Article
Soil Science
Jing Hu, Guorong Chen, Wail M. Hassan, Jianbin Lan, Wantong Si, Wei Wang, Guixin Li, Guozhen Du
Summary: Long-term fertilization enhances plant productivity but reduces plant community diversity in Tibetan Plateau grasslands, favoring grasses over sedges, legumes, and forbs. Fertilization also influences the abundance and species richness of nematode communities, with peaks observed at 60 g m(-2) year(-1). Soil acidity and the ratio of available nitrogen-to-available phosphorus indirectly affect the nematode community, potentially leading to declines in abundance beyond the 60 g m(-2) year(-1) treatment.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Mingrui He, Chunming Xin, Carol C. Baskin, Jinghua Li, Yunpeng Zhao, Hang An, Xiongjie Sheng, Liang Zhao, Yin Zhao, Miaojun Ma
Summary: The study found that decreasing soil moisture directly led to an increase in richness and density of the transient seed bank, and indirectly led to a decrease in density of the transient seed bank and an increase in richness and density of the persistent seed bank through soil pH and richness and abundance of vegetation. As wetlands degraded, the similarity between the seed bank and vegetation increased.
Article
Microbiology
Shengnan Sun, Yi Zhao, Quanmin Dong, Xiaoxia Yang, Yuzhen Liu, Wentao Liu, Guang Shi, Wenting Liu, Chunping Zhang, Yang Yu
Summary: The effects of grazing on diazotrophic communities in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau grasslands have not been well-studied. This study found that the composition of diazotrophs can be maximally maintained when yak and Tibetan sheep are grazed in a ratio of 1:2. Grazing livestock's foraging strategies reduce legume biomass, resulting in a decrease in diazotroph abundance. Soil ammonium nitrogen and total phosphorus are the key factors regulating diazotrophs.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Marek Renco, Andrea Cerevkova, Zuzana Homolova
Summary: The invasive plant Reynoutria japonica has a negative impact on native plant species and soil nematode communities in ruderal forest habitats in Tatra National Park, Slovakia. The invasion reduces diversity of native plants, alters nematode communities, and simplifies the soil environment's structural complexity.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Soil Science
Yang Wu, HuaKun Zhou, WenJing Chen, Yue Zhang, Jie Wang, HongFei Liu, ZiWen Zhao, YuanZe Li, QiMing You, Bing Yang, GuoBin Liu, Sha Xue
Summary: Both climate warming and litter removal have significant negative effects on the diversity and richness of soil nematodes. Vegetation plays a crucial role in maintaining soil nematode community diversity.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Pei Zhang, Shuangdan Chen, Yi Ai, Yonghong Wang, Dehui Xi, Liming Tian, Tserang Donko Mipam
Summary: Livestock grazing has a significant impact on the belowground community in grasslands. Moderate grazing can maintain the diversity and functionality of soil nematodes, optimize soil nutrient cycling, and the response of the nematode community has a hump-shaped pattern to grazing intensity.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Ming-Xu Zhang, Ling-Yu Zhao, Jin-Peng Hu, Aziz Khan, Xiao-Xia Yang, Quan-Min Dong, Christopher Rensing, Xiang-Ling Fang, Jin-Lin Zhang
Summary: Livestock grazing is a popular land-use activity that can impede ecosystem function by altering vegetation growth, soil nutrients, and soil bacterial communities. However, limited research exists on the characteristics of grazing-resistant plant species and the effects of different grazers and grazing practices in grassland ecosystems.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Xinyue Zhang, Jinghua Huang, Jing Chen, Guoqing Li, Haoran He, Tianyuan Huang, Jianan Ding
Summary: The secondary succession of plant communities leads to significant changes in the communities of soil microbes and animals, with nematodes as the most abundant animals in soil playing a crucial role in soil biodiversity and functions. This study aimed to explore the changes in nematode diversity and community assembly during forest secondary succession and understand the contributions of different assembly processes. The results showed that plant-parasitic and bacterial-feeding nematodes were less abundant in pioneer and climax forest stages, while fungal-feeding nematodes dominated in these stages. Nematode diversity peaked in the shrub stage but decreased in the climax forest stage, and deterministic processes mainly influenced nematode community assembly in grassland and climax forest stages. Litter and root quality were found to be critical factors in regulating nematode diversity and community assembly.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jianjun Cao, Yumeng Jiao, Rongxiao Che, Nicholas M. Holden, Xiaofang Zhang, Asim Biswas, Qi Feng
