IF: 3.9
CiteScore: 5.7
Editors-in-Chief
Yuanhe Yang
Bernhard Schmid
CN 10-1172/Q
ISSN 1752-9921(print)
ISSN 1752-993X(online)
  • Volume 18,Issue 5
    01 October 2025
      Perspective
      Research Articles
      Lifeng Zhou, Yige Zhao, Bernhard Schmid, Arjen Biere, Lin Jiang, Hongwei Yu, Mengqi Wang, Wandong Yin, Yu Shi, Jianqing Ding
      2025, 18 (5): rtaf069.
      Abstract ( 30 )   PDF(pc) (4412KB) ( 22 )   Save
      Leaf chemistry plays a central role in structuring phyllosphere microbiomes. Plant populations often evolve genetic differences in leaf chemistry across region due to both abiotic and biotic selection pressures, including insect herbivory. Plants in invasive populations may reassociate with native specialist insects, providing an ideal system to examine how herbivory-mediated changes in plant chemistry affect phyllosphere microbiome. Here, we conducted a common garden experiment using Ambrosia artemisiifolia populations differing in leaf chemistry and reassociation history with a specialist beetle—Ophraella communa. We found that plant populations with a longer reassociation history exhibited stronger herbivore resistance and supported phyllosphere communities with higher alpha diversity and more complex composition. These changes were associated with shifts in concentrations of plant metabolites and the expression levels of corresponding biosynthetic genes. The abundance of the fungal pathogens, Golovinomyces, decreased with increasing herbivore resistance, while Pestaliopsis showed the opposite trend. Although reassociation history was linked to population latitude, climatic and soil conditions at the sites of origin also contributed to between-population variation in leaf chemistry and phyllosphere fungal community composition. Our study suggests that genetic differences in leaf chemistry among plant populations can strongly affect herbivore resistance and phyllosphere fungal communities. The observed alignment of reassociation history, chemical traits and phyllosphere fungal communities suggests that herbivore-mediated selection may be a key driver of microbial community evolution in invasive plants.
      Yushu Zhang, Qian Gu, Qiang Yu, Yuguang Ke, Taofeek O. Muraina, Xin Chen, Jixin Cao, Chunwang Xiao, Honghui Wu
      2025, 18 (5): rtaf071.
      Abstract ( 35 )   PDF(pc) (2442KB) ( 15 )   Save
      Land tillage disturbances and nutrient enrichment profoundly alter ecosystem processes and functions. Previous studies have explored the effects of tillage disturbance and nutrient enrichment on plant communities and soil properties. However, integrated studies of the effects of tillage disturbance and nutrient enrichment on multiple below-ground ecological processes and functions are needed. Here, we conducted a field experiment in the Hulunber grassland, establishing four treatments (control, tillage disturbance (D), nutrient enrichment (NPKμ) and tillage disturbance plus nutrient enrichment (NPKμD)) to examine their influences on plant communities, soil microbial communities, and carbon mineralization. Compared with the D treatment, the NPKμD treatment increased plant community biomass through a significant 13-fold rise in annual and biennial plant biomass (P < 0.01). Both the D treatment and NPKμD treatment significantly decreased the Shannon index of plant communities (P < 0.05). Microbial network complexity increased under NPKμ treatment whereas the D treatment reduced it. Both D treatment and NPKμ treatments significantly reduced soil carbon mineralization, and NPKμ exacerbated the negative effects of tillage disturbance (P < 0.05). Partial Least Squares Path Modeling showed that plant diversity, biomass and soil properties influenced soil carbon mineralization directly and indirectly via soil bacterial and fungal communities. Our findings suggest that nutrient enrichment promotes the recovery of plant community productivity after disturbance, while the recovery of plant diversity and soil microbial community structure may require a longer period. Therefore, achieving comprehensive ecological integrity characterized by stable plant community structure and healthy soil microbial communities requires long-term dynamic monitoring and targeted management strategies.
      Chongyu Yan, Shirong Liu, Zhi Chen, Xiaodong Niu, Zhicheng Chen, Xiuqing Nie, Guirui Yu
      2025, 18 (5): rtaf088.
      Abstract ( 17 )   PDF(pc) (4490KB) ( 3 )   Save
      Warm temperate forests have the large potential to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), while the interannual variability (IAV) of net forest ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) in the global carbon cycle is still not fully understood. In this study, we conducted eddy-covariance measurement to investigate the IAV of carbon fluxes and concurrent influencing factors in a warm temperate natural oak forest from 2017 to 2022. Our results showed the natural oak forest was a strong CO2 sink with an increase of 27.79 g C m−2 a−1 in annual carbon sequestration, resulting from a larger increase in annual gross primary production (GPP) than that of annual ecosystem respiration (Re). Precipitation in spring (PPTspring) negatively influenced annual GPP, soil water content in spring (SWCspring) negatively influenced annual Re, while the water conditions had lesser effect on annual NEE attributing to the synchronous changes of annual GPP and annual Re. Increase of temperature in autumn (Taautumn) delayed the end date of the growing season, leading to the increase in annual carbon sequestration. In addition, carbon fluxes did not significantly decrease under dramatic reduction of summer precipitation, indicating that warm temperate natural oak forest had a high resistance to seasonal drought. Our study helped us to better understand the mechanisms underlying forest carbon fluxes in response to drought in the context of future climate change.
