Article
Plant Sciences
Gang Li, Jingjing Liu, Yu Tian, Han Chen, Haiying Ren
Summary: The rampant decline disease of bayberry trees is associated with soil, particularly in regards to soil pH, exchangeable aluminum concentration, and cation concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+. These soil parameters vary with tree age and can provide insights on mitigating the disease.
Article
Plant Sciences
Bin Yang, Huan Zhang, Wenpei Ke, Jie Jiang, Yao Xiao, Jingjing Tian, Xujun Zhu, Lianggang Zong, Wanping Fang
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the effects of changes in selenium (Se) under acidified soil conditions on tea production. The results showed that as the soil pH decreased, exchangeable selenium and residual selenium transformed into acid-soluble selenium and manganese oxide selenium, while exchange state aluminum and water-soluble aluminum decreased. The study provides a theoretical basis for solving the problem of selenium enrichment in tea caused by soil acidification.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Han Chen, Haiying Ren, Jingjing Liu, Yu Tian, Shenggao Lu
Summary: The decline disease of Myrica rubra tree is commonly caused by soil acidification. This study reveals that aluminum toxicity and microbial community changes induced by soil acidification are the main causes of the decline of Myrica rubra. Aluminum toxicity decreases bacterial diversity and alters bacterial community structure, leading to the decline of Myrica rubra tree. The findings highlight the importance of managing acidification-induced soil degradation and improving fruit quality.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Siwen Zhang, Xiaohui Chen, Zongjun Ji, Xiaojun Yan, Kunpeng Kong, Yuanyang Cai, Qichao Zhu, Muhammad Atif Muneer, Fusuo Zhang, Liangquan Wu
Summary: Aluminum (Al) toxicity is a serious threat to root formation and crop growth due to soil acidification. This study focused on the effect of Al3+ on citrus roots in acidified red soil. The results showed that rapid soil acidification occurred in pomelo orchards, and optimized fertilization and liming treatments effectively reduced Al toxicity in roots and increased yield by improving soil pH and base saturation. Structural equation modeling confirmed the importance of increasing soil pH and base saturation while decreasing exchangeable Al for citrus production in acidic soil.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Review
Soil Science
Wen Xing, Xiaoming Lu, Shoubao Geng, Jingyi Ding, Yongfei Bai
Summary: Reactive nitrogen (N) can significantly influence the richness and abundance of soil nematodes in grasslands worldwide. The addition of N generally reduced the taxon richness and abundance of nematodes, particularly fungal-feeding and omnivorous-carnivorous nematodes. The negative impacts of N enrichment on nematodes were primarily observed in temperate grasslands and meadows, and were stronger with higher N addition rates. Mechanistically, the rate of N addition affected nematode communities by altering soil ammonium concentrations, microbial biomass carbon, and soil acidification.
Article
Soil Science
Hongwei Xu, Qing Qu, Guanwen Li, Guobin Liu, Violette Geissen, Coen J. Ritsema, Sha Xue
Summary: Nitrogen addition significantly altered the C-N-P stoichiometry in plants, soil, and enzymes, resulting in decreased C:N ratio in plants, increased N:P ratio, and exacerbated microbial C and P limitation.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Jiguang Feng, Biao Zhu
Summary: Nutrient additions, particularly nitrogen and nitrogen plus phosphorus, have significant impacts on priming effect in soil organic matter decomposition, typically reducing the effect, while phosphorus addition has minimal effect. The response varies with ecosystem, experiment type, and carbon substrate category.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Chunlian Qiao, Shamim Mia, Yeqin Wang, Jiajia Hou, Burenbayin Xu
Summary: The study indicates that adding nitrification inhibitor DMPP can increase soil pH and reduce leaching losses of inorganic nitrogen, thereby enhancing soil nitrogen retention. Therefore, DMPP has significant potential for nitrogen management in tea gardens.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Haoyang Wang, Teng Hu, Minghan Wang, Yunshan Liang, Chengwen Shen, Huaqin Xu, Yaoyu Zhou, Zhonghua Liu
Summary: This study investigated the effect of different amounts of biochar on fluoride (F) content in tea leaves during tea plant growth. The results showed that biochar amendment significantly reduced water-soluble F content in tea leaves, especially in the 8.0% treatment. Biochar also contributed to improving tea polyphenols and caffeine. However, it had no significant impact on free amino acids and water leachate. The application of biochar also increased soil water-soluble F content and decreased exchangeable aluminum content, which can help reduce F enrichment of tea leaves.
