Article
Ecology
Liza S. Comita, Salomon Aguilar, Stephen P. Hubbell, Rolando Perez
Summary: Censuses of seedlings in the permanent Forest Dynamics Plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama were conducted between 2001 and 2018, resulting in a dataset of nearly 1 million observations of over 185,000 individuals of >400 tree, shrub, and liana species. These data will allow for spatially-explicit analyses of seedling distributions, recruitment, growth, and survival for hundreds of woody plant species.
Article
Plant Sciences
Achyut Kumar Banerjee, Fengxiao Tan, Hui Feng, Xinru Liang, Jiakai Wang, Minghui Yin, Hao Peng, Yuting Lin, Nannan Zhang, Yelin Huang
Summary: This study aimed to understand the phylogenetic relationship between alien plant species at different stages of invasion and the influence of environmental filtering process on this relationship. The results showed that phylogenetically related species tend to cluster together at smaller spatial scales, indicating the importance of environmental filtering process. The presence of close relatives in the community may facilitate the successful naturalization and invasion of introduced alien species. Temperature has a stronger effect on phylogenetic patterns than precipitation, especially at smaller spatial scales. Different plant families showed different phylogenetic patterns, but all tend to form more clustered assemblages.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Hong Qian, Brody Sandel
Summary: Studies focusing on relatively small spatial scales have shown that alien plants are more likely to invade phylogenetically clustered communities, and that the introduction of alien plants further increases phylogenetic clustering in the recipient communities. However, whether these patterns hold at a continental scale remains untested. Here, we investigate the phylogenetic structure of native and alien regional assemblages of angiosperms across North America.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Hong Qian, Shenhua Qian, Brody Sandel
Summary: The introduction of alien species in China's angiosperm assemblages can be influenced by the phylogenetic structure of the native species, while also altering that structure. The richness and phylogenetic structure of alien species show spatial patterns similar to native species, and are correlated with climatic factors. At broader phylogenetic scales, alien species tend to recapitulate the biogeographic patterns of natives, while at narrower scales, this pattern is less clear.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Wilhelmine Bach, Holger Kreft, Dylan Craven, Christian Koenig, Julian Schrader, Amanda Taylor, Wayne Dawson, Franz Essl, Bernd Lenzner, Hannah E. Marx, Carsten Meyer, Jan Pergl, Petr Pysek, Mark van Kleunen, Marten Winter, Patrick Weigelt
Summary: The composition of native island assemblages may affect the richness of naturalized species, particularly on small islands. However, native species richness and the biogeographical factors of the island are still the main factors influencing the richness of naturalized species.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hong Qian, Cindy Chu, Daijiang Li, Yong Cao, Brody Sandel, M. U. Mohamed Anas, Nicholas E. Mandrak
Summary: Most studies on terrestrial ecosystems have shown that non-native species are more likely to invade phylogenetically clustered communities. Our study found that non-native fish species tend to invade communities with lower phylogenetic dispersion and that the introduction of non-native species can both decrease and increase clustering in different watersheds. The results suggest that the phylogenetic diversity of the invaded assemblages plays a role in the support for Darwin's naturalization and preadaptation hypotheses.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Kasey E. E. Barton, Claire Fortunel
Summary: Island floras are diverse and face severe threats. The vulnerability of island species to invasive plants and their ability to resist displacement remains unclear. The assumption that island plants have evolved conservative resource use, slow growth rates, and weak competitive abilities has mixed evidence. Future studies comparing functional strategies of native island and native continental plants, as well as tests for competition between native and invasive island plants, are urgently needed to protect these biodiversity hotspots.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Yves Basset, Leonardo R. Jorge, Philip T. Butterill, Greg P. A. Lamarre, Chris Dahl, Richard Ctvrtecka, Sofia Gripenberg, Owen T. Lewis, Hector Barrios, John W. Brown, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, Buntika A. Butcher, Anthony Cognato, Stuart J. Davies, Ondrej Kaman, Petr Klimes, Milos Knizek, Scott E. Miller, Geoffrey E. Morse, Vojtech Novotny, Nantachai Pongpattananurak, Pairot Pramual, Donald L. J. Quicke, Watana Sakchoowong, Ruma Umari, Eero J. Vesterinen, George Weiblen, S. Joseph Wright, Simon T. Segar
Summary: Antagonistic seed predation networks in the tropics can be predicted based on plant phylogenetic distance and traits, with higher insect host specificity observed in Panama. Factors such as insect faunal composition, incidence of dry fruits, and plant traits influence network structure, highlighting the need to study both types of networks for forest conservation practices.