      Yuxin Huang, Fuzhong Wu, Qiqian Wu, Ji Yuan, Petr Heděnec, Qiao Yang, Qiumeng Yi, Kai Yue, Nannan An, Yan Peng
      2025, 18 (5): rtaf082.
      Abstract ( 28 )   PDF(pc) (2055KB) ( 13 )   Save
      Carbon (C) quality of non-leaf litter is closely related to decomposition rate and plays a vital role in terrestrial ecosystem C sequestration. However, to date, the global patterns and influencing factors of non-leaf litter C quality remain unclear. Here, using meta-analysis method, we quantified the characteristics and driving factors of the initial C quality of non-leaf litter (bark, branch, flower, fruit, root, stem, and wood) with 996 observations collected from 279 independent publications, including the concentrations of total C, lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. Results showed that (1) only total C and cellulose concentrations significantly varied among different types of non-leaf litter; (2) C quality is higher (i.e., lower concentration) in bark, branch, root, stem and wood litter from angiosperms than gymnosperms, from herbaceous than woody plants, from broadleaved than coniferous trees, and from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) than ectomycorrhizal (ECM) plants (except for hemicellulose concentration); and (3) the impacts of different geographic features on C quality of non-leaf litter differed among different litter types, while soil properties generally exhibited strong impacts. Overall, our results clearly show the global patterns of C quality and associated influencing factors for different types of non-leaf litter, which would be helpful for a better understanding of role of non-leaf litter in terrestrial ecosystem C cycling and for the improvement of C cycling models.
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    Effects of cadmium pollution on plant-soil feedback between invasive plant Phytolacca americana and native plant Phytolacca acinose
    Yue Zhu, Jun Chen, Yu Ming, Jingru Zhang, Shaoyu Zhang, Yunshan Liu, Bo Li, Jihua Wu, Evan Siemann, Yunjian Xu, Yi Wang
    doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf144
    Abstract ( 5 )    PDF    Save
    Understanding plant-soil feedback (PSF) between native and invasive plants under heavy metal pollution can inform invasion management strategies. However, the PSF and mechanism between native species Phytolacca acinosa and invasive species Phytolacca americana under heavy metal pollution remain unclear. Here, in a greenhouse experiment, we created soils with varying concentrations of cadmium (Cd) and conditioned them with either the invasive species Phytolacca americana, the native species Phytolacca acinosa, or without any plants. We measured soil chemical, microbial and physical properties. In a subsequent PSF phase, we grew individual plants of P. americana or P. acinosa in these soils. Soil cadmium (Cd) increased the biomass of invasive species while decreasing that of native species. Fungi and bacteria were abundant in soils conditioned by invasive plants, particularly in the absence of Cd. The concentrations of phenols, flavonoids, and tannins, as well as soil pH, increased with the concentration of Cd when plants were present. Phenol and tannin concentrations were higher in the presence of invasive plants, whereas flavonoid concentrations were lower. During the PSF phase, the biomass of invasive species was sensitive to soil microbes. Native plants exhibited reduced growth in soils dominated by invasive species, particularly in soils with higher concentrations of cadmium, indicating their sensitivity to soil chemistry and physical characteristics. This study provides valuable insights into the influence of PSF on plant invasion processes in the context of soil heavy metal pollution.
    Phyllosphere microbiota in alpine grasslands on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau varied with geographical and climatic factors
    Ke Zhang, Feng Zhang, Xian-Qi Zhou, Qing-Pu Wang, Zi-Ying Wang, Sheng-Mei Li, Yao-Ming Li, Shi-Kui Dong
    doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf133
    Abstract ( 5 )    PDF    Save
    The phyllosphere microbiota greatly affects ecosystem carbon and nitrogen cycles, plant productivity, and stress tolerance. However, the microbial composition and underlying mechanisms in the alpine grassland of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) remain unclear. Here, geographic patterns in the abundance, diversity, and community composition of phyllosphere microbiota and their functions were explored. We found that both phyllosphere bacterial and fungal community composition displayed a geographical dependence. We highlighted the importance of climate, especially mean annual precipitation, in shaping phyllosphere microbial communities at broad geographic scales. The mean annual precipitation explained 4%–34% of the variation in the phyllosphere microbial community. A distinctive feature of the QTP phyllosphere microbiota is the prevalence of positive correlations in microbial co-occurrence networks, contrasting with patterns observed in other ecosystems. Further analysis reveals that ecosystem multifunctionality is strongly associated with microbial abundance and interspecies interactions, with bacterial communities exerting a disproportionately large influence compared to fungi. These findings can cumulatively provide a solid understanding of the patterns and mechanisms of phyllosphere microbial community and function across environmental gradients on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and new perspectives for sustainable alpine grassland management.
