Summary
Plant traits are increasingly being used to improve prediction of plant function, including plant demography. However, the capability of plant traits to predict demographic rates remains ...uncertain, particularly in the context of trees experiencing a changing climate.
Here we present data combining 17 plant traits associated with plant structure, metabolism and hydraulic status, with measurements of long‐term mean, maximum and relative growth rates for 176 trees from the world’s longest running tropical forest drought experiment.
We demonstrate that plant traits can predict mean annual tree growth rates with moderate explanatory power. However, only combinations of traits associated more directly with plant functional processes, rather than more commonly employed traits like wood density or leaf mass per area, yield the power to predict growth. Critically, we observe a shift from growth being controlled by traits related to carbon cycling (assimilation and respiration) in well‐watered trees, to traits relating to plant hydraulic stress in drought‐stressed trees.
We also demonstrate that even with a very comprehensive set of plant traits and growth data on large numbers of tropical trees, considerable uncertainty remains in directly interpreting the mechanisms through which traits influence performance in tropical forests.
In recent years, after the implementation of large-scale ecological restoration projects, karst areas in the South China Karst have become global “greening” hot spots. However, the biodiversity, ...ecosystem quality, and security patterns in karst areas are still severely affected. The reason for this is that despite the execution of karst desertification control projects, the lag mechanism of forest ecosystem functions and services is still unclear. Therefore, we analyze the progress in the research related to desertification control and the improvement of regional forest ecosystem function through a systematic literature review approach. The results show that the major landmarks achieved so far include the following aspects: based on the karst desertification control area, we have elucidated the driving factors of forest ecosystem change, discovered the ecological security pattern of landscape optimization and reconstruction, revealed the internal mechanism of forest system structure optimization and stability enhancement, overcome the technical constraints of forest water–fertilizer coupling, introduced a strategy for regulating functional traits to improve the growth and development of vegetation, proposed strategies to enhance carbon sequestration in forests and the efficiency of microbial carbon use, and created models and paths to realize the value of forest products. The key scientific issues to be addressed in the future mainly comprise the following: the effects of spatial heterogeneity on forest ecosystems, disturbances in landscape reconfiguration caused by human activities, the work mechanisms of the combination and configuration of the niche in structural optimization, the response of species configuration to the water cycle, the coupled relationship between biodiversity and soil properties, the screening and construction of the plant germplasm resource base, the functional trade-offs/synergistic mechanisms of karst forest ecosystems, the creation of policies for forest product in terms of rights, trading, and compensation, and systematic research on the extended industrial chain of forest ecosystems, its service potential, and so on.
In the past 20 years, karst desertification control has produced remarkable results, and the South China karst has been a global hotspot for greening. However, in the new stage of karst ...desertification control, the functional lag of forest ecosystems and the insufficient supply capacity of ecosystem services are gradually becoming prominent. We not only lack systematic research on vulnerability and resilience, structure and stability, ecological assets and services, carrying capacity and ecological security, and service trade-offs/synergies and optimization in controlled ecosystems. There is still a lack of research on the ecological processes of newly constructed forests in improving ecosystem functions and services. Therefore, this reprint mainly focuses on the research improvement of forest ecosystem functions in karst desertification control. This includes the improvement mechanism of ecosystem structure, function, and services, the mechanism of ecosystem service tradeoff/synergy, and function optimization. An optimization model of ecosystem function and an improvement path for eco-product supply are introduced. The role of functional traits in the maintenance of ecological function and services is also established, and social–ecological responses to afforestation in karst desertification control are discussed.
Forests are one of the most common and productive types of terrestrial ecosystems, with a significant contribution to the carbon budget of the atmosphere. Forests are recognized as the most reliable ...system to prevent the greenhouse effect, taking into consideration the scale of carbon sequestration and, especially, the long period of accumulation. Long life cycle of major forest tree species and the slow biological turnover of substances in ecosystems of the boreal and temperate zone contribute to the accumulation of carbon not only in forest biomass, but also in the detritus, humus forest soils and peat. Due to long term accumulation of stored carbon in forest ecosystems is achieved by the biosphere effect associated with the absorption of greenhouse gases and the prevention of changes in the climate system of the Earth. The aim of our study was to identify the carbon budget units at the regional level by GIS, to assess the resource and ecological potential of forests and to map the results of model calculations of forest carbon sequestration and carbon balance at the regional level.
Biomass, carbon concentration and carbon storage were investigated in the woody plants, herbaceous plants, litter and soil layers in a natural shrub ecosystem in Guiyang city, Guizhou Province. The ...results showed that biomass of the shrub vegetation was 23.16 t/hm super(2), of which 12.46 t/hm super(2) was in the woody plants (53.08% of the total biomass in the shrub vegetation), 3.74 t/hm super(2) in the herbaceous plants (16.15% of the total biomass) and 6.96 t/hm super(2) in the litter (30.05% of the total biomass). Carbon concentration ranged from 445.91 to 603.46 g/kg in 25 woody plant species, 408.48-523.04 g/kg in 6 herbaceous plant species, 341.01-392.81 g/kg in litter and 5.73-26.68 g/kg in the soils. The total carbon storage was 88.34 t/hm super(2) in this natural shrub ecosystem, of which 9.17% was found in the vegetation (8.10 t/hm super(2)), 2.89% in litter (2.56 t/hm super(2)) and 87.94% in the soil components (77.68 t/hm super(2)). The carbon storage in the shrub ecosystem decreased in an order soil component > vegetation component > litter component. Our results provide scientific basis and reference for estimating carbon storage and balance in urban forest ecosystems in the Karst areas.