Article
Agronomy
Xue Feng, Ruzhen Wang, Tianpeng Li, Jiangping Cai, Heyong Liu, Bin Wang, Xiaotao Lu, Yong Jiang
Summary: This study provides new evidence on the role of nutrient resorption in tightening stoichiometric N:P relationships, and that plant nutrient resorption may be favored by higher precipitation to sharpen its tradeoff with soil nutrient availability.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiao-ying Pan, Ren-kou Xu, Jackson Nkoh Nkoh, Hai-long Lu, Hui Hua, Peng Guan
Summary: Variable charge soils with low agricultural productivity require amendments that can ameliorate soil acidity and enhance CEC and pH buffering capacity. Applying SDPs containing straw decayed products has been shown to effectively improve soil chemical properties, increase soil pH, and benefit crop growth.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jianghua Ye, Yuhua Wang, Yuchao Wang, Lei Hong, Xiaoli Jia, Jiaqian Kang, Shaoxiong Lin, Zeyan Wu, Haibin Wang
Summary: Soil acidification in tea plantations can significantly reduce tea yield and quality. Using organic fertilizer is an effective method to remediate acidified soil and ensure tea yield and quality. Long-term use of chemical fertilizer can intensify soil acidification and hinder tea tree growth, while the combination of organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer, as well as the long-term use of organic fertilizer, can improve tea yield and quality.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jianghua Ye, Yuhua Wang, Shaoxiong Lin, Yuchao Wang, Pengyuan Chen, Lei Hong, Xiaoli Jia, Jiaqian Kang, Zeyan Wu, Haibin Wang
Summary: Acidification can have significant impacts on tea trees, affecting their growth, as well as the yield and quality of tea leaves. This study investigated the effects of soil acidification on the physicochemical properties, microorganisms, and metabolites of tea rhizosphere soils with different pH values. The results showed that as soil pH increased, there was an increase in organic matter content, cation exchange capacity, microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, microbial respiration intensity, bacterial and actinomyces numbers, but a decrease in fungi number. Soil metabolite analysis revealed a significant increase in the total contents of metabolites with increasing soil pH. Correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between physicochemical soil indexes, microorganisms, and soil metabolites, with 221 soil metabolites showing a correlation, 55 of which were significantly positively correlated and 166 were significantly negatively correlated. Furthermore, characteristic compounds were identified through network analysis, showing varied trends with increasing soil pH. The study found that increasing soil pH in tea rhizosphere promoted the diversity and number of soil microorganisms and enhanced the cyclic ability of carbon and nitrogen, ultimately leading to improved resistance and growth of tea trees.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xudong Gu, Fengju Zhang, Xiaowei Xie, Yunlong Cheng, Xing Xu
Summary: Nitrogen and phosphorus are important nutrients for plant growth, and soil alkalization is a major obstacle to sustainable agriculture. Alfalfa has strong tolerance to saline-alkali and can be used for the comprehensive improvement of such land. The study on alfalfa rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil properties in alkaline soils is significant for land utilization, ecological improvement, and food security.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yaru Yang, Weiguo Liu, Jonathan M. Adams, Bin Song
Summary: The removal of snow-cover reduces soil nutrients, enzyme activities, and bacterial diversity in the desert ecosystem. Nitrogen deposition indirectly affects the bacterial community through modifications to soil nutrients and organic matter. This study highlights the critical role of snow-cover and raises awareness of the ecological risks of biological soil crusts in future global change.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(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
Kevin Van Sundert, Sebastian Leuzinger, Martin K. -F. Bader, Scott X. Chang, Martin G. De Kauwe, Jeffrey S. Dukes, J. Adam Langley, Zilong Ma, Bertold Marien, Simon Reynaert, Jingyi Ru, Jian Song, Benjamin Stocker, Cesar Terrer, Joshua Thoresen, Eline Vanuytrecht, Shiqiang Wan, Kai Yue, Sara Vicca
