Balancing Water Yield and Water Use Efficiency Between Planted and Natural Forests: A Global Analysis.

Climate warming is projected to affect hydrological cycle in forest ecosystems and makes the forest-water relationship more controversial. Currently, planted forests are gaining more public attention due to their role in carbon sequestration and wood production relative to natural forests. However, little is known about how the global patterns and drivers of water yield and water-use efficiency (WUE) differ between planted and natural forests. Here, we conduct a global analysis to compare water yield and WUE in planted and natural forests using 946 observations from 112 published studies. The results showed that global average water yield coefficient was 0.29 for planted forests and 0.34 for natural forests. Planted forests exhibited lower water yield coefficient (p < 0.05) in three climatic regions (arid, dry subhumid, and humid regions), but higher (p < 0.01) WUE only in arid region, compared with natural forests. Both water yield coefficient and WUE in planted forests were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that in natural forests for stand characteristic groups (stand density, average tree height, leaf area index [LAI], and basal area). Additionally, stand density within the ranging between 1000 to 2000 stem ha-1 can maximize the water yield and WUE in planted and natural forests. Water yield coefficient in planted forests was primarily controlled by the factors related to tree growth (i.e., tree height, DBH), while that of natural forest mainly affected by stand structure (i.e., LAI, stand density, DBH). WUE in planted forest was more sensitive to climate than in natural forests. This work highlights the critical role of natural forests in water supply and the importance of tree species selection and stand management (e.g., stand density adjustment) in plantations in future forest restoration policies and climate change mitigation.

Rotation age extension synergistically increases ecosystem carbon storage and timber production of Chinese fir plantations in southern China.

Afforestation is an effective method to increase carbon (C) sinks and address climate change. It is crucial to understand how the stand growth affects C sequestration capacity, especially when the trade-offs with timber production from plantations have not been fully examined. We used a chronosequence approach to estimate C storage in Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.) plantations (including the trees, understory, litter, and soils) at seven stand ages (3, 8-11, 16, 21, 25, 29, and 32 years). Ecosystem C storage increased nonlinearly from 76.4 to 282.2 t ha-1 with stand age and was fitted with a logistic model that had a maximum C storage and age of 271.9 t ha-1 and 33 years, respectively, to reach 95% of the maximum stored C. The C increment was mainly contributed by an increase in tree biomass, which ranged from 2.8 to 177.7 t ha-1 and comprised 4-64% of the total ecosystem C. Live root C (sum of the stump, coarse, and fine root C) showed a logistic increase from 2.0 to 26.3 t ha-1 with stand age and constituted 2.5-9.3% of ecosystem C. Understory plants and litter represented a small pool (<2% of ecosystem C). The C storage in shrubs and litter slightly increased, while that in herbs decreased as the stands aged. Soil C storage was an important and relatively stable pool, ranging from 69.6 to 130.1 t ha-1. Stand volume was also best fitted with a logistic model with a maximum value of 552.6 m3 ha-1. Additionally, the time needed to reach 95% of the maximum volume was 25 years. Hence, extending the rotation age to over 30 years for Chinese fir plantations could potentially maximize the synergistic benefits of C storage to mitigate climate change and obtain timber products for economic profit.

Forest conversion to plantations: A meta-analysis of consequences for soil and microbial properties and functions.

