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 ( 47 )   PDF(pc) (4412KB) ( 39 )   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 ( 46 )   PDF(pc) (2442KB) ( 26 )   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 ( 28 )   PDF(pc) (4490KB) ( 14 )   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 ( 33 )   PDF(pc) (2055KB) ( 14 )   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.
      Zhilong Zhao, Jinyang Yu, Wenxuan Zhao, Miao Ma, Jieshi Tang
      2025, 18 (5): rtaf090.
      Abstract ( 20 )   PDF(pc) (1282KB) ( 7 )   Save
      Xanthium italicum is a globally distributed invasive weed that causes significant ecological and agricultural damage in the invaded areas. Although multiple mechanisms have been reported to contribute to its invasive success, the extent to which intraspecific differentiation and phenotypic plasticity facilitate this process in invaded habitats remains insufficiently understood. In this study, we conducted a common garden experiment with three nitrogen treatments: no nitrogen addition (NN), low nitrogen (LN: 2 g urea per pot), and high nitrogen (HN: 4 g urea per pot). Ten populations of invasive X. italicum (ten individuals per population, 100 individuals total) and native Xanthium sibiricum (excluded from the NN treatment due to seed limitations) were grown under each nitrogen treatments. Under the NN treatment, we detected significant phenotypic differences among different invasive X. italicum populations across six growth traits (root length, shoot length, crown breadth, base diameter, relative chlorophyll content, and biomass). Furthermore, when subjected to the LN and HN treatments, invasive X. italicum exhibited significantly higher phenotypic plasticity compared with that of native X. sibiricum in biomass and base diameter. Our findings suggest that phenotypic plasticity and intraspecific differentiation may play important roles in facilitating the invasive success of X. italicum in China, potentially increasing the risk of further biological invasion.
      Fang-Lei Gao, Naipeng Zhang, Ping Chen, Hongru Liang, Dehu Liu, Yan Zhang, Qiqi Cao, Jiangbao Xia
      2025, 18 (5): rtaf067.
      Abstract ( 56 )   PDF(pc) (2704KB) ( 39 )   Save
      Groundwater depth is a key environmental factor influencing the composition and structure of plant communities in coastal ecosystems. However, effects of the groundwater depth on the characteristics of shrub-grass communities in muddy coastal zones remain poorly understood. In this study, we conducted a field experiment to evaluate effects of the different groundwater depth (0.54, 0.83, 1.18, 1.62, and 2.04 m), on soil salinity, soil moisture, community diversity, distribution pattern and growth of the dominant Tamarix chinensis in the muddy coastal zone of Bohai Bay. Our results demonstrated that (1) the soil moisture and salinity gradually decreased with increasing groundwater depth (P < 0.001); Compared to the 0.54 m groundwater depth, soil moisture at depths of 0.83, 1.18, 1.62, and 2.04 m decreased by 16.02%, 24.83%, 54.40%, and 61.24%, and soil salinity decreased by 43.17%, 50.82%, 63.93%, and 73.41%, compared to 0.54 m, respectively. (2) The Simpson, Shannon-Wiener, Pielou and Margalef indices of the T. chinensis communities peaked at the 1.62 m groundwater table depth; (3) The dominant shrub T. chinensis population exhibited an aggregated distribution and optimal growth of T. chinensis shrubs occurring within the groundwater table depth range of 1.18 to 1.62 m; (4) The groundwater depth affected the diversity of the plant community primarily by influencing soil salinity rather than soil moisture; the dominant shrub T. chinensis promoted diversity of plant community, but this facilitation effect was inhibited by soil salinity. Our results suggest that the optimal groundwater depth for maintaining biodiversity falls within the range of 1.18 to 1.62 m. Shallow groundwater diminishes biodiversity both directly through soil salinization and indirectly by impairing T. chinensis’ facilitation of biodiversity. Therefore, regulating optimal groundwater table depth and protecting T. chinensis are critical for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem recovery in muddy coastal areas.