Summary: To reduce uncertainty in climate projections, global change experiments have been conducted to mimic future conditions in ecosystems. Syntheses of results across experiments have provided a more general understanding of ecosystem responses to global change. However, independent syntheses have led to contrasting outcomes, highlighting the need for a publicly available database.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Bing Zhang, Haozhen Chen, Mingqin Deng, Xin Li, Ting-Wen Chen, Lingli Liu, Stefan Scheu, Shaopeng Wang
Summary: The study examines the effect of long-term forest plantations on the elemental contents of litter and detritivores, as well as the population size of detritivores. The results show that pine plantations change the elemental contents of litter and lead to severe stoichiometric mismatches for earthworms and millipedes. This mismatch results in lower population density and biomass for both detritivore taxa in pine plantations.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaoqiang Liu, Qin Ma, Xiaoyong Wu, Tianyu Hu, Zhonghua Liu, Lingli Liu, Qinghua Guo, Yanjun Su
Summary: This study introduces a new forest canopy structural complexity (CSC) index called canopy entropy (CE) and evaluates its effectiveness and generality using simulated and field-collected data. CE successfully captures CSC variations caused by tree density and the number of canopy layers, overcoming the limitations of other indices.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Meifeng Deng, Shuijin Hu, Lulu Guo, Lin Jiang, Yuanyuan Huang, Bernhard Schmid, Chao Liu, Pengfei Chang, Shan Li, Xiaojuan Liu, Keping Ma, Lingli Liu
Summary: Mycorrhizae are symbiotic associations between terrestrial plants and fungi. The type of mycorrhizae critically controls the effect of diversity on productivity. AM trees increase productivity with increasing diversity, while EcM trees decrease productivity. This is because AM trees are more effective in acquiring nitrogen and phosphorus.
Article
Ecology
Jingyi Ru, Shiqiang Wan, Dafeng Hui, Jian Song
Summary: Drought events have significant impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, and understanding recovery mechanisms is critical for predicting ecosystem dynamics. In a 7-year field precipitation experiment, we found that a grassland ecosystem showed different recovery abilities from sustained drought of varying magnitudes. After extreme drought, aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and perennial forb biomass significantly decreased (-43.3% and -83.1%). However, ANPP fully recovered within a year after the drought treatments ended, mainly due to increased soil nitrogen and root biomass. Surprisingly, ANPP increased during the recovery period, exceeding the control, primarily due to increased biomass of perennial grasses. Our study highlights the rapid recovery of grasslands and the importance of community overcompensation in maintaining ecosystem function and stability.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Meifeng Deng, Ping Li, Weixing Liu, Pengfei Chang, Lu Yang, Zhenhua Wang, Jing Wang, Lingli Liu
Summary: Climate-induced changes in snow cover can significantly affect winter soil microclimate and spring water supply, thereby influencing plant and microbial activity and the distribution and storage of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, little is known about how changes in snow cover impact SOC stocks and dynamics along soil profiles. This study examined 11 snow fences along a climate gradient in Inner Mongolia and found that deepened snow increased plant and microbial biomass, as well as SOC. Importantly, deepened snow altered SOC distribution, with a greater increase in the subsoil than in the topsoil, and different controls on SOC content in the two layers. The study highlights the need to consider soil depth when assessing the effects of snow cover changes on SOC dynamics.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xian Yang, Pandeng Wang, Bowen Xiao, Qianna Xu, Qiang Guo, Shao-peng Li, Lulu Guo, Meifeng Deng, Jianbo Lu, Lingli Liu, Keping Ma, Bernhard Schmid, Lin Jiang
Summary: Plant microbiomes, including leaf epiphytic and endophytic bacterial communities, are influenced by host tree diversity. The diversity of both epiphytic and endophytic bacteria increases with host tree diversity, but the mechanisms differ. The increased epiphytic diversity is driven by greater alpha-diversity on individual trees, while the increased endophytic diversity is driven by greater beta-diversity among trees. Epiphytes respond to changes in host diversity through mass effects, while endophytes respond through species sorting.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ziyang Peng, Yuntao Wu, Lulu Guo, Lu Yang, Bin Wang, Xin Wang, Weixing Liu, Yanjun Su, Jin Wu, Lingli Liu