Primary or secondary forests around the world are increasingly being converted into plantations. Soil microorganisms are critical for all biogeochemical processes in ecosystems, but the effects of forest conversion on microbial communities and their functioning remain unclear. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to quantify the impacts that converting forests to plantations has on soil microbial communities and functioning as well as on the associated plant and soil properties. We collected 524 paired observations from 138 studies globally. We found that conversion leads to broad range of adverse impacts on soils and microorganisms, including on soil organic carbon (-24%), total nitrogen (-29%), bacterial and fungal biomass (-36% and -42%, respectively), microbial biomass carbon (MBC, -31%) and nitrogen (-33%), and fungi to bacteria ratio (F:B, -16%). In addition, we found impacts on the ratio of MBC to soil organic C (qMBC, -20%), microbial respiration (-18%), N mineralization (-18%), and enzyme activities including ß-1,4-glucosidase (-54%), ß-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (-39%), and acid phosphatase (ACP; -34%). In contrast, conversion to plantations increases bacterial richness (+21%) and microbial metabolic quotient (qCO2 , +21%). The effects of forest conversion were consistent across stand ages, stand types, and climate zone. Soil C and N contents as well as the C:N ratio were the main factors responsible for the changes of microbial C, F:B, and bacterial richness. The responses of qCO2 , N mineralization, and ACP activity were mainly driven by the reductions in F:B, MBC, and soil C:N. Applying macro-ecology theory on ecosystem disturbance in soil microbial ecology, we show that microbial groups shifted from K to r strategists after conversion to plantations. Our meta-analysis underlines the adverse effects of natural forests conversion to plantations on soil microbial communities and functioning, and suggests that the preservation of soil functions should be a consideration in forest management practices.

Contrasting patterns and drivers of soil fungal communities in subtropical deciduous and evergreen broadleaved forests.

Subtropical broadleaved forests play a crucial role in supporting terrestrial ecosystem functions, but little is known about their belowground soil fungal communities despite that they have central functions in C, N, and P cycles. This study investigated the structures and identified the drivers of soil fungal communities in subtropical deciduous and evergreen broadleaved forests, using high-throughput sequencing and FUNGuild for fungal identification and assignment to the trophic guild. Fungal richness was much higher in the deciduous than in the evergreen forest. Both forests were dominated by Ascomycota and Basidiomycota phyla, but saprophytic fungi were more abundant in the deciduous forest and ectomycorrhizal fungi predominated in the evergreen forest. Fungal communities had strong links to plant and soil properties. Specifically, plant diversity and litter biomass were the main aboveground drivers of fungal diversity and composition in the deciduous forest, while host effects were prominent in the evergreen forest. The belowground factors, i.e., soil pH, water content, and nutrients especially available P, were identified as the primary drivers of soil fungal communities in the broadleaved forests. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed assembly of fungal composition in broadleaved forest soils was non-random. The smaller modularity of the network in the deciduous forest reflects lower resistance to environment changes. Concluding, these results showed that plant community attributes, soil properties, and potential interactions among fungal functional guilds operate jointly on the divergence of soil fungal community assembly in the two broadleaved forest types.

Temporal changes of fine root overyielding and foraging strategies in planted monoculture and mixed forests.

BACKGROUND: Mixed forests are believed to enhance ecosystem functioning and sustainability due to complementary resource use, environmental benefits and improved soil properties. The facilitation between different species may induce overyielding. Meanwhile, the species-specific fine root foraging strategies and tradeoffs would determine the structure and dynamics of plant communities. Here the aim was to investigate the admixing effects of fine-root biomass, vertical distribution and morphology in Pinus massoniana-Cinnamomum camphora mixed plantations and corresponding monocultures at 10-, 24- and 45-year old stands. RESULTS: The fine root biomass in the Pinus-Cinnamomum mixed forest exerted a certain degree of overyielding effect. These positive admixing effects, however, did not enhance with forest stand development. The overall relative yield total ranged from 1.83 and 1.51 to 1.33 in 10-, 24- and 45-year-old stand, respectively. The overyielding was mainly attributed to the over-performance of late successional species, Cinnamomum, in mixed stands. The vertical fine root biomass distribution model showed fine roots of pioneer species, Pinus, shifted to the superficial layer when mixed with Cinnamomum. Furthermore, the specific root length (SRL) of Pinus was significantly higher in Pinus-Cinnamomum mixed stands than that in monocultures, and the magnitude of differences increased over time. However, the vertical fine-root distribution and SRL for Cinnamomum did not show significant differences between monoculture and mixtures. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that the magnitude of fine root overyielding in mixed forests showed a high degree of consistency with the total amount of fine root biomass itself, suggesting the overyielding effects in mixed forests were correlated with the degree of belowground interaction and competition degree involved. The late successional species, Cinnamomum, invested more carbon to belowground by increasing the fine root biomass in mixtures. While the pioneer species, Pinus, adapted to the presence of the species Cinnamomum by modification of vertical distribution and root morphological plasticity in the mixtures. These species-specific fine root foraging strategies might imply the differences of forest growth strategies of co-occurring species and contribute to the success and failure of particular species during the succession over time.