Summary: This study examined the response of soil microbes to grazer exclosure duration in alpine grassland soils on the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The findings suggest that longer exclosure durations can increase the relative abundance of nitrogen fixers and decrease the proportions of plant pathogenic fungi, contributing to enhanced soil nitrogen fixation and grassland health. However, there may be a resource cost as plant productivity and soil organic carbon decrease with the extension of grazer exclosure duration.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Xi Yang, Rentao Liu, Tongchuan Li, Yunchao Dai
Summary: In the Loess Plateau, the planting of Robinia pseudoacacia mainly affects soil fauna in the litter layer rather than the soil layer. The age of the forest has little effect on the soil fauna community. Litter thickness and soil total nitrogen are important determinants of the soil fauna community.
Review
Forestry
Jacek Malica, Cezary K. Urbanowski, Grzegorz Raczka, Maciej Skorupski, Emilia Pers-Kamczyc, Jacek Kamczyc
Summary: Afforestation plays a crucial role in mitigating the effects of climate change and providing structural and functional benefits. However, there are challenges for forest managers due to past land-use history, and further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms governing the below-ground environment in post-agricultural forests. Future studies should consider factors such as microclimate, tree species, and soil conditions to accurately assess the impact of afforestation on soil fauna communities.
Article
Horticulture
Koon-Hui Wang, Philip Waisen, Alan W. Leslie, Roshan Paudel, Susan L. F. Meyer, Cerruti R. R. Hooks
Summary: Soil tillage has a negative effect on soil health and the predators of weed seeds. Conservation tillage practices can improve soil food web structure and nutrient cycling, thus enhancing soil health.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaofang Zhang, Qi Feng, Jianjun Cao, Wei Liu, Yanyan Qin, Meng Zhu, Tuo Han
Summary: This study investigated the effects of seasonal grazing and continuous grazing on soil microbial diversity, composition, and co-occurrence networks in alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that grazing practices had little impact on the composition of soil microbial communities, but significantly affected microbial networks and specific microbial groups. Soil fungal diversity was more strongly correlated with environmental factors than bacteria, and the structures of both fungal and bacterial communities were mainly influenced by soil pH, total nitrogen, and ammonium nitrogen. These findings suggest that microbial associations are more sensitive to grazing practices than microbial diversity and composition, and that seasonal grazing may have greater ecological benefits in alpine meadows.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Kara S. Gibson, Deborah A. Neher, Nancy C. Johnson, Robert R. Parmenter, Anita J. Antoninka
Summary: Little information is available regarding thresholds for impacts on soil nematodes caused by mechanized logging equipment, which are critical members of soil foodwebs. In this study, we examined the responses of nematode communities and soil physical characteristics to the increasing number of passes by a tracked feller buncher during thinning of a xeric mixed conifer forest. The results indicated that low levels of logging machinery traffic may have negligible effects on nematode communities, but emphasize the importance of minimizing areas subjected to disturbance because of impacts on soil physical properties.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Anning Zhang, Shuyan Chen, Jingwei Chen, Hanwen Cui, Xiaoxuan Jiang, Sa Xiao, Jiajia Wang, Haining Gao, Lizhe An, Pedro Cardoso
Summary: Land use and climate change have significant impacts on biodiversity patterns and ecosystem functioning globally. This study examined the effects of shrub encroachment and precipitation changes on the functional diversity of soil nematode communities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The results showed that shrubs did not alter functional richness and dispersion, but decreased functional beta diversity, promoting functional homogenization. These effects were influenced by precipitation, with increasing precipitation reversing the negative effects of shrubs on functional richness and dispersion but amplifying their negative effects on functional beta diversity. Structural equation models revealed that shrubs indirectly increased functional richness and dispersion through plant biomass and soil total nitrogen, while directly decreasing functional beta diversity. This study enhances our understanding of the impacts of global climate change on nematode communities in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jun Yan, Youzheng Zhang, Kerri M. Crawford, Xiaoyong Chen, Shuo Yu, Jihua Wu
Summary: Our study found that the effects of plant genotypic diversity on belowground plant biomass and soil nematode communities are not coupled. Decreasing plant genotypic diversity reduces the abundance of lower trophic level nematodes, as well as the functional indices and stability of the soil food web.
