Patterns of resource availability and heterogeneity shape the composition, productivity, and dynamics of plant assemblages in a wide variety of terrestrial ecosystems. Despite this, the responses of plant assemblages to simultaneous changes in the availability and heterogeneity of more than a single resource are virtually unknown. To fill this gap, microcosms consisting of assemblages formed by...

Variation of total fine-root biomass among types of tree stands has previously been attributed to the characteristics of the stand layers. The effects of the understory vegetation on total fine-root biomass are less well studied. We examined the variation of total fine-root biomass in subtropical tree stands at two sites of Datian and Huitong in China. The two sites have similar humid monsoon c...

We established Populus deltoides Bartr. stands differing in nitrogen (N) availability and tested if: (1) N-induced carbon (C) allocation could be explained by developmental allocation controls; and (2) N uptake per unit root mass, i.e., specific N-uptake rate, increased with N availability. Closely spaced (1 x 1 m) stands were treated with 50, 100 and 200 kg N ha(-1) year(-1) of time-release ba...

The clonal shrub Cornus drummondii C.A. Mey. is rapidly increasing in cover and displacing mesic grassland species in the central USA as a consequence of fire suppression. We assessed the impact of C. drummondii on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools and C fluxes in a tallgrass prairie in eastern Kansas, USA, through a comparison of both burned and unburned C. drummondii islands with open grassla...

Belowground interactions among plants and soil organisms are complex. Plant roots form associations with mutualists, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), while also interacting fauna that may feed on plant fungal hyphae. Each of these is likely to be affected by a warming climate, community-level responses not always evident. We investigated the growth perennial C4 grass Panicum virgat...

Abstract. Hatta SM, Salleh E, Suhaili NS, Besar NA. 2022. Estimation of carbon pool at mangrove forest Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia. Biodiversitas 23: 4601-4608. Mangroves play a significant role in reducing tropical emissions and preventing climate change. This study was carried out Kudat's Tun Mustapha Park forest. research aims to quantify the aboveground, belowground, soil pools. Nine 125-meter-l...

In frequently burned ecosystems, many plants persist by repeated resprouting from basal or belowground buds. This strategy requires that plants reach a balance between biomass loss and recovery, which depends on the shape of the relationship between pre- and post-fire size. Previous analyses of this relationship, however, have focused on the size of the largest stem, which ignores the importanc...

Patterns of plant biomass allocation and functional adjustments along climatic gradients are poorly understood, particularly belowground. Generally, low temperatures suppress nutrient release and uptake, and forests under such conditions have a greater proportion of their biomass in roots. However, it is not clear whether 'more roots' means better capacity to acquire soil resources. Herein we q...

Although soil microbial communities are known to play crucial roles in the cycling of nutrients in forest ecosystems and can vary by plant species, how microorganisms respond to the subtle gradients of plant genetic variation is just beginning to be appreciated. Using a model Populus system in a common garden with replicated clones of known genotypes, we evaluated microbial biomass and communit...