Article
Plant Sciences
Bin Yang, Miaomiao Cui, Yizhou Du, Guangqian Ren, Jian Li, Congyan Wang, Guanlin Li, Zhicong Dai, Susan Rutherford, Justin S. H. Wan, Daolin Du
Summary: Invasive plants pose a threat to biodiversity and economy, and global change factors associated with climate change can amplify their impact. This study evaluates the effects of these factors on the performance and competitiveness of native and invasive plants, finding that invasive plants gain advantages over natives under increased precipitation or in combination with temperature. The interactive effects of factors on plants are non-additive, but the advantages of invasive plants may not increase indefinitely.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Narin Printarakul, Weeradej Meeinkuirt
Summary: The species diversity and heavy metal accumulation in bryophytes in Huay Pah Lahd stream in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, Thailand were investigated. The results showed that Fissidens crispulus var. crispulus was the most dominant taxon, while Scopelophila cataractae had the highest capacity to accumulate metals. Natural processes were identified as the key source of heavy metals, and dilution effects during the rainy season helped maintain good water quality.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna-Liisa Laine
Summary: Plant diseases are being influenced by changes in host biodiversity, spatial structure, and abiotic conditions due to global environmental changes. The understanding and prediction of disease dynamics are becoming more challenging as both plant and pathogen populations and communities undergo extensive change. Feedback loops between plants and their pathogens are expected to drive changes in disease risk through ecological and evolutionary mechanisms. The increase in disease risk as a result of ongoing change highlights the importance of mitigating global environmental change to ensure food security and ecosystem functioning.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Edward Tipping, Jessica A. C. Davies, Peter A. Henrys, Susan G. Jarvis, Simon M. Smart
Summary: The study model shows that plant species richness in British semi-natural ecosystems has undergone significant changes over the past centuries, mainly influenced by the deposition of N-dep and S-dep, as well as soil pH and net primary productivity. Over the past two centuries, the average species loss reached 39%, but in recent years, there has been an increase in plant species richness due to reductions in S-dep and increases in soil pH, although there are also indications of recent slight recovery from the eutrophying effects of N-dep.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Shuqi Xiao, Chao Wang, Kai Yu, Genyuan Liu, Shuang Wu, Jinyang Wang, Shuli Niu, Jianwen Zou, Shuwei Liu
Summary: Studies have shown that nitrogen deposition has significant effects on carbon uptake in forests and grasslands, as well as on N2O emissions from soil. However, the impact on SOC pool is limited. Overall, nitrogen deposition increases the net greenhouse gas balance in forests and grasslands.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Kailing Huang, Paul Kardol, Xuebin Yan, Xi Luo, Hui Guo
Summary: The study demonstrates that warming and nitrogen enrichment can alleviate the negative effects of soil biota on plant growth, changing plant community composition and reducing species diversity. The effects of soil biota are correlated with changes in plant relative abundances, providing insights into plant responses to environmental change.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Bailu Zhao, Qianlai Zhuang, Claire Treat, Steve Frolking
Summary: The study found that the carbon balance of peatlands is sensitive to water table depth and nutrient availability, highlighting the importance of water balance and C-N feedback on peatland carbon dynamics. In the future, with a warmer climate, peatlands may become weaker carbon sinks or sources under drier conditions, while they could become larger sinks under wetter conditions.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Xiaotong Song, Wenzhuo Fang, Xiulian Chi, Xiaoming Shao, Qinggang Wang
Summary: The study found that humid tropical and subtropical mountains in China are hotspots for bryophyte diversity, especially for mosses. Different types of bryophytes have varying responses to environmental factors, but overall, species richness and recent diversification rates are positively correlated with an increase in energy and water availability.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yuqiu Zhang, Zhengru Ren, Yunhai Zhang
Summary: Nitrogen deposition can promote aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) but may decrease plant richness. The sensitivity of plant communities to precipitation is influenced by seasonal nitrogen additions, with precipitation being the primary limiting factor in the semiarid grassland. Multi-season nitrogen addition is required to accurately assess ecosystem responses.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Uris Lantz C. Baldos, Maksym Chepeliev, Brian Cultice, Matthew Huber, Sisi Meng, Alex C. Ruane, Shellye Suttles, Dominique van der Mensbrugghe
Summary: Climate change highlights the necessity and usefulness of the global-to-local-to-global paradigm. It has the potential to impact local communities and ecosystems, with cumulative effects feeding back to regional and global systems. Understanding these complex interactions is crucial for developing adaptive measures and effective mitigation policies.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Elena Hamann, Cameron Blevins, Steven J. Franks, M. Inam Jameel, Jill T. Anderson
Summary: Elevated temperatures, CO2 concentrations, drought stress, and nutrient conditions induce greater food consumption by herbivores. These factors also have direct and indirect effects on herbivore development.
