Shifts in ecosystem structure have been observed over recent decades as woody plants encroach upon grasslands and wetlands globally. The migration of mangrove forests into salt marsh ecosystems is one such shift which could have important implications for global 'blue carbon' stocks. To date, attempts to quantify changes in ecosystem function are essentially constrained to climate-mediated puls...

Biomass partitioning has been explored across various biomes. However, the strategies of allocation in plants still remain contentious. This study investigated allocation patterns of above- and belowground biomass at the community level, using biomass survey from the Tibetan Plateau. We explored above- and belowground biomass by conducting three consecutive sampling campaigns across shrub biome...

Production increases in intensively managed forests have been obtained by improving resource availability through water and nutrient amendments. Increased stem production has been attributed to shifts in growth from roots to shoot, and such shifts would have important implications for belowground carbon sequestration. We examined above and belowground growth and biomass accumulation and distrib...

The growth rate hypothesis (GRH) proposes that higher growth rate (the rate of change in biomass per unit biomass, μ) is associated with higher P concentration and lower C:P and N:P ratios. However, the applicability of the GRH to vascular plants is not well-studied and few studies have been done on belowground biomass. Here we showed that, for aboveground, belowground and total biomass of thre...

The carbon sequestration potential in coastal soils is linked to aboveground and belowground plant productivity and biomass, which in turn, is directly and indirectly influenced by nutrient input. We evaluated the influence of longterm and near-term nutrient input on aboveground and belowground carbon accumulation in seagrass beds, using a nutrient enrichment (nitrogen and phosphorus) experimen...

[1] Terrestrial ecosystems in the northern latitudes are significant carbon sinks for atmospheric CO2; however, few studies come from grassland ecosystems. Using national grassland resource inventory data, NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) time series data set, and a satellite-based statistical model, this study identifies changes in the size and distribution of aboveground biomass ...

Nutrient availability and herbivory can regulate primary production in ecosystems, but little is known about how, or whether, they may interact with one another. Here, we investigate how nitrogen availability and insect herbivory interact to alter aboveground and belowground plant community biomass in an old-Weld ecosystem. In 2004, we established 36 experimental plots in which we manipulated s...

AIM Understanding and predicting ecosystem functioning such as biomass accumulation requires an accurate assessment of large-scale patterns of biomass distribution and partitioning in relation to climatic and soil environments. METHODS We sampled above- and belowground biomass from 26 sites spanning 1500 km in Inner Mongolian grasslands, compared the difference in aboveground, belowground bio...

this study analyzed the relationship between the vertical distribution of root biomass and soil organic carbon (soc)content in the arid shrub lands of semnan province in iran. three sites were selected based on differences in canopy coverof artemisia sieberi (5%, 10% and 15%). average density of shrubs, root biomass and soc were determined at differentdepths (0-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80 cm) in 20...

The degree to which vertebrate herbivores exploitatively compete for the same food plant may depend on the level of compensatory plant growth. Such compensation is higher when there is reduced density-dependent competition in plants after herbivore damage. Whether there is relief from competition may largely be determined by the life-history stage of plants under herbivory. Such stage-specific ...