Article
Soil Science
Junmin Pei, Dong Yan, Jinquan Li, La Qiong, Yuanwu Yang, Changming Fang, Jihua Wu
Summary: The study found that the temperature sensitivity of soil organic carbon decomposition increased with alpine meadow degradation, with soil carbon quantity, quality, and extracellular enzyme activities decreasing significantly as degradation levels and soil depths increased.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Hao Liu, Ting Zhu, Xiao Xu, Jia Yao, Chenhao Zhou, Jihua Wu, Bo Li, Ming Nie
Summary: The intraspecific variation in plant traits has been found to significantly influence the soil bacterial diversity and community composition. Aboveground traits have stronger effects on bacterial community composition, while belowground traits have stronger effects on bacterial diversity.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xi Zhang, Xiangming Xiao, Shiyun Qiu, Xiao Xu, Xinxin Wang, Qing Chang, Jihua Wu, Bo Li
Summary: This study examined the phenology variation of S. alterniflora saltmarshes across coastal China during 2018-2020 using Landsat 7/8 and Sentinel-2 images. Three widely used phenology retrieval methods showed similar patterns in retrieving the start and end of season (SOS and EOS) as well as the length of season (LOS) of S. alterniflora saltmarshes, demonstrating the potential of Landsat 7/8 and Sentinel-2 to quantify land surface phenology.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Marine
Niu Li, Ming Nie, Ming Wu, Jihua Wu
Summary: Invasive Spartina alterniflora significantly increased DNRA rates in both upper and deeper soil layers, contributing to N savings and potentially facilitating its own invasion. SO42-and pH regulated DNRA rates in different seasons in the soil.
JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hang An, Carol C. Baskin, Miaojun Ma
Summary: Grazing disturbance has a nonlinear effect on both plant community and seed bank, with persistent seed banks being more important than transient ones in plant community regeneration.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Jia-Jia Jiang, Yu-Jie Zhao, Yaolin Guo, Lei Gao, Christina L. L. Richards, Evan Siemann, Jihua Wu, Bo Li, Rui-Ting Ju
Summary: Plant invasions have significant impacts on ecosystems, and restoring diverse communities and ecosystem functions is an important goal of ecological restoration. In this study, we investigated how arthropod assemblages and trophic interactions changed with invasion and restoration of different plant species in a Chinese saltmarsh. We found that invasive plant Spartina alterniflora changed arthropod diversity, community structure, feeding-guild composition, and arthropod natural enemy diets, but these changes could be reversed by restoring the native plant Phragmites australis. The changes in arthropod assemblages and trophic structure were associated with several biotic and abiotic variables. These findings demonstrate the positive effects of controlling invasive plants on biodiversity and nutrient cycling and provide insights for assessing ecological restoration projects in saltmarshes.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Yaya Chen, Scott L. L. Collins, Yunpeng Zhao, Tianwu Zhang, Xiangrong Yang, Hang An, Guorui Hu, Chunming Xin, Juan Zhou, Xiongjie Sheng, Mingrui He, Panhong Zhang, Zengpeng Guo, Hui Zhang, Lanping Li, Miaojun Ma
Summary: The timing of flowering in plants is highly sensitive to climate change. Warming advanced the first and last flowering times differently and resulted in the entire flowering period occurring earlier in the growing season. Early-flowering species were more sensitive to warming, reducing the synchrony among species and extending the community-level flowering season. Precipitation and its interactions with warming had no significant effects on flowering phenology.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Chenhao Zhou, Yan Zhang, Songshuo Li, Qiuyue Jiang, Hongyang Chen, Ting Zhu, Xiao Xu, Hao Liu, Shiyun Qiu, Jihua Wu, Ming Nie, Bo Li
