Article
Agronomy
Li Xu, Guangyao Gao, Xiaofeng Wang, Bojie Fu
Summary: This study investigates the spatiotemporal variations of climate variables, vegetation cover, and soil moisture along an aridity gradient in the drylands of northern China from 1981 to 2018. The study reveals the significant impacts of climate change and vegetation greening on soil moisture variability and identifies the influencing pathways. It also fills the knowledge gap in understanding the reasons for variations in both surface and root zone soil moisture in water-limited areas and highlights the potential risks of soil moisture depletion.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Xin Wang, Zhengxiang Zhang, Shan Lu, Shuo Zhen, Hang Zhao, Yiwei Yin
Summary: In this study, a global vegetation moisture relative index (VMRI) was established to estimate vegetation water status at a global scale. The VMRI showed significant correlations with environmental factors and varied in different vegetation types and regions. It provides a new estimation for vegetation water status affected by multiple environmental factors.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Felix de Tombeur, Jean-Thomas Cornelis, Etienne Laliberte, Hans Lambers, Gregory Mahy, Michel-Pierre Faucon, Benjamin L. Turner
Summary: Recent studies show that soil age plays a significant role in silicon dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems, but the impact of ecosystem water balance and soil parent material variation on this trajectory is still unclear. The results suggest that the initial carbonate concentration in the soil parent material and subsequent mineralogical evolution strongly influence long-term soil silicon dynamics.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Anthony J. Rietl, J. Patrick Megonigal, Ellen R. Herbert, Matthew L. Kirwan
Summary: A novel numerical model of marsh carbon accumulation was presented, showing that elevated CO2 (eCO2) and sea level rise (SLR) interact synergistically to increase soil carbon burial. However, interactions between plant biomass and decomposition were found to reduce the impact of eCO2 on marsh survival.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mingxing Li, Peili Wu, Zhuguo Ma, Jiandong Liu
Summary: This study examines the seasonal characteristics of vegetation greening in China and its association with soil moisture and temperature changes. Using high-resolution datasets, the study finds that 56.8% of land area in China experienced a greening trend while 6.6% experienced a browning trend. The findings suggest that soil heat and water conditions play a significant role in translating global warming signals.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Pengfei Luo, Yuanqing Mao, Zhili Li, Jiye Zhang, Jun Luo
Summary: In this study, a ternary half-Heusler alloy Ti(Fe/Co/Ni)Sb with both p-type and n-type conductions was designed using entropy engineering. High-throughput experiments were conducted to optimize the composition range with the best thermoelectric properties, and the lattice thermal conductivity was significantly reduced by random mixing of Fe/Co/Ni. The carrier concentration, carrier type, and electronic band structure were simultaneously adjusted by varying the Fe/Ni ratio, leading to improved TE power factors for both p- and n-type materials.
MATERIALS TODAY PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Thao Thi Dao, Robert Mikutta, Birgit Wild, Leopold Sauheitl, Norman Gentsch, Olga Shibistova, Joerg Schnecker, Nikolay Lashchinskiy, Andreas Richter, Georg Guggenberger
Summary: Climate change drives a northward shift of biomes in high-latitude regions, which may have consequences on the decomposition of plant litter entering the soil. The study reveals the combined effect of climate and soil characteristics on the decomposition pattern of lignin and the role of phenoloxidases and peroxidases in lignin depolymerization. The findings suggest that the shift of biomes towards the north promotes lignin decomposition, while in the south, it may be further retarded.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Thao Thi Dao, Robert Mikutta, Birgit Wild, Leopold Sauheitl, Norman Gentsch, Olga Shibistova, Joerg Schnecker, Nikolay Lashchinskiy, Andreas Richter, Georg Guggenberger
Summary: Climate and soil characteristics have a combined effect on lignin decomposition, with fungal activity playing a key role. The degradation of lignin increases from tundra to forest steppe and then decreases to the steppe. Low temperature and high soil moisture inhibit fungal growth and lignin decomposition.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Justin D. Gay, Bryce Currey, E. N. J. Brookshire
Summary: The study found that soil nitrogen concentration in tropical montane forests significantly increases with elevation, while stable isotopes decrease, indicating reduced microbial nitrogen processing and lower gaseous nitrogen losses. Temperature plays a key role in nitrogen changes, with an apparent temperature sensitivity of around 1.9. These findings support the widespread microbial nitrogen limitation and high sensitivity to climate warming in tropical montane forest ecosystems.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Justin D. Gay, Bryce Currey, E. N. J. Brookshire
Summary: This study examines the topographic signatures of the tropical nitrogen cycle by investigating soil nitrogen content and stable isotopes in tropical montane forests across elevation gradients worldwide. The findings suggest that microbial nitrogen limitation is widespread in tropical montane forest ecosystems and that they are highly sensitive to climate warming.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Chaoxiang Yuan, Fuzhong Wu, Qiqian Wu, Dario A. Fornara, Yan Peng, Guiqing Zhu, Zemin Zhao, Petr Hedene, Kai Yue
Summary: Vegetation restoration can effectively improve soil quality in post-mining lands by increasing soil carbon, nutrients, and enzymatic activities. This global study evaluated the potential effects of vegetation restoration on soil variables using data from 4838 paired observations. The results showed consistent positive effects of vegetation restoration on soil carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and enzymatic activities. Restoration effects were influenced by mine type and moderated by latitude, climate, vegetation species richness, restoration year, and initial soil properties.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shih-Chieh Chien, Jennifer Adams Krumins
Summary: Natural habitats have higher soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks compared to urban green spaces and urban intensive habitats, with a significant negative correlation between SOC stocks in natural habitats and human footprint. Urban habitats store less carbon than natural habitats, and the capacity of natural soils to store carbon varies across climatic zones and vegetation types, making them vulnerable to human activity.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Qing He, Hui Lu, Kun Yang, Ling Zhen, Siyu Yue, Yishan Li, Dara Entekhabi
Summary: By using satellite observations of vegetation optical depth (VOD) and surface soil moisture (SSM), researchers mapped the response time scales of vegetation to surface water anomalies. They found that herbaceous biomes have longer vegetation memory time (tReS) while biomes with tree cover have longer plant reactive time (tReA), indicating that herbaceous biomes may be more vulnerable to surface water perturbations during climate extremes. These findings provide a global quantification on vegetation-soil moisture feedbacks for comparison with earth system models.
IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Valentina Bau', Alistair G. L. Borthwick, Paolo Perona
Summary: This study examines the irreversibility of river floodplains to recover their status, which may be explained by the dynamics of riparian water-tolerant plant roots. The developed model provides a quantitative tool for predicting the impact of changing flow regimes on long-term river floodplain dynamics.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiangjin Shen, Yiwen Liu, Liyuan Wu, Rong Ma, Yanji Wang, Jiaqi Zhang, Lei Wang, Binhui Liu, Xianguo Lu, Ming Jiang
Summary: This study shows that global grassland greening has significant effects on surface temperatures, with cooling effects in areas south of 50 degrees N and warming effects in areas north of 50 degrees N.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hongyi Chen, Haolin Song, Yifan Luo, Chufeng Li, Yu Wang, Jie Liu, Feifei Luo, Hongrui Fan, Xuwen Li, Tao Sun, Chen Jiang
Summary: The hyperproliferative tumor stroma of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma limits drug permeation and creates an immunosuppressive microenvironment, leading to resistance to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Traditional nanomedicine mainly focuses on manipulating nanoparticles' properties to penetrate the tumor tissue. Therefore, a versatile drug-polymer conjugate is prepared for the codelivery of chemotherapy drug gemcitabine and FAK inhibitor defactinib. The conjugate can bind with cell membranes reversibly and trigger transcytosis for enhanced tumor penetration and cellular uptake.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Kelly L. French, Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur, Heidi Asbjornsen, Shawn Fraver, Laura S. Kenefic, David B. Moore, Jay W. Wason
Summary: Silvicultural thinning can cause rapid microclimatic changes for residual trees. However, thinning may also induce thinning shock, resulting in temporary negative physiological responses as trees adjust to new conditions. In this study, we investigated the impact of thinning on the microclimate and physiology of previously shaded red spruce trees. The results showed that thinning led to increased maximum temperature and vapor pressure deficit, as well as physiological declines in water potential and photosynthetic efficiency.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yang Liu, Mingxin Men, Zhengping Peng, Han Y. H. Chen, Yuanhe Yang, Yunfeng Peng
Summary: So far, the responses of soil respiration and its heterotrophic component to nitrogen addition at a global scale have been uncertain. This study compiled a comprehensive database of 1282 observations from field nitrogen manipulative experiments and used a Random Forest model to quantitatively assess the global effects of nitrogen on soil respiration. The results showed that nitrogen addition significantly increased soil respiration but had minimal impact on its heterotrophic component, contrary to the prevailing view. The study highlights the importance of considering nitrogen effects on soil carbon dynamics in future scenarios with higher anthropogenic activities.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Chenyan Huang, Han Y. H. Chen, Scott X. Chang, James F. Cahill, Zilong Ma
Summary: This study investigates the effect of tree species mixtures on root systems in natural forests. The results show that species mixtures have a greater fine root length and a positive impact on forest net primary productivity, especially in older stands. These findings suggest that conserving tree species diversity can improve forest productivity and carbon sequestration.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xinli Chen, Anthony R. Taylor, Peter B. Reich, Masumi Hisano, Han Y. H. Chen, Scott X. Chang
Summary: Increasing tree diversity can enhance soil carbon and nitrogen storage, thus mitigating climate change and sustaining soil fertility.
