially between gymnosperms and angiosperms. Here, by compiling a dataset of 73 species, we found that although leaf Asat increased significantly from gymnosperms to angiosperms, there was no phylogenetic signal in the PAC magnitude along the phylogenetic continuum. Physio-morphologically, leaf nitrogen concentration (Nm ), photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency (PNUE), and leaf mass per area (LMA) dominated PAC for 36, 29, and 8 species, respectively. However, there was no apparent difference in PAC mechanisms across major evolutionary clades, with 75% of gymnosperms and 92% of angiosperms regulated by the combination of Nm and PNUE. There was a trade-off between Nm and PNUE in driving PAC across species, and PNUE dominated the long-term changes and inter-specific differences in Asat under elevated CO2 . These findings indicate that nitrogen-use strategy drives the acclimation of leaf photosynthetic capacity to elevated CO2 across terrestrial plant species.

Can evolutionary history predict plant plastic responses to climate change?

Plant plastic responses are critical to the adaptation and survival of species under climate change, but whether they are constrained by evolutionary history (phylogeny) is largely unclear. Plant leaf traits are key in determining plants' performance in different environments, and if these traits and their variation are phylogenetically dependent, predictions could be made to identify species vulnerable to climate change. We compiled data on three leaf traits (photosynthetic rate, specific leaf area, and leaf nitrogen content) and their variation under four environmental change scenarios (warming, drought, elevated CO2 , or nitrogen addition) for 434 species, from 210 manipulation experiments. We found phylogenetic signal in the three traits but not in their variation under the four scenarios. This indicates that closely related species show similar traits but that their plastic responses could not be predicted from species relatedness under environmental change. Meanwhile, phylogeny weakened the slopes but did not change the directions of conventional pairwise trait relationships, suggesting that co-evolved leaf trait pairs have consistent responses under contrasting environmental conditions. Phylogeny can identify lineages rich in species showing similar traits and predict their relationships under climate change, but the degree of plant phenotypic variation does not vary consistently across evolutionary clades.

Soil phosphorus drives plant trait variations in a mature subtropical forest.

Earth system models are implementing soil phosphorus dynamic and plant functional traits to predict functional changes in global forests. However, the linkage between soil phosphorus and plant traits lacks empirical evidence, especially in mature forests. Here, we examined the soil phosphorus constraint on plant functional traits in a mature subtropical forest based on observations of 9943 individuals from 90 species in a 5-ha forest dynamic plot and 405 individuals from 15 species in an adjacent 10-year nutrient-addition experiment. We first confirmed a pervasive phosphorus limitation on subtropical tree growth based on leaf N:P ratios. Then, we found that soil phosphorus dominated multidimensional trait variations in the 5-ha forest dynamic plot. Soil phosphorus content explained 44% and 53% of the variance in the traits defining the main functional space across species and communities, respectively. Lastly, we found much stronger phosphorus effects on most plant functional traits than nitrogen at both species and community levels in the 10-year nutrient-addition experiment. This study provides evidence for the consistent pattern of soil phosphorus constraint on plant trait variations between the species and community levels in a mature evergreen broadleaf forest in the East Asian monsoon region. These findings shed light on the predominant role of soil phosphorus on plant functional trait variations in mature subtropical forests, providing new insights for models to incorporate soil phosphorus constraint in predicting future vegetation dynamics.