Summary: Understanding how plants adapt to spatially heterogeneous phosphorus (P) supply is crucial for studying the impact of environmental changes on ecosystem productivity. The relative P limitation to plants was found to be higher in tropical forests than in temperate forests, but varied among species and within sites. Ecosystems develop a coupled aboveground-belowground strategy to maintain P supply and N : P stoichiometric balance under P-limitation.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yiwei Lu, Man Wang, Chunyan Yu, Qiong Wu, Zhendu Mao, Huabing Li, Lijuan Ren, Jin Zeng, Peng Xing, Li-Jun Zhou, Shiqiang Wan, Qinglong L. Wu
Summary: Elevation has a strong effect on the aquatic microbiome, affecting the abundance and composition of functional genes. This study found that high-altitude lakes had a higher abundance of antibiotic resistance genes and organic remediation genes compared to low-altitude lakes. Additionally, the composition and abundance of metal resistance genes varied between the two altitudes. The enrichment of functional genes in high-altitude lakes is likely influenced by different microbial communities and long-range atmospheric transport of exogenous genes and pollutants.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Binbin Li, Lanfang Wu, Wanxue Zhu, Chunlian Qiao, Jin Zhang, Wenping He
Summary: Salt-affected arable land is widespread in China, especially in the North China Plain. Proper crop residue management is crucial for improving soil organic carbon and reducing carbon emissions.
Article
Biology
Jiayin Feng, Jingyi Ru, Jian Song, Xueli Qiu, Shiqiang Wan
Summary: Climate warming has a profound impact on terrestrial biosphere, but the effects of asymmetric rising temperatures between daytime and nighttime on soil microbial communities remain unclear. Long-term asymmetric diurnal warming decreased fungal abundance and the ratio of fungi to bacteria, while short-term warming showed no significant effect. The changes in microbial composition had a greater influence on soil respiration than microbial biomass, indicating the importance of microbial composition in modulating carbon release under long-term climate warming.
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lingli Liu, Emma J. Sayer, Meifeng Deng, Ping Li, Weixing Liu, Xin Wang, Sen Yang, Junsheng Huang, Jie Luo, Yanjun Su, Jose M. Grunzweig, Lin Jiang, Shuijin Hu, Shilong Piao
Summary: Grassland, despite being one of the largest terrestrial biomes, is facing degradation and desertification due to global climate change and land-use intensification. The carbon cycle in grasslands plays a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem services, and its processes are influenced by abiotic factors such as soil inorganic C accumulation, photodegradation, thermal degradation, and wind erosion. Climate and land-use changes further affect the grassland carbon balance by modifying water budget, nutrient cycling, and plant and soil processes. It is important to prioritize research on abiotic processes, improve monitoring techniques, and select suitable plant species to develop sustainable grassland restoration strategies in a changing climate.
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Lulu Guo, Meifeng Deng, Xuefei Li, Bernhard Schmid, Junsheng Huang, Yuntao Wu, Ziyang Peng, Lu Yang, Lingli Liu
Summary: This study reveals the evolutionary and ecological forces that drive nutrient acquisition strategies of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhiza (EcM) woody plants. Over divergence time, AM woody plants evolved faster nitrogen mineralization rates without changes in nitrogen resorption, while EcM woody plants exhibited an increase in nitrogen mineralization but a decrease in nitrogen resorption, indicating a shift towards a more inorganic nutrient economy. These findings suggest that the interplay between phylogeny and climate shapes the global pattern of nutrient acquisition strategies in mycorrhizal plants.
Article
Plant Sciences
Heng Li, Jiajia Zhang, Jingyi Ru, Jian Song, Zhensheng Chi, Yujin Zheng, Lin Jiang, Shiqiang Wan
Summary: Land use and nutrient enrichment have significant effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The study aimed to investigate the impact of mowing, nitrogen and phosphorus additions on community temporal stability in a temperate steppe. Results showed that N and P additions decreased community temporal stability over the 15-year period, while mowing increased it only in the early stage. The changes in stability were mainly explained by species asynchrony and population stability.
JOURNAL OF PLANT ECOLOGY
(2023)