Article
Ecology
Xuejun Yang, Lorena Gomez-Aparicio, Christopher J. Lortie, Miguel Verdu, Lohengrin A. Cavieres, Zhenying Huang, Ruiru Gao, Rong Liu, Yonglan Zhao, Johannes H. C. Cornelissen
Summary: This study uses a global database to examine the patterns of plant interactions and their effects on climate. It finds that competition occurs more frequently than facilitation in plant communities worldwide and that plant interactions show weak relationships with latitude and climate. The study highlights competition as a fundamental mechanism structuring plant communities globally.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhengru Ren, Yuqiu Zhang, Yunhai Zhang
Summary: The impact of nitrogen deposition on plant communities has been extensively studied, but the effect of NH4+-N/NO3--N ratios remains unclear. Our study found that nitrogen addition reduced plant species richness and increased aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), with precipitation being the main factor influencing the effect of NH4+-N/NO3--N ratios on plant community ANPP.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
R. K. Braghiere, J. B. Fisher, K. Allen, E. Brzostek, M. Shi, X. Yang, D. M. Ricciuto, R. A. Fisher, Q. Zhu, R. P. Phillips
Summary: Most Earth system models do not consider the carbon costs of plant nutrient acquisition, leading to uncertainty in predicting land carbon sinks. This study integrates a model that simulates nitrogen and phosphorus acquisition by plants, showing that 80% of land is co-limited by nitrogen and phosphorus. The new model predicts that plants globally invest significant carbon to acquire nitrogen and phosphorus, resulting in a decrease in global net primary production.
JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN MODELING EARTH SYSTEMS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Maral Bashirzadeh, Richard P. Shefferson, Hamid Ejtehadi, Mohammad Farzam
Summary: Nurse plants have a crucial role in plant biodiversity in drylands. Different nurse plant life forms have varying impacts on plant diversity, with these impacts potentially associated with climatic conditions.
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Maros Wiezik, Eva Jamrichova, Frantisek Malis, Eliska Belanova, Richard Hrivnak, Michal Hajek, Petra Hajkova
Summary: The drivers of long-term development in high-mountain woodlands in the central European mountains are not well understood. However, recent palaeoecological reports suggest that human activities, such as deforestation and grazing, have influenced the vegetation since the Bronze Age. This finding challenges the traditional view that significant human impacts on vegetation did not occur before the late Middle Ages. The study also highlights the sensitivity of mountain forests to anthropogenic disturbances, particularly during periods of mining and colonization.
VEGETATION HISTORY AND ARCHAEOBOTANY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Sanna R. Piilo, Minna M. Valiranta, Matt J. Amesbury, Marco A. Aquino-Lopez, Dan J. Charman, Angela Gallego-Sala, Michelle Garneau, Natalia Koroleva, Mai Karppa, Anna M. Laine, A. Britta K. Sannel, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Hui Zhang
Summary: Climate warming leads to permafrost thaw in northern peatlands, increasing surface wetness and methane emissions. Hydrology plays a key role in peatland vegetation composition, which affects carbon dynamics. Peatland carbon budgets may become uncertain due to the accelerated plant production and peat decomposition caused by warming.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Masahito Ueyama, Sara H. Knox, Kyle B. Delwiche, Sheel Bansal, William J. Riley, Dennis Baldocchi, Takashi Hirano, Gavin McNicol, Karina Schafer, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Benjamin Poulter, Robert B. Jackson, Kuang-Yu Chang, Jiquen Chen, Housen Chu, Ankur R. Desai, Sebastien Gogo, Hiroki Iwata, Minseok Kang, Ivan Mammarella, Matthias Peichl, Oliver Sonnentag, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Youngryel Ryu, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Mathias Goeckede, Adrien Jacotot, Mats B. B. Nilsson, Torsten Sachs