Article
Plant Sciences
Moises Guardiola, Llorenc Saez
Summary: This study calculated taxonomic and phylogenetic metrics for the endemic flora of the Balearic Islands and identified spatial patterns and environmental factors that explain the endemism. Hotspots of species and phylogenetic endemism were identified, and gaps in the protected areas were highlighted. This study demonstrates the importance of considering both taxonomic and phylogenetic information in conservation planning.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Andrea Costa, Giacomo Rosa, Sebastiano Salvidio
Summary: The niche variation hypothesis suggests that competition release allows populations to expand their ecological niche through individual specialization and expanding the niche of all individuals. Previous studies have provided strong evidence supporting this hypothesis when considering behavioral or ecological traits. This study aims to provide robust evidence for a significant and positive relationship between total niche width and individual specialization in amphibian populations at a global scale.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Danfeng Li, Yanjun Du, Wubing Xu, Danxiao Peng, Richard Primack, Guoke Chen, Ling Feng Mao, Keping Ma
Summary: The study found that phylogenetic signals in FDT increased with elevation and latitude. Pagel's lambda of FDT was negatively correlated with clade age but positively correlated with NRI. The primary variable affecting the phylogenetic signal of FDT for herbaceous species was precipitation in the wettest quarter.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Andrea Cavagna, Hugo Fort, Tomas S. Grigera
Summary: We analyzed population dynamics in Barro Colorado Island (Panama) using 35 years of census data and investigated whether the community is in a stationary state. Although individual species abundances showed large fluctuations, determining stationarity required distinguishing random fluctuations from actual trends. We argued that a species average is the best proxy for the unfeasible history average, and found that the population dynamics of BCI is stationary but not static, exhibiting fluctuations with a characteristic time of around 15 years, which is two orders of magnitude less than previously estimated.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Lian Lian, Jian-Yong Shen, Rosa Del C. Ortiz, Sheng-Xiang Yu, Zhi-Duan Chen, Wei Wang
Summary: Phylogenetic analyses are crucial for accurately identifying endangered species and understanding threats to their niche, like in the study of a critically endangered species in Southern China. This study highlights the importance of taxonomy and molecular phylogenetics in conservation biology.
Article
Ecology
Chi Zeng, Wande Li, Ping Ding, Yu Peng, Lingbing Wu, Xingfeng Si
Summary: This study assessed landscape-level bird beta-diversity in habitat island systems and found that spatial turnover dominated overall bird beta-diversity in most systems. Climate factors were the main drivers of bird communities across small and large systems, while system characteristics played a minor role.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Adrian Garcia-Rodriguez, Bernd Lenzner, Clara Marino, Chunlong Liu, Julian A. Velasco, Celine Bellard, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Hanno Seebens, Franz Essl
Summary: Shifts between native and alien climatic niches pose challenges for predicting biological invasions, especially for insular species. This study analyzed alien occurrences of endemic insular amphibians, reptiles, and birds and found that climatic mismatches were common in invasions of birds and reptiles, but less common in amphibians. Several predictors were identified for climatic mismatches, which varied among taxonomic groups.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Anping Chen, Fandong Meng, Jiafu Mao, Daniel Ricciuto