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    Global effects of tree planting on soil fauna communities depend on former ecosystem types
    Zhijie Li, Ling Xiong, Lars Vesterdal, Qiqian Wu, Josep Peñuelas, Kai Yue, Shengmin Zhang, Zimin Li, Kun Guo, Petr Heděnec, Fuzhong Wu, Yan Peng
    doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf147
    Abstract ( 12 )    PDF    Save
    Tree planting is widely recognized as an effective strategy for enhancing terrestrial carbon sequestration, playing a crucial role in mitigating global climate change. However, our understanding of how it may affect soil fauna communities still remains scarce. Here, we performed a global scale meta-analysis with 14281 paired observations to evaluate tree planting effects on soil fauna abundance, biomass, and diversity across multiple former ecosystem types. Results suggested that (1) tree planting had limited overall effects on soil fauna communities, only increasing Acari abundance, Protozoa abundance, and Arthropod biomass by 36.9, 56.9, and 777.3%, respectively, and decreasing the taxonomic richness of Collembola, the Pielou index of earthworm, and the Simpson index of Protozoa by 17.9, 38.7, and 77.1%, respectively; (2) afforestation in non-forest lands showed strong positive effects on soil fauna abundance and diversity, especially in deserts where the abundance and Shannon-Wiener index of total soil fauna were increased by 92.5 and 65.8%, respectively, while reforestation in former forest lands generally had negative impacts; and (3) tree planting effects on soil fauna were controlled by stand characteristics (e.g. stand age, canopy density, tree diameter) and pre-planting soil properties (e.g. bulk density, pH, carbon, nitrogen), but not by tree species type (leaf type or mycorrhizal association). These results clearly show the contrasting effects of tree planting on soil fauna communities among different former ecosystem types, highlighting the importance of considering the legacy of former ecosystems when designing tree planting policies to restore/enhance carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation under global environmental change scenarios.
    Community leaf nutrient characteristics drive soil carbon stabilization by regulating soil nutrient and microbial community in a subtropical forest plantation
    Yun Liang, Mingyan Hu, Scott X. Chang, Stavros Veresoglou, Mengxue Wang, Anqi Dong, Jie Wang, Chenyan Huang, Yiling Tian, Zilong Ma, Chengjin Chu
    doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf135
    Abstract ( 8 )    PDF    Save
    Tree species diversity has been found to promote soil organic carbon (SOC) in forests, but its effects on SOC stability have been poorly studied. Using a six-year-old forest biodiversity experiment with monocultures and mixtures of two, four, and eight tree species, we specifically evaluated how functional diversity (FDis) and community-weighted mean (CWM) of leaf nutrients influence the formation of mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) via altering the soil microbial community. We found that FDis of leaf nitrogen (LNmass) and phosphorus (LPmass) contents, as well as CWM of LPmass were negatively associated with MAOC, patterns that were mediated by microbial biomass. In addition, CWM of LNmass was negatively associated with the MAOC:SOC ratio, a relationship mediated by a decrease in the ratio of fungal to bacterial biomass (F:B ratio), while CWM of LPmass exhibited a direct positive effect on the MAOC:SOC ratio. We also found that soil nutrient availability mediated the relationship between the diversity of leaf nutrients on the soil microbial community. Our results suggested that the diversity of leaf nutrient contents may shape SOC stabilization through moderating microbial biomass and F:B ratio, offering insights into the ecological importance of plant chemical traits in driving SOC stabilization in forest ecosystems.
    Typhoon-induced litter on lawns and soil surfaces exhibit divergent decomposition patterns
    Yurui Jiang, Lifeng Wang, Huaibin Wang, Rui Cao, Zhuang Wang, Qin Wang, Weizhong Li, Wanqin Yang
    doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf151
    Abstract ( 5 )    PDF    Save
    Typhoon-generated green litter is commonly deposited on lawns and soil surfaces in urban forest ecosystems, where differences in microenvironmental conditions and soil fauna accessibility may alter the pathways of carbon (C) and nutrient cycling during litter decomposition. However, knowledge regarding the decomposition of typhoon-generated green litter and physiologically senesced litter in these microhabitats remains limited. To address this gap, we simultaneously incubated typhoon-generated green and naturally senesced leaf litter of camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) tree on the lawn and soil surfaces in combination with soil fauna exclusion. The mass remaining of senesced and green litter was significantly lower on lawns than on soil, and the mass remaining of senesced litter was significantly higher than that of green litter in both microhabitats. Carbon remaining in senesced and green litter on the lawn was markedly lower than those on the soil surface. Additionally, C and nitrogen (N) remaining in green litter were substantially lower than those in senesced litter. A notable decrease in C, N, and phosphorus (P) remaining in green litter on the soil surface occurred after the spring litter peak. Furthermore, soil fauna significantly reduced litter mass remaining, as well as C and P remaining, exerting a stronger effect on the decomposition of green litter than on senesced litter. We conclude that green and senesced litter exhibit distinct decomposition patterns across microhabitats.
