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Functional dissimilarity in mixed forests promotes stem radial growth by mitigating tree water deficit

Tree growth is a key component of forest ecosystem functioning and is well-known to be limited by water availability. It is acknowledged that composition and diversity of co-occurring...

In Paper, Mar 20, 2024

Tree and shrub richness modifies subtropical tree productivity by regulating the diversity and community composition of soil bacteria and archaea

Forest soils contain rich prokaryotic communities, with groups such as bacteria and archaea playing important roles in carbon flux, nutrient cycling, and decomposition. However, their...

In Paper, Jan 03, 2024

Systematic distributions of interaction strengths across tree interaction networks yield positive diversity–productivity relationships

Understanding the mechanisms underlying diversity–productivity relationships (DPRs) is crucial to mitigating the effects of forest biodiversity loss. Tree–tree interactions in diverse...

In Paper, Jan 02, 2024

Plant–soil feedback is dependent on tree mycorrhizal types and tree species richness in a subtropical forest

Plant-soil feedback (PSF) is an important driver of plant species coexistence and diversity maintenance. However, it remains unclear how changes in PSF due to decline in tree species ...

In Paper, Jan 01, 2024

9 PhD positions in the field of forest biodiversity ecosystem functioning research (TreeDì / BEF-China)

The International Research Training Group “TreeDì - Tree Diversity Interactions: The role of tree-tree interactions in local neighborhoods in Chinese subtropical forests” (GRK 2324), ...

In news, Dec 23, 2023

Multitrophic arthropod diversity mediates tree diversity effects on primary productivity

An international team of researchers led by Prof. MA Keping from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IBCAS) has shown that forests with higher tree species ric...

In Report, May 28, 2023

Tree communities and functional traits determine herbivore compositional turnover

Studying the mechanisms of species turnover is key to understand community assembly in ecology. However, it is rarely investigated through calculating similarity of composition across...

In Paper, Apr 29, 2023

Within-individual leaf trait variation increases with phenotypic integration in a subtropical tree diversity experiment

Covariation of plant functional traits, that is, phenotypic integration, might constrain their variability. This was observed for inter- and intraspecific variation, but there is no e...

In Paper, Apr 28, 2023

Subtropical forest tree genetic richness causes contrasting effects on soil fungal guilds in monocultures and mixed-species stands

Plant diversity plays a critical role in shaping soil fungal communities. However, most previous studies have primarily focused on the consequences of tree species richness, while few...

In Paper, Apr 27, 2023

Carbon–biodiversity relationships in a highly diverse subtropical forest

Carbon-focused climate mitigation strategies are becoming increasingly important in forests. However, with ongoing biodiversity declines we require better knowledge of how much such s...

In Paper, Mar 27, 2023

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