Summary: Methane emissions from saltmarshes have the potential to contribute to climate warming. Understanding the factors influencing soil methane production in saltmarshes is crucial for predicting methane emissions, but there has been a lack of investigation in Chinese saltmarshes. This study found that exogenous nitrogen inputs indirectly promote soil methane production in Phragmites australis and Spartina alterniflora saltmarshes, providing new insights into the factors responsible for soil methane production in saltmarshes.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Miaojun Ma, Carol C. Baskin, Yunpeng Zhao, Hang An
Summary: Some research aimed to understand the mechanism of plant assembly and the role of seed bank in degraded grassland restoration. Samples from different secondary successional stages were exposed to different light treatments to evaluate species richness, seed density, species composition, and seed mass of the germinated species in soil samples. The results showed that light intensity change significantly affected species composition and seed recruitment.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xinxin Wang, Xiangming Xiao, Xi Zhang, Jihua Wu, Bo Li
Summary: Coastal wetlands are vulnerable to sea-level rise, extreme climate, and human activities, especially in large river deltas. This study quantified the changes in area and patch number of coastal wetlands in China's four major river deltas, and assessed the effects of driving factors. It was found that the Liaohe River Delta and Yellow River Delta experienced substantial losses, while the Yangtze River Delta showed recent recoveries. The Pearl River Delta had a relatively stable area trend but an increasing patch number trend. Protected areas were effective in halting the decreasing trends in coastal wetland areas, but were counteracted by invasive plant invasions.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yikang Cheng, Xiang Liu, Zhiping Song, Miaojun Ma, Shurong Zhou, Eric Allan
Summary: Asymmetrical light competition and direct detrimental effect of nitrogen have been proposed as two main mechanisms driving species richness declines following nitrogen (N) addition. However, the responses of tall and short plant species to N addition have rarely been studied. In this study, we found that N addition reduced the number of short species but increased the number of tall species, indicating divergent trait responses between them.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiangrong Yang, Yaya Chen, Tianwu Zhang, Panhong Zhang, Zengpeng Guo, Guorui Hu, Hui Zhang, Yinguang Sun, Li Huang, Miaojun Ma
Summary: An experiment on 52 species showed that nitrogen addition significantly influenced reproductive phenology and flowering period of an alpine meadow. The differences in species' response to nitrogen enrichment led to compressed and overlapped reproductive duration at the community level. These findings are important for predicting and understanding the impacts of climate change on community structure and function.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yikang Cheng, Gemma Rutten, Xiang Liu, Miaojun Ma, Zhiping Song, Nadia I. I. Maaroufi, Shurong Zhou
Summary: Through a long-term nitrogen addition experiment, we found that nitrogen enrichment has different effects on the diversity of root-associated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) communities, which is related to changes in soil properties and/or host plant functional structure. Moreover, we found that plant height plays a crucial role in driving the response of AMF diversity to nitrogen enrichment.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xincheng Li, Hanchen Wang, Douglas J. McCauley, Andrew H. Altieri, Brian R. Silliman, Jonathan S. Lefcheck, Jihua Wu, Bo Li, Qiang He
Summary: In order to achieve sustainable development goals, many countries are increasing their efforts in protecting critical coastal ecosystems. However, large animals are often neglected in conservation plans for coastal ecosystems in different geographical contexts. A study conducted in China reveals a rich diversity of large animals in various types of coastal ecosystems, including mammals, birds, reptiles, cephalopods, and fish. Unfortunately, a significant number of these species are globally threatened and have not been assessed for extinction risk in China. Moreover, most of the important habitats for these megafauna are not protected, highlighting the need for further conservation efforts.