Summary: Wetlands are the largest natural source of methane in the atmosphere. Through data-model fusion, we estimate the processes of methane production, oxidation, and transport in wetlands, and find that production is the most important process.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Lubomir Tichy, Irena Axmanova, Juergen Dengler, Riccardo Guarino, Florian Jansen, Gabriele Midolo, Michael P. P. Nobis, Koenraad Van Meerbeek, Svetlana Acic, Fabio Attorre, Erwin Bergmeier, Idoia Biurrun, Gianmaria Bonari, Helge Bruelheide, Juan Antonio Campos, Andraz Carni, Alessandro Chiarucci, Mirjana Cuk, Renata Custerevska, Yakiv Didukh, Daniel Dite, Zuzana Dite, Tetiana Dziuba, Giuliano Fanelli, Eduardo Fernandez-Pascual, Emmanuel Garbolino, Rosario G. G. Gavilan, Jean-Claude Gegout, Ulrich Graf, Behlul Guler, Michal Hajek, Stephan M. M. Hennekens, Ute Jandt, Anni Jaskova, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro, Philippe Julve, Stephan Kambach, Dirk Nikolaus Karger, Gerhard Karrer, Ali Kavgaci, Ilona Knollova, Anna Kuzemko, Filip Kuzmic, Flavia Landucci, Attila Lengyel, Jonathan Lenoir, Corrado Marceno, Jesper Erenskjold Moeslund, Pavel Novak, Aaron Perez-Haase, Tomas Peterka, Remigiusz Pielech, Alessandro Pignatti, Valerijus Rasomavicius, Solvita Rusina, Arne Saatkamp, Urban Silc, Zeljko Skvorc, Jean-Paul Theurillat, Thomas Wohlgemuth, Milan Chytry
Summary: This study aims to create a harmonized data set of Ellenberg-type indicator values applicable at the European scale by incorporating indicator values from other European regions. The researchers collected and compared data from 13 data sets and provided a new data set of Ellenberg-type indicator values for 8908 European vascular plant species.
JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Radovan Coufal, Petra Hajkova, Michal Hajek, Martin Jirousek, Marek Polasek, Veronika Horsakova, Michal Horsak
Summary: This study investigates the influence of groundwater on the composition of minerotrophic fens in the Western Carpathians. The results show that water table depth and soil temperature are the major factors affecting species composition, with soil temperature having a significant effect on bryophytes and vascular plants. This highlights the importance of soil temperature in vegetation variation in groundwater-dependent fens.
Article
Ecology
Andreas Lundgren, Joachim Strengbom, Gustaf Granath
Summary: This study finds that wild boars have a minor impact on soil processes in boreal forests, with no significant changes in soil microbial composition and nutrient levels. However, wild boar rooting may stimulate fungal growth. Soil respiration decreases in the presence of wild boars contradicting previous findings. Future research should examine if these impacts persist over time and across various boreal forests.
Article
Plant Sciences
Mengyu Ge, Aino Korrensalo, Raija Laiho, Annalea Lohila, Paeivi Makiranta, Mari Pihlatie, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Lukas Kohl, Anuliina Putkinen, Markku Koskinen
Summary: Aerenchymatic transport plays a crucial role in plant-mediated methane emissions in peatlands, but the control of environmental factors and plant phenology remains uncertain. We investigated the factors controlling seasonal methane flux rate and transport efficiency in various wetland plant species. Our results showed that the flux rate of Carex rostrata was influenced by plant phenology and peat temperature, while other species were insensitive to the investigated environmental variables. Understanding the species-specific methane flux rate and their responses to phenology and environmental factors can greatly improve the estimation of ecosystem-scale methane dynamics in boreal peatlands.