    Climate factors and island area drive leaf economic trait variation by altering plant species richness and soil properties on tropical islands
    Yikang Cheng, Zhen Zhang, Hao Xu, Shurong Zhou
    doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf145
    Abstract ( 7 )    PDF    Save
    Global change factors (e.g. climate warming and altered precipitation regimes) and island area are widely known to affect the leaf economic traits of island-dwelling plants in various ways, such as through changes to aboveground plant species richness and belowground soil properties. However, our understanding of the relative importance of factors shaping the leaf economics trait pattern remains limited. In this study, we selected 20 representative tropical islands in the South China Sea that varied in area and climate conditions, and then measured plant community composition, several leaf economic traits associated with plant growth strategies (i.e. the specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, and leaf thickness), and a series of soil physicochemical properties. We found that the mean annual temperature and precipitation significantly influenced the community-level specific leaf area by affecting the soil total nitrogen and phosphorus content. Likewise, climatic factors and island area directly impacted the community-level leaf dry matter content, with additional indirect effects mediated through plant species richness and the soil total potassium content. Similarly, in addition to the direct impact of mean annual temperature and island area, mean annual temperature could significantly affect community-level leaf thickness by altering soil total potassium content. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of plant species richness and soil properties in shaping leaf economic trait dynamics among island-dwelling plant species and also provide critical insights into shifts in plant growth strategies under global change scenarios.
    Patterns and determinants of plant- and microbial-derived carbon in alpine peatlands #br#
    Mengjie Liu, Quan-Cheng Wang, Yang Li, Ronglei Zhou, Junxiao Pan, Dashuan Tian, Ruiyang Zhang, Houkun Chu, Ning Liu, Hui Wang, Huichen Zhang, Jingjing Shi, Ruifa Wang, Lei Ma7, Shuli Niu, Jinsong Wang
    doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf146
    Abstract ( 8 )    PDF    Save
    Peatlands store approximately one-third of global soil organic carbon (SOC) and clarifying SOC sources is essential to assess soil C formation and stability in these C-rich ecosystems. However, large-scale patterns and drivers of plant- and microbial-derived C remain poorly understood in peatlands. This study applied lignin phenols and amino sugars as biomarkers for plant and microbial residues to investigate the regional distributions and controlling factors of plant- and microbial-derived C in surface peat (0–20 cm) across Zoige alpine peatlands. Our results showed that amino sugars contributed less while lignin phenols remained stable with SOC accrual, indicating the key role of plant-derived C in SOC accumulation. Soil nutrients and microbial properties explained the majority of the variation in lignin phenols, while soil nutrients and mineral protection played a more important role in amino sugars than microbial variables and climatic factors. Specifically, lignin phenols were negatively correlated with soil nutrients, fungal richness, and acid phosphatase activity, while showing a positive association with leucine aminopeptidase activity. In contrast, amino sugars were positively related to soil total phosphorus but negatively linked with Fe-associated C and Fe/Al-oxide. These findings provide the first empirical evidence of plant- and microbial-derived C and their divergent drivers in alpine peatlands over a broad scale, which advances our understanding of soil C formation and stability in these C-rich, climate-sensitive ecosystems.
    Above- and belowground effects of ectomycorrhizal dominance on soil carbon and nitrogen in a temperate forest
    Xuemei Wu, Zikun Mao, Weijun Sun, Yue Chen, Shuai Fang, Pengcheng Jiang, Fei Lin, Ji Ye, Mengxu Zhang, Meihui Zhu, Xugao Wang
    doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf143
    Abstract ( 10 )    PDF    Save
    Due to global change, the dominance of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) tree species is continually decreasing in temperate forests, which is expected to greatly alter soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics. However, the specific mechanisms through which ECM tree dominance affects soil carbon and nitrogen, particularly via regulating above- and belowground forest properties, remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the relationships of forest above- (e.g., tree species richness and basal area, leaf nutrient content) and belowground properties (e.g., soil microbial community, enzymatic activity) with soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen along an ECM tree dominance gradient in a temperate forest. We found significant changes in above- (i.e., leaf nutrient content, basal area) and belowground (i.e., fungal community, enzymatic activity) forest properties along the ECM tree dominance gradient. For instance, tree basal area and saprotroph abundance increased with ECM tree dominance, while leaf nitrogen content and enzymes related to soil carbon or nitrogen (β-1,4-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, β-N acetylglucosaminidase) decreased. Notably, structural equation modeling suggested that ECM tree dominance negatively affected SOC through regulating aboveground properties. However, ECM tree dominance affected soil nitrogen content and transformation rates by regulating both above- and belowground properties, highlighting different pathways through which soil nitrogen vs. SOC respond to ECM tree dominance change. Therefore, ECM tree dominance can affect soil carbon and nitrogen by distinctively regulating above- and belowground forest properties, and both above- and belowground changes should be considered when predicting how temperate forests will respond to the global-change-induced decline in ECM tree dominance.
  • 2025, Vol. 18 No.4 No.3 No.2 No.1
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