Interannual variation in methane emissions from tropical wetlands triggered by repeated El Niño Southern Oscillation.

Methane (CH4 ) emissions from tropical wetlands contribute 60%-80% of global natural wetland CH4 emissions. Decreased wetland CH4 emissions can act as a negative feedback mechanism for future climate warming and vice versa. The impact of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on CH4 emissions from wetlands remains poorly quantified at both regional and global scales, and El Niño events are expected to become more severe based on climate models' projections. We use a process-based model of global wetland CH4 emissions to investigate the impacts of the ENSO on CH4 emissions in tropical wetlands for the period from 1950 to 2012. The results show that CH4 emissions from tropical wetlands respond strongly to repeated ENSO events, with negative anomalies occurring during El Niño periods and with positive anomalies occurring during La Niña periods. An approximately 8-month time lag was detected between tropical wetland CH4 emissions and ENSO events, which was caused by the combined time lag effects of ENSO events on precipitation and temperature over tropical wetlands. The ENSO can explain 49% of interannual variations for tropical wetland CH4 emissions. Furthermore, relative to neutral years, changes in temperature have much stronger effects on tropical wetland CH4 emissions than the changes in precipitation during ENSO periods. The occurrence of several El Niño events contributed to a lower decadal mean growth rate in atmospheric CH4 concentrations throughout the 1980s and 1990s and to stable atmospheric CH4 concentrations from 1999 to 2006, resulting in negative feedback to global warming.

Allometric equations for integrating remote sensing imagery into forest monitoring programmes.

Remote sensing is revolutionizing the way we study forests, and recent technological advances mean we are now able - for the first time - to identify and measure the crown dimensions of individual trees from airborne imagery. Yet to make full use of these data for quantifying forest carbon stocks and dynamics, a new generation of allometric tools which have tree height and crown size at their centre are needed. Here, we compile a global database of 108753 trees for which stem diameter, height and crown diameter have all been measured, including 2395 trees harvested to measure aboveground biomass. Using this database, we develop general allometric models for estimating both the diameter and aboveground biomass of trees from attributes which can be remotely sensed - specifically height and crown diameter. We show that tree height and crown diameter jointly quantify the aboveground biomass of individual trees and find that a single equation predicts stem diameter from these two variables across the world's forests. These new allometric models provide an intuitive way of integrating remote sensing imagery into large-scale forest monitoring programmes and will be of key importance for parameterizing the next generation of dynamic vegetation models.

Amino acid mutations in the env gp90 protein that modify N-linked glycosylation of the Chinese EIAV vaccine strain enhance resistance to neutralizing antibodies.

The Chinese EIAV vaccine is an attenuated live virus vaccine obtained by serial passage of a virulent horse isolate (EIAVL) in donkeys (EIAVD) and, subsequently, in donkey cells in vitro. In this study, we compare the env gene of the original horse virulent virus (EIAVL) with attenuated strains serially passaged in donkey MDM (EIAVDLV) and donkey dermal cells (EIAVFDDV). Genetic comparisons among parental and attenuated strains found that vaccine strains contained amino acid substitutions/deletions in gp90 that resulted in a loss of three potential N-linked glycosylation sites, designated g5, g9, and g10. To investigate the biological significance of these changes, reverse-mutated viruses were constructed in the backbone of the EIAVFDDV infectious molecular clone (pLGFD3). The resulting virus stocks were characterized for replication efficiency in donkey dermal cells and donkey MDM, and were tested for sensitivity to neutralization using sera from two ponies experimentally infected with EIAVFDDV. Results clearly show that these mutations generated by site-directed mutagenesis resulted in cloned viruses with enhanced resistance to serum neutralizing antibodies that were also able to recognize parental viruses. This study indicates that these mutations played an important role in the attenuation of the EIAV vaccine strains.