Summary: Vegetation phenology is highly sensitive to climate change. Using solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the study found similar spatial patterns in phenological states but different dates for key events. NDVI data overestimated the photosynthetic period in the extratropical Northern Hemisphere compared to CSIF data.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Forest Isbell, Patricia Balvanera, Akira S. Mori, Jin-Sheng He, James M. Bullock, Ganga Ram Regmi, Eric W. Seabloom, Simon Ferrier, Osvaldo E. Sala, Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramirez, Julia Tavella, Daniel J. Larkin, Bernhard Schmid, Charlotte L. Outhwaite, Pairot Pramual, Elizabeth T. Borer, Michel Loreau, Taiwo Crossby Omotoriogun, David O. Obura, Maggie Anderson, Cristina Portales-Reyes, Kevin Kirkman, Pablo M. Vergara, Adam Thomas Clark, Kimberly J. Komatsu, Owen L. Petchey, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Laura J. Williams, Scott L. Collins, Nico Eisenhauer, Christopher H. Trisos, Delphine Renard, Alexandra J. Wright, Poonam Tripathi, Jane Cowles, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, Peter B. Reich, Andy Purvis, Zati Sharip, Mary O'Connor, Clare E. Kazanski, Nick M. Haddad, Eulogio H. Soto, Laura E. Dee, Sandra Diaz, Chad R. Zirbel, Meghan L. Avolio, Shaopeng Wang, Zhiyuan Ma, Jingjing Liang, Hanan C. Farah, Justin Andrew Johnson, Brian W. Miller, Yann Hautier, Melinda D. Smith, Johannes M. H. Knops, Bonnie J. E. Myers, Zuzana Harmackova, Jorge Cortes, Michael B. J. Harfoot, Andrew Gonzalez, Tim Newbold, Jacqueline Oehri, Marina Mazon, Cynnamon Dobbs, Meredith S. Palmer
Summary: Despite progress in understanding global biodiversity loss, there are still taxonomic and geographic knowledge gaps. Decision makers often rely on expert judgement, but cannot engage with large and diverse groups of specialists. A survey of biodiversity experts worldwide revealed consensus and differences in perspectives and estimates, with underrepresented groups recommending different conservation priorities and providing higher estimates of biodiversity loss.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Dan Wu, Chi Xu, Shaopeng Wang, Lai Zhang, Susanne Kortsch
Summary: The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions has been widely studied, but the variation in ecosystem functions across systems with similar species diversity has been rarely addressed. In this study, a food web model and empirical data were used to examine the relationships between species richness and variation in ecosystem functions. The results suggest that the variation in ecosystem functions is influenced by trophic interactions and the diversity of basal species, which has implications for biodiversity loss and ecosystem predictability.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Qinfeng Guo, Anping Chen, Erin T. H. Crockett, Jeff W. Atkins, Xiongwen Chen, Songlin Fei
Summary: Gradient and scale are two key concepts in ecology and evolution that can jointly influence eco-evo patterns. While scale refers to the dimensional space of a specific issue, gradient measures the range of a variable. However, the role of changing gradients has received relatively little attention compared to changing scales. Evaluating the role of scale in ecological patterns should be done in conjunction with considering the underlying environmental gradients, as the difference between sampled and potential gradients can profoundly impact observed patterns and alter scale-gradient relationships.
Article
Ecology
Elizabeth A. LaRue, Robert T. Fahey, Brandon C. Alveshere, Jeff W. Atkins, Parth Bhatt, Brian Buma, Anping Chen, Stella Cousins, Jessica M. Elliott, Andrew J. Elmore, Christopher R. Hakkenberg, Brady S. Hardiman, Jeremy S. Johnson, Daniel M. Kashian, Anil Koirala, Monica Papes, Jamille B. St Hilaire, Thilina D. Surasinghe, Jenny Zambrano, Lu Zhai, Songlin Fei
Summary: The 3D physical aspects of ecosystems are linked to ecological processes. Structural diversity, defined as the volumetric capacity, physical arrangement, and identity/traits of biotic components, has been overlooked due to a lack of theoretical foundation and measurement tools. A framework is proposed to conceptualize and incorporate structural diversity into ecological theory and practice, considering the interplay of genetic and environmental factors. A practical approach is suggested to test the ecological role of structural diversity and integrate it into ecological theory and management across scales.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Songbai Hong, Nan Cong, Jinzhi Ding, Shilong Piao, Lingli Liu, Josep Penuelas, Anping Chen, Timothy A. Quine, Hui Zeng, Benjamin Z. Houlton
Summary: This study investigates the response of soil nitrogen (N) concentrations and C:N ratios to afforestation in northern China and on a global scale. The results show that soil N status influences soil carbon (C) and N dynamics after afforestation. Afforestation increases soil C and N storages in N-poor soils but decreases them in N-rich soils. Changes in soil C:N ratios are mediated by the initial relative abundance of soil C and N, as well as the types of mycorrhiza associated with planted trees.
GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hui Yang, Seth M. Munson, Chris Huntingford, Nuno Carvalhais, Alan K. Knapp, Xiangyi Li, Josep Penuelas, Jakob Zscheischler, Anping Chen
Summary: This study uses satellite data and tree-ring data to find that 70% of negative extreme anomalies in vegetation growth (NEGs) across the global land surface from 1981 to 2015 are attributed to five types of climate extremes and their combinations. The dominant climate extremes responsible for NEGs vary by region and biome. The findings have important implications for climate-specific disaster prevention and mitigation planning.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yang Li, Wen Zhang, Christopher R. Schwalm, Pierre Gentine, William K. Smith, Philippe Ciais, John S. Kimball, Antonio Gazol, Steven A. Kannenberg, Anping Chen, Shilong Piao, Hongyan Liu, Deliang Chen, Xiuchen Wu
Summary: The authors found that early spring phenology slows drought recovery, while delayed spring phenology prolongs it. More than half of ecosystems in the mid- and high-latitudinal Northern Hemisphere fail to recover from extreme droughts within a single growing season. The phenology effects on drought recovery are comparable to or larger than other well-known postdrought climatic factors, suggesting the need to incorporate these interactions into Earth system models.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Fandong Meng, Songbai Hong, Jiawei Wang, Anping Chen, Yao Zhang, Yichen Zhang, Ivan A. Janssens, Jiafu Mao, Ranga B. Myneni, Josep Penuelas, Shilong Piao
Summary: Using satellite data, we investigated the trends in foliar carbon accumulation and allocation during leaf green-up across the Northern Hemisphere from 2000 to 2017. Our results showed that there was an accelerated accumulation of foliar carbon in the early green-up period, driven by both increased photosynthesis and higher carbon allocation to leaves due to climate change. However, in the late stage of green-up, there were decreasing trends in foliar carbon accumulation and allocation. These stage-dependent trends are currently not represented in terrestrial biosphere models, highlighting the need for better incorporation of carbon allocation in these models.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Siqi Li, Yi Zheng, Feng Han, Peng Xu, Anping Chen
Summary: This study develops a convolutional recurrent deep learning model to accurately predict fine-resolution spatiotemporal changes in grass coverage in arid regions. Applying the model to the Gobi Desert reveals that ecological flow regulation contributes to 61.8% of the total increase in grass cover over 2005-2015, nearly triple the contribution of local climate change. The study highlights the importance of timely, adaptive and spatially heterogeneous ecological flow management in addressing grassland degradation in arid regions and expands the understanding of the global greening process.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Mengjie Wang, Qinfeng Guo, Anping Chen
Summary: This study used satellite data to analyze the changes in tropical forests in mainland Southeast Asia. The results showed that during the period from 2000 to 2020, tropical forests gradually transformed into savannahs, and the reasons for this transformation varied in different time periods. In the early period, the increase in savannahs was mainly due to tree regeneration from grasslands, while in the recent period, the degradation of forests was the main cause. This study provides important references for land management and tropical forest protection.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Javaid M. Dad, Irfan Rashid, Anping Chen
Summary: This study assessed the potential distribution of wild gymnosperm species in the northwestern Himalayas under current and projected future climates, to identify species with higher risks of habitat loss. Using occurrence records and species distribution models, the study examined the impact of future climate change on gymnosperm species. The results showed that most conifer species are expected to experience a steady reduction in their potential distribution, while no such trend was observed in the arid cold regions.
REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Anping Chen, Daniel Ricciuto, Jiafu Mao, Jiawei Wang, Dan Lu, Fandong Meng
Summary: We developed ML models to predict the GPP-SIF relationship and applied them to estimate global SIF, showing good performance. Our integrated approach provides a new avenue for improving land models and using remote-sensing SIF.
JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN MODELING EARTH SYSTEMS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xiangyi Li, Shilong Piao, Chris Huntingford, Josep Penuelas, Hui Yang, Hao Xu, Anping Chen, Pierre Friedlingstein, Trevor F. Keenan, Stephen Sitch, Xuhui Wang, Jakob Zscheischler, Miguel D. Mahecha
Summary: This study presents a globally applicable framework for identifying drought thresholds for vegetation responses to different levels of soil-moisture deficits. The identified thresholds represent critical inflection points for changing vegetation responses to drought stress and serve as a warning signal for substantial vegetation impacts. The results have implications for assessing the response of land ecosystems to climate change and variability.
NATIONAL SCIENCE REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhihua Liu, Wen J. Wang, Ashley Ballantyne, Hong S. He, Xugao Wang, Shuguang Liu, Philippe Ciais, Michael C. Wimberly, Shilong Piao, Kailiang Yu, Qichao Yao, Yu Liang, Zhiwei Wu, Yunting Fang, Anping Chen, Wenru Xu, Jiaojun Zhu
Summary: According to satellite data, the rate, frequency, and extent of forest disturbances in China decreased from 1986 to 2020, possibly due to forest protection policies. However, while these disturbances intensified in the southeast, they weakened in the northeast.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
