Article
Environmental Sciences
Songze Wan, Shenglei Fu, Chenlu Zhang, Juan Liu, Yun Zhang, Rong Mao
Summary: The study found that subtropical plantations undergoing understory removal and litter addition have impacts on litter decomposition dynamics. Understory removal inhibited litter decomposition rates, while litter addition also slowed down decomposition rates, but they did not interact with each other when present simultaneously. Mixed leaf and twig litter had additive effects on litter decomposition rates.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Saverio Perri, Amilcare Porporato
Summary: Human-induced environmental change threatens socio-ecological stability. Accurate statistical characterization of environmental concentrations is crucial. However, concentrations are rarely treated as ratios of mass and volume. Therefore, we propose a general framework to describe the behavior of concentrations.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Chunyan Long, Qian Zhang, Qiong Chen, Xiaoli Cheng
Summary: Land-use changes directly impact carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems by altering litter inputs and decomposition. This study investigated the effects of land-use change on leaf and fine-root decomposition, as well as their linkages to soil C, N, and P pools. The results revealed that decomposition rates differed among land-use types, and were influenced by litter quality, soil moisture, and bacterial biomass. The accumulation of soil C, N, and P varied depending on the litter quality and microbial attributes associated with each land-use type. Overall, these findings provide new insights into predicting soil C, N, and P dynamics after afforestation.
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiaojian Wu, Yue Cao, Yu Jiang, Mingxu Chen, Huiguang Zhang, Pengfei Wu, Xiangqing Ma
Summary: This study used a net bag decomposition method to observe the dynamics of NSCs release in Chinese fir topsoil and canopy litter at four altitudes. The study found that the release of NSCs in Chinese fir litter rises gradually with increasing height, and the difference in cumulative release percentage of soluble sugar between altitudes is more significant than that of starch. The NSC content response in different treatment groups at four altitudes is also different.
Article
Agronomy
Yutong Lin, Yuan Lai, Songbo Tang, Zhangfen Qin, Jianfeng Liu, Fengfeng Kang, Yuanwen Kuang
Summary: Leaf elemental stoichiometry of Quercus species varies at genus-level across China and is influenced by both climatic and edaphic factors. Climate change may alter nutrient strategies and potentially shift the distribution range of these species.
Article
Forestry
Yunni Chang, Quanlin Zhong, Hong Yang, Chaobin Xu, Weiping Hua, Baoyin Li
Summary: Leaf stoichiometry differs among forest stands of different age groups and forest types. The leaf C, N, and P stoichiometry in Chinese fir forests is mainly influenced by soil total P concentration, longitude, growing season precipitation, and mean temperature in July. In natural evergreen broadleaved forests, leaf stoichiometric parameters are significantly correlated with latitude and mean annual precipitation.
Article
Forestry
Yuhai Yang, Honghua Zhou, Wanrui Wang, Chenggang Zhu, Dong Cui, Zhaoxia Ye
Summary: Litter decomposition is crucial for carbon and nutrient cycling in ecosystems, yet the effects of transient flooding and soil covering on leaf litter decomposition are still unclear. This study investigated the changes in litter mass loss and stoichiometric ratios of C:N, C:K, C:P, N:P, and N:K in fresh Populus euphratica leaves under different disturbance treatments. The results showed that disturbance type and incubation time significantly influenced litter mass loss rate and stoichiometric ratios, while the interaction between disturbance type and incubation time did not significantly affect leaf litter mass loss. Five sequential phases of litter mass loss and different temporal change patterns of stoichiometric ratio were identified within 640 days. Transient flooding had a significant impact on leaf litter mass loss phases compared to no-disturbance conditions. Transient flooding and soil covering were found to influence leaf litter decomposition, leading to varied patterns and phases in litter mass loss rate and stoichiometric ratios.
Article
Forestry
Yancheng Qu, Yihang Jiang, Hanyue Chen, Yuxin Hu, Quang Cao, Anli Luo, Jianguo Zhang, Xiongqing Zhang
Summary: Leaf area is an important variable for assessing tree productivity, but measuring it completely is challenging due to a large number of leaves. This study developed accurate leaf area models for Chinese fir based on different tree measurements. The models based on diameter at crown base performed the best, and these findings can be applied to other tree species for predicting leaf area.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Georgia S. Seyfried, James W. Dalling, Wendy H. Yang
Summary: Research suggests that slower leaf litter decomposition rates in forests dominated by ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi compared to arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi may be more related to litter phosphorus content rather than the mycorrhizal type. The quality of litter and environmental conditions play a significant role in the manifestation of slower decomposition rates in ECM-dominated stands.
Article
Agronomy
Xiang-Min Fang, Xiu-Lan Zhang, Ying-Ying Zong, Wen-Qing Li, Jian-Jun Li, Li-Ping Guo, Huimin Wang, Fu-Sheng Chen
Summary: Phosphorus addition increases litter decomposition rate, while nitrogen addition does not have a significant effect on decomposition rate. When studying the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus additions on litter decomposition in forest ecosystems, tissue age should be considered.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Wentao Wei, Xuling Zheng, Hongrong Guo, Ling Zhu, Ruobing Wu, Xiaoyue Zhang, Fuzhong Wu
Summary: This study aimed to assess the degradation of ACID and AUR during leaf litter decomposition in a subtropical forest stream. The results showed that the stream environment promoted the degradation of ACID, mainly influenced by precipitation, flow velocity, and dissolved oxygen. In contrast, temperature was the only important factor that positively affected the degradation of AUR.
JOURNAL OF SOILS AND SEDIMENTS
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Ren Liu, Yang Zhang, Xiao-Fei Hu, Songze Wan, Huimin Wang, Chao Liang, Fu-Sheng Chen
Summary: The study found that adding litter to the soil generally has positive effects, while removing litter may have different effects on soil properties, especially on soil nutrients, microbial communities, and enzymatic activities. In addition, enzymatic stoichiometry is more influenced by soil depth, and soil microbial communities and enzymatic activities exhibit asynchronous responses with increasing profile depth.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Soil Science
Lifeng Wang, Yamei Chen, Yu Zhou, Zhenfeng Xu, Bo Tan, Chengming You, Li Zhang, Han Li, Haifeng Zheng, Li Guo, Lixia Wang, Youyou Huang, Jian Zhang, Yang Liu
Summary: The leaching of dissolved compounds derived from plant litter is crucial for soil carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. Environmental conditions, litter diversity, chemistry, and microbial activity play key roles in driving the release of soluble C, N, and P during litter decomposition, with temperature being a strong regulator and synergistic effects observed in dissolved compound loss.
SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yuting Dai, Ping Zhou, Xiaobin Guo, Pei Luo, Xiangbi Chen, Jinshui Wu
Summary: This study evaluated the influence of environmental factors on concentrations and ratios of soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus in subtropical paddy soils. The results showed that climate and bulk density control the nutrients in subsoil, while clay plays a dominant role in controlling phosphorus throughout the soil profile.
JOURNAL OF SOILS AND SEDIMENTS
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Stephen M. Kinane, Cristian R. Montes, Mauricio Zapata, Bronson P. Bullock, Rachel L. Cook, Deepak R. Mishra
Summary: The productivity of even-aged forest stands varies over time due to canopy size and its interaction with effective radiation. Leaf area index (LAI) is used as an indicator of photosynthetic capacity. This research proposed a model for characterizing LAI dynamics in loblolly pine plantations. The model incorporates a delayed differential equation with periodic coefficients and considers climatic variables to reduce observed variability.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)