Identification of equine influenza virus infection in Asian wild horses (Equus przewalskii).

An outbreak of equine influenza was observed in the Asian wild horse population in Xinjiang Province, China, in 2007. Nasal swabs were collected from wild horses and inoculated into 9-10-day SPF embryonated eggs. The complete genome of the isolate was sequenced. A comparison of the amino acid sequence revealed that the isolate was an equine influenza virus strain, which we named A/equine/Xinjiang/4/2007. Each gene of the virus was found to have greater than 99 % homology to equine influenza virus strains of the Florida-2 sublineage, which were circulating simultaneously in China, and a lesser amount of homology was found to the strain A/equine/Qinghai/1/1994 (European lineage), which was isolated during the last outbreak in China. These observations were confirmed by phylogenetic analysis. In addition, the deduced amino acid sequence of the neuraminidase of the A/equine/Xinjiang/4/2007 strain was identical to that of A/equine/California/8560/2002, an American isolate, and was found to be similar to those of Florida-2 strains found in other countries by comparing them with nine other field strains that were isolated in China from 2007 to 2008. It is suggested that the neuraminidase segment of A/equine/Xinjiang/4/2007 may have been obtained from equine influenza virus strains from other countries. We report for the first time an outbreak of equine influenza in the Asian wild horse population, and the complete genome of the virus is provided and analyzed.

Development of a single-tube duplex EvaGreen real-time PCR for the detection and identification of EHV-1 and EHV-4.

The objective of this study was to develop a novel EvaGreen (EG) based real-time PCR technique for the simultaneous detection of Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) and Equine herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4) genomes from equine nasal swabs. Viral genomes were identified based on their specific melting temperatures (T m), which are 88.0 and 84.4 °C for EHV-1 and EHV-4, respectively. The detection limitation of this method was 50 copies/µl or 0.15 pg/µl for EHV-1 and 5 copies/µl or 2.5 fg/µl for EHV-4. This assay was 50-1,000 times more sensitive than the SYBR Green (SG)-based assay using the same primer pairs and as sensitive as the TaqMan-MGB probe-based assay. The validity of the real-time PCR assays was confirmed by testing 13 clinical samples. When all results of the EG, SG, and TaqMan probe-based singleplex and duplex real-time PCRs were considered together, a total of 84.6 % (11/13) horses and donkeys were positive for at least one virus. EHV-1 and EHV-4 coexisted in 81.8 % (9/11) horses. Overall, we report that the EvaGreen duplex real-time PCR is an economical and alternative diagnostic method for the rapid differentiation of EHV-1 and EHV-4 in nasal swabs.

Hydraulic traits exert greater limitations on tree-level maximum sap flux density than photosynthetic ability: Global evidence.