Plant photosynthetic overcompensation under nocturnal warming: lack of evidence in subtropical evergreen trees.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Increased plant photosynthesis under nocturnal warming is a negative feedback mechanism to overcompensate for night-time carbon loss to mitigate climate warming. This photosynthetic overcompensation effect has been observed in dry deciduous ecosystems but whether it exists in subtropical wet forest trees is unclear. METHODS: Two subtropical evergreen tree species (Schima superba and Castanopsis sclerophylla) were grown in a greenhouse and exposed to ambient and elevated night-time temperature. The occurrence of the photosynthetic overcompensation effect was determined by measuring daytime and night-time leaf gas exchange and non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) concentration. KEY RESULTS: A reduction in leaf photosynthesis for both species and an absence of persistent photosynthetic overcompensation were observed. The photosynthetic overcompensation effect was transient in S. superba due to respiratory acclimation and stomatal limitation. For S. superba, nocturnal warming resulted in insufficient changes in night-time respiration and NSC concentration to stimulate overcompensation and inhibited leaf stomatal conductance by increasing the leaf-to-air vapour pressure deficit. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that leaf stomatal conductance is important for the photosynthetic overcompensation effect in different tree species. The photosynthetic overcompensation effect under nocturnal warming may be a transient occurrence rather than a persistent mechanism in subtropical forest ecosystems.

Effects of N-acetyl-L-cysteine-capped CdTe quantum dots on bovine serum albumin and bovine hemoglobin: isothermal titration calorimetry and spectroscopic investigations.

The interactions of N-acetyl-L-cysteine-capped CdTe quantum dots (QDs) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and bovine hemoglobin (BHb) were investigated by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), fluorescence, synchronous fluorescence, fluorescence lifetime, ultraviolet-visible absorption, and circular dichroism techniques. Fluorescence data of BSA-QDs and BHb-QDs revealed that the quenching was static in every system. While CdTe QDs changed the microenvironment of tryptophan in BHb, the microenvironment of BSA kept unchanged. Adding CdTe QDs affected the skeleton and secondary structure of the protein (BSA and BHb). The ITC results indicated that the interaction between the protein (BSA and BHb) and QDs-612 was spontaneous and the predominant force was hydrophobic interaction. In addition, the binding constants were determined to be 1.19 × 10(5) L mol(-1) (BSA-QDs) and 2.19 × 10(5) L mol(-1) (BHb-QDs) at 298 K. From these results, we conclude that CdTe QDs have a larger impact on the structure of BHb than BSA.

Enhanced causal effect of ecosystem photosynthesis on respiration during heatwaves.

Because of global warming, Earth's ecosystems have been experiencing more frequent and severe heatwaves. Heatwaves are expected to tip terrestrial carbon sequestration by elevating ecosystem respiration and suppressing gross primary productivity (GPP). Here, using the convergent cross-mapping technique, this study detected positive bidirectional causal effects between GPP and respiration in two unprecedented European heatwaves. Heatwaves enhanced the causal effect strength of GPP on respiration rather than respiration on GPP across 40 site-years of observations. Further analyses and global simulations revealed spatial heterogeneity in the heatwave response of the causal link strength between GPP and respiration, which was jointly driven by the local climate and vegetation properties. However, the causal effect strength of GPP on respiration showed considerable uncertainties in CMIP6 models. This study reveals an enhanced causal link strength between GPP and respiration during heatwaves, shedding light on improving projections for terrestrial carbon sink dynamics under future climate extremes.

Robust leaf trait relationships across species under global environmental changes.

Recent studies show coordinated relationships between plant leaf traits and their capacity to predict ecosystem functions. However, how leaf traits will change within species and whether interspecific trait relationships will shift under future environmental changes both remain unclear. Here, we examine the bivariate correlations between leaf economic traits of 515 species in 210 experiments which mimic climate warming, drought, elevated CO2, and nitrogen deposition. We find divergent directions of changes in trait-pairs between species, and the directions mostly do not follow the interspecific trait relationships. However, the slopes in the logarithmic transformed interspecific trait relationships hold stable under environmental changes, while only their elevations vary. The elevation changes of trait relationship are mainly driven by asymmetrically interspecific responses contrary to the direction of the leaf economic spectrum. These findings suggest robust interspecific trait relationships under global changes, and call for linking within-species responses to interspecific coordination of plant traits.

Enhanced peak growth of global vegetation and its key mechanisms.