Article
Soil Science
Yuanyuan Li, Jiahui Liao, Han Y. H. Chen, Xiaoming Zou, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Juanping Ni, Tingting Ren, Hanmei Xu, Honghua Ruan
Summary: Fertilization and drought are significant drivers of greenhouse gas emissions, but the role of soil macrofauna in mediating these responses is poorly understood. A microcosm experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of soil macrofauna on CO2, N2O, and CH4 emissions in response to varying levels of nitrogen and soil water availability. The results showed that soil fauna significantly influenced CO2 and N2O emissions and that earthworms and millipedes played important roles in modifying these emissions.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Kelly L. French, Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur, Heidi Asbjornsen, Laura S. Kenefic, David B. Moore, Jay W. Wason
Summary: This study investigated the effects of simulating drought conditions by disrupting the hydraulic system of red spruce trees on their water relations and photosynthetic efficiency. The results showed that trees with completely severed sapwood experienced rapid water stress, while those with partially severed sapwood maintained better water relations. These findings contribute to our understanding of the physiological responses of red spruce to drought conditions in the future.
THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Haolin Feng, Yiwu Jia, Siyi Zhou, Hongyi Chen, Teng Huang
Summary: The productivity of outpatient clinics relies heavily on their appointment scheduling systems. This article introduces a dataset of outpatient clinic consultation service time, which has heterogeneous characteristics. The dataset includes 6637 consultation records collected from 381 half-day sessions between 2018 and 2019. The dataset provides valuable opportunities for healthcare operations management researchers to develop and benchmark their models and methods, and can also be used in studying appointment scheduling in other service industries. It has pedagogical value in areas related to management science, operations research, applied statistics, and machine learning.
Article
Forestry
F. Wayne Bell, Holly D. Deighton, Jennifer Dacosta, Isabelle Aubin, Steven G. Newmaster, Eric B. Searle, Shelley Hunt
Summary: The study examines the response traits of woody and herbaceous understory plants in northern temperate and boreal forest communities to linked-press and compounded-pulse disturbances. The results show that these traits are affected in unique ways, with logarithmic or hump-shaped patterns observed. The interactions between linked-press and compounded-pulse disturbances have non-linear effects on the response traits, varying with trait, understory layer, and type of disturbance.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xinli Chen, Anthony R. Taylor, Peter B. Reich, Masumi Hisano, Han Y. H. Chen, Scott X. Chang
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiaohua Wan, Francois-Xavier Joly, Hui Jia, Min Zhu, Yanrong Fu, Zhiqun Huang
Summary: This study investigates the effect of tree species richness on ecosystem carbon cycling, and finds that greater tree species richness leads to higher forest floor accumulation through increasing litterfall production, while forest floor decay rate remains unchanged.
Article
Agronomy
Mingyan Hu, Zilong Ma, Han Y. H. Chen
Summary: This study investigated the ratios of fine root N or P to exchangeable cations along a chronosequence of secondary forests and Chinese fir plantations, compared to primary forests in subtropical China. The results showed that the ratios of live root N or P to exchangeable cations were higher in plantations than in secondary forests and primary forests, while the ratios of dead root N or P to exchangeable cations were higher in plantations than in secondary forests. Overall, the ratios of live and dead root N or P to exchangeable cations decreased with soil depth.
Article
Soil Science
Ke Shi, Jiahui Liao, Xiaoming Zou, Han Y. H. Chen, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Zhengming Yan, Tingting Ren, Honghua Ruan
Summary: Through rewilding, microbial extracellular and cellular residues can continuously accumulate in soils and significantly contribute to soil organic carbon sequestration. Extracellular residues are mainly driven by fine root biomass, while cellular residues are mainly driven by soil nitrogen and organic carbon content.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2024)
Article
Soil Science
Xiuzhen Shi, Jiawen Sun, Jianqing Wang, Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja, Arjun Pandey, Tao Wang, Zhiqun Huang
Summary: This study examined the impacts of tree species richness and functional composition on the dynamics of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in a subtropical forest biome. The results showed that tree species richness had a positive relationship with the abundance of AOA, while leaf nitrogen and specific root length were significant positive factors for AOA and AOB abundances, respectively. On the other hand, the functional trait diversity of specific root length was negatively associated with the biomass of AM fungi. Regression analysis revealed that AOA abundance was positively correlated with soil net nitrification rates, while AM fungi biomass was negatively correlated with soil net nitrification rates. The structural equation model showed that leaf nitrogen positively influenced nitrification through an increase in AOA, while the functional trait diversity indirectly increased nitrification by negatively impacting AM fungal biomass.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Yingying Zhu, Chen Chen, Han Y. H. Chen
Summary: Sapling recruitment within established stands plays a crucial role in the long-term functionality of forest ecosystems. However, the specific impacts and mechanisms of climate change on sapling recruitment remain unclear. This study used structural equation models to examine the direct and indirect effects of climate change on sapling recruitment probability. The results showed that temporal climate change had a significant total negative effect on sapling recruitment probability, with indirect effects mediated by tree mortality, growth, neighbourhood crowding, and functional and phylogenetic dissimilarities.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)