Transpiration is a key process that couples the land-atmosphere exchange of water and carbon, and its maximum water transport ability affects plant productivity. Functional traits significantly influence the maximum transpiration rate; however, which factor plays the dominant role remains unknown. SAPFLUXNET dataset, which includes sap flux density of diverse species worldwide, provides fundamental data to test the importance of photosynthetic and hydraulic traits on maximum tree-level sap flux density (Js_max). Here, we investigated variations in Js_max of 2194 trees across 129 species using data from the SAPFLUXNET dataset, and analysed the relationship of Js_max with photosynthetic and hydraulic traits. Our results indicated that Js_max was positively correlated with photosynthetic traits at both leaf and tree level. Regarding hydraulic traits, Js_max was positively related to xylem hydraulic conductivity (Ks), leaf-specific hydraulic conductivity (Kl), xylem pressure inducing 50 % loss of hydraulic conductivity (P50), xylem vessel diameter (Vdia), and leaf-to-sapwood area ratio (AlAs). Random forest model showed that 87 % of the variability in Js_max can be explained by functional traits, and hydraulic traits (e.g., P50 and sapwood area, As) exerted larger effects on Js_max than photosynthetic traits. Moreover, trees with a lower sapwood area or depth could increase their sap flux density to compensate for the reduced whole-tree transpiration. Js_max of the angiosperms was significantly higher than that of the gymnosperms. Mean annual total precipitation (MAP) were positively related to Js_max with a weak correlation coefficient. Furthermore, Js_max showed a significant phylogenetic signal with Blomberg's K below 0.2. Overall, tree species with acquisitive resource economics or more efficient hydraulic systems show higher water transport capacity, and the efficiency of xylem hydraulic system rather than the demand for carbon uptake predominantly determines water transport capacity.

Complete genomic sequence of an equine herpesvirus type 8 Wh strain isolated from China.

A new strain of equine herpesvirus type 8 (EHV-8), Wh, has been isolated from horses in China, and its complete genome has been sequenced and analyzed. The result indicates that the new strain has the same constitution and arrangement of open read frames as EHV-1 and EHV-9. This work is the first announced complete genome sequence of EHV-8.

Complete nucleotide sequence of avian paramyxovirus type 6 strain JL isolated from mallard ducks in China.

A new strain of avian paramyxovirus type 6 (APMV-6), JL, has been isolated from mallard ducks in China, and its complete genome has been sequenced and analyzed. This work is the first announced complete genome sequence of APMV-6 from mallards.

The impacts of climate change and human activities on biogeochemical cycles on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

With a pace of about twice the observed rate of global warming, the temperature on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (Earth's 'third pole') has increased by 0.2 °C per decade over the past 50 years, which results in significant permafrost thawing and glacier retreat. Our review suggested that warming enhanced net primary production and soil respiration, decreased methane (CH(4)) emissions from wetlands and increased CH(4) consumption of meadows, but might increase CH(4) emissions from lakes. Warming-induced permafrost thawing and glaciers melting would also result in substantial emission of old carbon dioxide (CO(2)) and CH(4). Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) emission was not stimulated by warming itself, but might be slightly enhanced by wetting. However, there are many uncertainties in such biogeochemical cycles under climate change. Human activities (e.g. grazing, land cover changes) further modified the biogeochemical cycles and amplified such uncertainties on the plateau. If the projected warming and wetting continues, the future biogeochemical cycles will be more complicated. So facing research in this field is an ongoing challenge of integrating field observations with process-based ecosystem models to predict the impacts of future climate change and human activities at various temporal and spatial scales. To reduce the uncertainties and to improve the precision of the predictions of the impacts of climate change and human activities on biogeochemical cycles, efforts should focus on conducting more field observation studies, integrating data within improved models, and developing new knowledge about coupling among carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus biogeochemical cycles as well as about the role of microbes in these cycles.

Identification of a conserved B-cell epitope in the equine arteritis virus (EAV) N protein using the pepscan technique.

The nucleocapsid (N) gene of equine arteritis virus (EAV) is highly conserved between isolates, and the N protein is an important antigen that induces immunity when horses are infected with EAV. This study describes the identification of a linear B-cell epitope on the N protein using the pepscan technique with a monoclonal antibody (mAb) 2B1 directed against the N protein. The N protein was divided into 11 overlapping peptides, each containing 16 amino acids associated with six overlapping amino acids. The fragments were expressed as MBP fusion proteins that were then used to probe the 2B1 mAb. The minimal epitope sequence was confirmed step-by-step using single amino acid residue deletion. One completely conserved linear epitope ((38)KPPAQP(43)) was identified that matched with EAV-positive serum in Western blots, thereby revealing the importance of these six amino acids of the epitope for antibody-epitope binding activity. This finding not only contributes to our understanding of the antigenic structure of the N protein of EAV but also has potential for the development of diagnostic techniques.