Article
Environmental Sciences
S. L. Wilkinson, R. Andersen, P. A. Moore, S. J. Davidson, G. Granath, J. M. Waddington
Summary: The northern peatland carbon sink is important for climate regulation but its future is uncertain due to changing peatland and wildfire interactions. Using empirical data, this study models net ecosystem exchange and methane fluxes in natural, degraded, and restored peatlands in non-permafrost regions. Wildfire reduced carbon uptake in pristine peatlands by 35% and increased emissions from degraded peatlands by 10%. Climate change accelerated carbon losses, with increased burn rate and severity reducing the carbon sink by 38% and 65% by 2100. However, active peatland restoration can potentially mitigate these impacts.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Chao Liu, Yong-Da Chen, Azim Mallik, Vincent E. J. Jassey, Line Rochefort, Zhao-Jun Bu
Summary: Despite their ecological significance, the monthly variation in accumulation and release of phenolics in bryophytes, as well as their allelopathic effects, are not well understood. In a field transplant experiment, we investigated the growth of two Sphagnum species and the extracellular enzymes that regulate phenolic contents and release along a water table level gradient. The study revealed that both Sphagnum species displayed height increment and released phenolics that varied with the season and water table level. Furthermore, the allelopathic effects differed between the two species and were influenced by the water table level. The findings indicate that the strength and direction of allelopathy in Sphagnum can vary depending on precipitation, temperature, water table level, and trait variability.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Patricia Singh, Martin Jirousek, Petra Hajkova, Michal Horsak, Michal Hajek
Summary: This study measured summer mass loss and carbonate accumulation in 19 calcareous spring fens using the tea bag method. Structural equation modeling revealed that water table and air temperature positively affected carbonate accumulation, while rooibos decomposition rate decreased with increasing water table and decreasing soil phosphorus concentration. The hydrological factors are crucial for global change predictions and preserving wetlands and natural landscape hydrology is important for maintaining biodiversity and existing carbon sinks.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jinze Ma, Ping Jiang, Yong Huang, Chen Lu, Guiyou Tian, Xiaoping Xiao, Yunlong Meng, Xiaoqiang Xiong, Bo Cheng, Di Wang, Huiqiang Lu
Summary: The herbicide flumioxazin has been found to induce cardiac defects in vertebrates, possibly due to oxidative stress. This study investigated the underlying mechanisms and found that flumioxazin caused cardiac malformations and abnormal gene expression associated with cardiac development. It also led to increased oxidative stress and apoptosis in the zebrafish heart. The antioxidant astaxanthin reversed these effects and protected against flumioxazin-induced cardiotoxicity.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Egle Koster, Jack P. B. Chapman, Janna M. Barel, Aino Korrensalo, Anna M. Laine, Harri T. Vasander, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila
Summary: Climate warming and summer droughts impact peatlands by drying them and subjecting them to extreme weather events. This study examined the effects of long-term water level drawdown (WLD) and varying weather conditions on leaf phenology and biomass production in boreal peatlands. Results showed that WLD had different effects on different peatland types, increasing growth in poor fens and bogs, but reducing growth in rich fens. This study also found that plant groups responded differently to WLD, with graminoids decreasing in growth while shrubs and tree seedlings benefited. Warmer summers resulted in earlier and greater leaf area development and biomass production, particularly for graminoids.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Alex Mavrovic, Oliver Sonnentag, Juha Lemmetyinen, Jennifer L. Baltzer, Christophe Kinnard, Alexandre Roy
Summary: Spaceborne microwave remote sensing is a valuable method for monitoring environmental changes in Arctic-boreal regions (ABRs) where ground observations are limited. It can provide important information about surface and near-surface variables affecting terrestrial carbon cycle processes, such as carbon dioxide fluxes and methane exchange. Microwave remote sensing also allows for aboveground biomass estimation. Given its long record and global coverage, microwave data has untapped potential for monitoring carbon cycle processes across ABRs and should be rapidly integrated into ABR terrestrial carbon cycle science.
Article
Forestry
Kirsten A. Reid, Nicola J. Day, Raquel Alfaro-Sanchez, Jill F. Johnstone, Steven G. Cumming, Michelle C. Mack, Merritt R. Turetsky, Xanthe J. Walker, Jennifer L. Baltzer
Summary: Black spruce, an important conifer in boreal North America, releases seeds after fire. However, intensifying fire activity may reduce seed rain, affecting seedling establishment and stand composition of black spruce.
ANNALS OF FOREST SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Brian Izbicki, Xanthe J. Walker, Jennifer L. Baltzer, Nicola J. Day, Christopher Ebert, Jill F. Johnstone, Elaine Pegoraro, Edward A. G. Schuur, Merritt R. Turetsky, Michelle C. Mack
Summary: Boreal forests are important carbon and nitrogen stores, but wildfires and climate change lead to the combustion and decomposition of soil organic matter. The decomposition rate of legacy soil organic matter is determined by the soil age.