The annual peak growth of vegetation is critical in characterizing the capacity of terrestrial ecosystem productivity and shaping the seasonality of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The recent greening of global lands suggests an increasing trend of terrestrial vegetation growth, but whether or not the peak growth has been globally enhanced still remains unclear. Here, we use two global datasets of gross primary productivity (GPP) and a satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to characterize recent changes in annual peak vegetation growth (that is, GPPmax and NDVImax). We demonstrate that the peak in the growth of global vegetation has been linearly increasing during the past three decades. About 65% of the NDVImax variation is evenly explained by expanding croplands (21%), rising CO2 (22%) and intensifying nitrogen deposition (22%). The contribution of expanding croplands to the peak growth trend is substantiated by measurements from eddy-flux towers, sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and a global database of plant traits, all of which demonstrate that croplands have a higher photosynthetic capacity than other vegetation types. The large contribution of CO2 is also supported by a meta-analysis of 466 manipulative experiments and 15 terrestrial biosphere models. Furthermore, we show that the contribution of GPPmax to the change in annual GPP is less in the tropics than in other regions. These multiple lines of evidence reveal an increasing trend in the peak growth of global vegetation. The findings highlight the important roles of agricultural intensification and atmospheric changes in reshaping the seasonality of global vegetation growth.

Analysis of energy-related CO2 emissions and driving factors in five major energy consumption sectors in China.

Continual growth of energy-related CO2 emissions in China has received great attention, both domestically and internationally. In this paper, we evaluated the CO2 emissions in five major energy consumption sectors which were evaluated from 1991 to 2012. In order to analyze the driving factors of CO2 emission change in different sectors, the Kaya identity was extended by adding several variables based on specific industrial characteristics and a decomposition analysis model was established according to the LMDI method. The results demonstrated that economic factor was the leading force explaining emission increase in each sector while energy intensity and sector contribution were major contributors to emission mitigation. Meanwhile, CO2 emission intensity had no significant influence on CO2 emission in the short term, and energy consumption structure had a small but growing negative impact on the increase of CO2 emissions. In addition, the future CO2 emissions of industry from 2013 to 2020 under three scenarios were estimated, and the reduction potential of CO2 emissions in industry are 335 Mt in 2020 under lower-emission scenario while the CO2 emission difference between higher-emission scenario and lower-emission scenario is nearly 725 Mt. This paper can offer complementary perspectives on determinants of energy-related CO2 emission change in different sectors and help to formulate mitigation strategies for CO2 emissions.

Evaluation of variations and affecting factors of eco-environmental quality during urbanization.

Regional eco-environmental quality is the foundation of economic sustainable development and rational utilization of resources. It is necessary to understand and evaluate the regional eco-environmental quality correctly. Based on national remote sensing land use data, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data and some other statistical data, this paper established an eco-environmental quality index (EQI) model to evaluate the ecological status of Jinan from 2000 to 2011. The results of eco-environmental quality showed little variation, with EQI values ranged from 62.00 to 69.01. EQI of each region in Jinan firstly decreased sharply and then increased slowly with the development of local economy. Besides the spatial and temporal variations analysis, affecting factors of eco-environmental quality was also discussed in this article. According to the results of correlation and regression analysis, meteorological conditions (rainfall and sunshine duration) and industrial structure (the proportion of primary industry) had relatively high correlations with eco-environmental quality. To summarize, a better eco-environmental status is associated with increasing rainfall, shorter sunshine duration, and lower proportion of primary industry. This article aims to giving supporting data and decision-making bases to restore the ecological environment and promote the sustainable development of Jinan.

Molecular mechanism of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase activity change exposed to N-acetyl-L-cysteine-capped CdTe quantum dots-induced oxidative damage in mouse primary hepatocytes and nephrocytes.