Genetic analysis of the PB1-F2 gene of equine influenza virus.

Amino acid and phylogenetic analysis showed that PB1-F2 of H7N7 and H3N8 equine influenza virus (EIV) evolved into two and nine clades, respectively. The PB1-F2 gene of H7N7 EIV strains isolated after 1973 was identified as being replaced by that of H3N8 EIV circulating simultaneously. All H7N7 EIV strains before 1973 contained PB1-F2 of 34 aa, while 90 aa after 1973. Meanwhile, most H3N8 EIV strains contained PB1-F2 of 90 or 81 aa. Evolutionary rate of PB1-F2 of H3N8 EIV was similar with that of PB1 in previous study. Meanwhile, PB1-F2 of H7N7 EIV evolved in significantly higher rate when compared with PB1-F2 of H3N8 EIV. Codon usage analysis revealed that PB1-F2 gene of EIV was less biased, which was identified as being determined by three main factors: mutational bias, selection pressure, and gene length. Our studies first in details report the genetic evolution, evolutionary rate, and the factors influencing codon usage bias of PB1-F2 of EIV.

Plantations thinning: A meta-analysis of consequences for soil properties and microbial functions.

Thinning is a widely-used management practice to reduce tree competition and improve wood production and quality in forest plantations. Thinning affects the soil ecosystem by changing the microclimate and plant growth, as well as litter inputs above and belowground, with all the resulting consequences for microbial communities and functions. Although many case studies have been carried out, a comprehensive understanding of the thinning effects on soil properties and microbial communities and functions in plantations remains to be explored. In this study, a meta-analysis was performed on 533 paired observations based on 90 peer-reviewed articles to evaluate the general responses of soil (mainly 0-20 cm depth) physicochemical properties, microbial biomass and community structure, and enzyme activities to thinning. Results showed that thinning increased soil temperature (13 %), moisture (8.0 %), electric conductivity (13 %), and the contents of total nitrogen (TN, 4.1 %), dissolved organic carbon (DOC, 9.7 %), nitrate N (NO3--N, 27 %) and available phosphorous (22 %). For microbial properties, thinning decreased the fungi to bacteria ratio (F:B, -28 %) and the gram-positive bacteria to gram-negative bacteria ratio (G+:G-, -12 %), while increased microbial biomass C (7.1 %), microbial respiration (13 %), and nutrient-cycle related enzyme activities, including phenol oxidase (14 %), cellobiohydrolase (21 %), urease (10 %), and acid phosphatase (9 %). In particular, moderate thinning (30-60 % intensity) has higher conservation benefits for soil C and nutrients than light and heavy intensity, thus being recommended as the optimal thinning activity. This meta-analysis suggests that thinning consistently altered soil properties, shifted microbial community compositions from K- to-r strategist dominance, and stimulated microbial activities. These results are essential for optimizing plantation thinning management and provide evidence for applying the macro-ecology theory to ecosystem disturbance in soil microbial ecology.

Time-dependent effects of microplastics on soil bacteriome.