    Community dynamics of alpine meadows under fencing durations: based on diversity, niches, and interspecific associations
    Jiaoneng Yu, Fei Ren, Li Ma, Huakun Zhou, Xiaotao Huang, Yongsheng Yang, Songbo Qu, Yuxuan Cui, Ribu Shama, Yuxia Zhang, Xu-Ri, Almaz Borjigidai
    doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf150
    Abstract ( 10 )    PDF    Save
    Grazing exclusion through fencing is widely used for vegetation restoration in degraded alpine meadows. However, the dynamic responses of plant communities to grazing exclusion remain poorly understood, especially from an integrated perspective of species diversity, niches, and interspecific associations. In this study, we investigated four proximate alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau with different fencing durations (0, 2, 6, and 12 years). We assessed the responses of plant diversity, niche characteristics, and interspecific associations to fencing duration, along with relationships among these dimensions. The results showed a unimodal response of plant diversity to fencing duration, with the Patrick richness index varying in coordination with niche and interspecific association metrics. After 2 years of fencing, the community niche breadth expanded, accompanied by increased niche overlap and Ochiai association index among major species. By 6 years of fencing, the niche breadth shifted toward lower values, and niche overlap of major species decreased significantly, with the proportion of species pairs with high overlap and high association reduced by 21.95% and 25.93%, respectively. After 12 years of fencing, niche overlap rebounded significantly, and the proportion of species pairs with high niche overlap and high association increased by 18.79% and 16.84%, respectively. Our findings support identifying 6 years of fencing as a critical intervention point. At this stage, the community achieves a dynamic balance between competition and coexistence through niche differentiation, maintaining high species diversity. We suggest moderate disturbance should be implemented in alpine meadows thereafter to prevent retrogressive succession.
    Distinct geographic patterns and drivers of plant, bacterial, and fungal β-diversity in semi-arid grasslands: Insights from a 1,700 km transect in northern China
    Congwen Wang, Yuan Wang, Linna Ma, Xuehua Ye, Guofang Liu
    doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf148
    Abstract ( 10 )    PDF    Save
    The β-diversity, as the variation in community composition across habitats, is crucial for understanding regional community assembly and biodiversity conservation. While biogeographic patterns of both macro- and microorganisms have been well-documented, little is known about studies that simultaneously examine these patterns and their driving mechanisms across continuous spatial scales in both above- and belowground communities. Here, we conducted a field survey along a 1,700-kilometer transect across diverse landscapes, including meadow steppe, typical steppe, desert steppe, and inland dunes in the semi-arid region (aridity ranging from 0.66 to 0.83) of northern China to investigate the patterns and drivers of β-diversity in plant, bacterial, and fungal communities at continuous spatial scales. We found that organisms with various dispersal traits exhibited significantly different distance-decay relationships, with plants showing the steepest slope (–0.190), followed by fungi (–0.095) and bacteria (–0.061). Species turnover was the primary component of β-diversity across plant, bacterial, and fungal communities at various spatial scales. Furthermore, β-diversity, its turnover components, and β-deviation of plant, bacterial and fungal communities all showed significant and positive relationships with spatial scale. Moreover, environmental distance had a greater impact on β-diversity patterns than geographic distance. Among environmental factors, aridity emerged as the dominant driver significantly influencing the β-diversity of plant and microbial communities, with the strongest effect on the bacterial community. These findings provide essential insights into the mechanisms influencing β-diversity in both plant and soil microbial communities, highlighting the importance of spatial scale and environmental filtering in community assembly.
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