Quantum dots (QDs) are engineered semiconductor nanocrystals with promising application in biomedicine, which have potential toxic effect on biomacromolecules by direct interaction and indirect impact in the body. In this work, the effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine-capped CdTe quantum dots with fluorescence emission peak at 612 nm (QDs-612) on copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/ZnSOD) at molecular and cellular level was investigated using isothermal titration calorimetry, spectroscopic techniques, cell counting kit-8, and total SOD assay. The hydrophobic interaction between Cu/ZnSOD and QDs-612 caused static fluorescence quenching of the protein, which was spontaneous with binding constant calculated to be 3.28 × 10(5) L mol(-1). The microenvironment of tyrosine residues, skeleton, and secondary structure of Cu/ZnSOD were changed with adding QDs-612. The molecular Cu/ZnSOD activity was inhibited at different concentrations of QDs-612 as well as the intracellular Cu/ZnSOD activity after 2-h exposure. Compared with the cell viability of hepatocytes and nephrocytes (decreased markedly of the initial level) with higher concentrations of QDs-612 in the absence of vitamin C, the cell viability of these two primary cells increased in the presence of vitamin C, indicating the oxidative damage induced by QDs-612. Therefore, the inhibition of Cu/ZnSOD activity in these two primary cells may be caused by the oxidative damage of massive ROS or direct interaction with QDs-612. This work establishes a new approach to investigate the biological toxicity of CdTe QDs to biomacromolecule from both molecular and cellular perspectives and obtains experimental evidence to thoroughly study the toxicity of CdTe QDs in vivo.

Temporal and spatial variations in the relationship between urbanization and water quality.

With the development of economy, most of Chinese cities are at the stage of rapid urbanization in recent years, which has caused many environmental problems, especially the serious deterioration of water quality. Therefore, the research of the relationship between urbanization and water quality has important theoretical and practical significance, and it is also the main restriction factor in the urbanization advancement. In this work, we investigated the impact of urbanization on the water quality of the nearby river. We established a comprehensive environmental assessment framework by combining urbanization and water quality, and one model was designed to examine the impact of urbanization on the water quality in Jinan from 2001 to 2010 with factor component analysis. The assessment of urbanization level was accomplished using a comprehensive index system, which was based on four aspects: demographic urbanization, economic urbanization, land urbanization, and social urbanization. In addition, synthetic pollution index method was utilized to assess the water pollution of Xiaoqing River in the study area. Through the analysis of regression curves, we conclude that (1) when the urbanization level is below 25 %, the relationship is low and irregular; (2) if the urbanization level varies between 25 and 40 %, there will be an irreversible degradation of stream water quality; (3) there is a positive correlation between urbanization and pollution levels of urban river after the adjustment period; and (4) land and demographic aspects have the highest independent contribution. This study is a useful reference for policymakers in terms of economic and environmental management.

Spectroscopic investigations on the effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine-capped CdTe Quantum Dots on catalase.

Quantum dots (QDs) are recognized as some of the most promising semiconductor nanocrystals in biomedical applications. However, the potential toxicity of QDs has aroused wide public concern. Catalase (CAT) is a common enzyme in animal and plant tissues. For the potential application of QDs in vivo, it is important to investigate the interaction of QDs with CAT. In this work, the effect of N-Acetyl-L-cysteine-Capped CdTe Quantum Dots with fluorescence emission peak at 612 nm (QDs-612) on CAT was investigated by fluorescence, synchronous fluorescence, fluorescence lifetime, ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption and circular dichroism (CD) techniques. Binding of QDs-612 to CAT caused static quenching of the fluorescence, the change of the secondary structure of CAT and the alteration of the microenvironment of tryptophan residues. The association constants K were determined to be K288K=7.98×10(5)Lmol(-1) and K298K=7.21×10(5)Lmol(-1). The interaction between QDs-612 and CAT was spontaneous with 1:1 stoichiometry approximately. The CAT activity was also inhibited for the bound QDs-612. This work provides direct evidence about enzyme toxicity of QDs-612 to CAT in vitro and establishes a new strategy to investigate the interaction between enzyme and QDs at a molecular level, which is helpful for clarifying the bioactivities of QDs in vivo.