Microplastic threats to biodiversity, health and ecological safety are adding to concern worldwide, but the real impacts on the functioning of organisms and ecosystems are obscure owing to their inert characteristics. Here we investigated the long-lasting ecological effects of six prevalent microplastic types: polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyamide (PA), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) on soil bacteria at a 2 % (w/w) level. Due to the inertia and lack of available nitrogen of these microplastics, their effects on bacteriome tended to converge after one year and were strongly different from their short-term effects. The soil volumes around microplastics were very specific, in which the microplastic-adapted bacteria (e.g., some genera in Actinobacteria) were enriched but the phyla Bacteroidetes and Gemmatimonadetes declined, resulting in higher microbial nitrogen requirements and reduced organic carbon mineralization. The reshaped bacteriome was specialized in the genetic potential of xenobiotic and lipid metabolism as well as related oxidation, esterification, and hydrolysis processes, but excessive oxidative damage resulted in severe weakness in community genetic information processing. According to model predictions, microplastic effects are indirectly derived from nutrients and oxidative stress, and the effects on bacterial functions are stronger than on structure, posing a heavy risk to soil ecosystems.

[Effects of radiation changes on net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide in a middle subtropical Chinese fir plantation]. / 辐射变化对中亚热带杉木人工林净CO2交换的影响.

Total solar radiation is an important factor affecting carbon exchange in forest ecosystem. In order to understand the effects of radiation change on carbon exchange in Chinese fir plantation, long-term monitoring data of carbon dioxide flux and meteorological factors measured by open eddy covariance system and meteorological gradient observation system were used in this study. The clearness index (kt) was used to represent the condition of solar radiation. We analyzed the effects of kt on net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide (NEE) in the central subtropical Chinese fir plantation during the growing season (from April to October). The results showed that total solar radiation in clear sky was usually higher in the morning than that in the afternoon, and that NEE was lower in the morning than in the afternoon. Such difference in NEE reached the maximum when the solar elevation angle was about 50°. At the medium kt(0.42-0.52), carbon absorption of Chinese fir plantation was the strongest. The ave-rage maximum relative change of NEE in 10 years in different solar elevation angles ranged from 11.0% to 29.4%, while the minimum and maximum critical values appeared at 35°-40° and 45°-50°, respectively. When kt was at the moderate degree due to the existence of clouds, carbon absorption and diffuse photosynthetically active radiation of Chinese fir plantation reached the maximum, and the latter might be the main reason for the former. Moderate radiation condition with the presence of cloud clould promote NEE of Chinese fir plantation and lead to largest carbon absorption.

"Realistic strategies" and neutral processes drive the community assembly based on leaf functional traits in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest.

Neutral-theory-based stochastic and niche-theory-based determinative processes are commonly used to explain the mechanisms of natural community assembly. However, considerable uncertainty remains regarding the relative importance of different ecological processes in shaping forest communities. Functional traits and phylogeny provide important information about plant environmental adaptation strategies and evolutionary history and promise a better mechanistic and predictive understanding of community assembly. Based on nine leaf functional traits and phylogenetic data of 18 dominant species in a Lithocarpus glaber-Cyclobalanopsis glauca evergreen broad-leaved forest, we analyzed the variation in traits, explored the influence of phylogeny and environment on leaf traits, and distinguished the relative effects of spatial and environmental variables on functional traits and phylogenetic compositions. The results showed the following: (i) Leaf traits had moderate intraspecific variation, and significant interspecific variation existed especially among life forms. (ii) Significant phylogenetic signals were detected only in leaf thickness and leaf area. The correlations among traits both supported "the leaf economics spectrum" at the species and community levels, and the relationships significantly increased or only a little change after removing the phylogenetic influence, which showed a lack of consistency between the leaf functional trait patterns and phylogenetic patterns. We infer the coexistent species tended to adopt "realism" to adapt to their habitats. (iii) Soil total potassium and phosphorus content, altitude, aspect, and convexity were the most critical environmental factors affecting functional traits and phylogenetic composition. Total environmental and spatial variables explained 63.38% of the variation in functional trait composition and 47.96% of the variation in phylogenetic structures. Meanwhile, the contribution of pure spatial factors was significantly higher than that of the pure environment. Stochastic processes played dominant roles in driving community functional trait assembly, but determinative processes such as environmental filtering had a stronger effect on shaping community phylogenetic structure at a fine scale.