•Plant functional traits often impact trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services.•A bipartite network module-based approach was used to classify the associations.•Trade-offs or synergies among ...ecosystem services may shift in different traits.•Forty-one traits affecting trade-offs or synergies were clustered in five groups.•Results provide forest management strategies from a plant functional traits perspective.
Understanding the mechanisms of ecosystem services trade-offs and synergies is critical for forest management. Plant functional traits provide an approach to identify the relationships between forest structure, processes, and ecosystem services, and to explain the trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services. We performed a systematic literature review of forest ecosystem services trade-offs and synergies from the perspective of plant functional traits based on 216 articles. The number of associations varied greatly in terms of both traits and ecosystem services. 51.9% were associated with leaf traits, while the most associated services were soil fertility (16.7%), biomass (15.7%), and carbon sequestration services (14.7%). Plant functional traits (15.4%) associated with individual services tended to have stable positive or negative relationships with those services, but most plant functional traits (84.6%) were associated with multiple ecosystem services. Trade-offs existed primarily between regulating services (runoff control, pest control, carbon regulation, invasion control, air quality regulation, and soil conservation) and material production services (biomass, soil water content, sediment buffering of mass movement, and wind protection), and synergies mainly existed within regulating and material production services. The 41 plant functional traits that had a substantial influence on ecosystem services trade-offs or synergies corresponded to five different ecosystem structures or processes (belowground structure, aboveground structure, material decomposition, material production, and nutrient capture). These empirical findings contribute to our understanding of trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services, and have the potential to provide effective strategies for forest restoration and management.
Understanding and quantification of phosphorus (P) fluxes are key requirements for predictions of future forest ecosystems changes as well as for transferring lessons learned from natural ecosystems ...to croplands and plantations. This review summarizes and evaluates the recent knowledge on mechanisms, magnitude, and relevance by which dissolved and colloidal inorganic and organic P forms can be translocated within or exported from forest ecosystems. Attention is paid to hydrological pathways of P losses at the soil profile and landscape scales, and the subsequent influence of P on aquatic ecosystems. New (unpublished) data from the German Priority Program 1685 “Ecosystem Nutrition: Forest Strategies for limited Phosphorus Resources” were added to provide up‐to‐date flux‐based information.
Nitrogen (N) additions increase the release of water‐transportable P forms. Most P found in percolates and pore waters belongs to the so‐called dissolved organic P (DOP) fractions, rich in orthophosphate‐monoesters and also containing some orthophosphate‐diesters. Total solution P concentrations range from ca. 1 to 400 µg P L−1, with large variations among forest stands. Recent sophisticated analyses revealed that large portions of the DOP in forest stream water can comprise natural nanoparticles and fine colloids which under extreme conditions may account for 40–100% of the P losses. Their translocation within preferential flow passes may be rapid, mediated by storm events. The potential total P loss through leaching into subsoils and with streams was found to be less than 50 mg P m−2 a−1, suggesting effects on ecosystems at centennial to millennium scale. All current data are based on selected snapshots only. Quantitative measurements of P fluxes in temperate forest systems are nearly absent in the literature, probably due to main research focus on the C and N cycles. Therefore, we lack complete ecosystem‐based assessments of dissolved and colloidal P fluxes within and from temperate forest systems.
Heatwaves exert disproportionately strong and sometimes irreversible impacts on forest ecosystems. These impacts remain poorly understood at the tree and species level and across large spatial ...scales. Here, we investigate the effects of the record-breaking 2018 European heatwave on tree growth and tree water status using a collection of high-temporal resolution dendrometer data from 21 species across 53 sites. Relative to the two preceding years, annual stem growth was not consistently reduced by the 2018 heatwave but stems experienced twice the temporary shrinkage due to depletion of water reserves. Conifer species were less capable of rehydrating overnight than broadleaves across gradients of soil and atmospheric drought, suggesting less resilience toward transient stress. In particular, Norway spruce and Scots pine experienced extensive stem dehydration. Our high-resolution dendrometer network was suitable to disentangle the effects of a severe heatwave on tree growth and desiccation at large-spatial scales in situ, and provided insights on which species may be more vulnerable to climate extremes.
•Forest management must target to priority and quantity needs of ecosystem services.•A challenge is to maximize the overall value of competing forest ecosystem services.•Balanced management is the ...optimal approach of forest ecosystem services supply.•Multi-targeted payment of forest ecosystem services supports balanced management.•Balanced forest management needs its new theory, techniques, and decision tools.
Societal demand for vitally important hydrological and other forest ecosystem services (FES) has been rapidly increasing due to accelerating socioeconomic development and global change. Combined with growing threats of water insecurity, complex forest-water interactions are especially challenging to address given the trade-offs among competing FES (e.g., water yield vs carbon sequestration, or biomass production vs biodiversity conservation). The concept of balanced forest ecosystem service management (BFESM) offers a strategy for optimizing the production of multiple FES to meet societal demand and ensure ecological integrity in ways that harmonize both the synergies and tradeoffs across desired FES and the differing and often conflicting needs and priorities of diverse stakeholders. Better understanding the complex and often nonlinear interactions among different FES and how these vary across spatial and temporal scales and different site contexts is critical to developing BFESM strategies. Moreover, the often sharply contrasting FES needs and priorities of different societal groups or stakeholders must be considered in conjunction with information about FES trade-offs. Policy strategies that introduce compensation mechanisms to account for the public good and non-market nature of many highly valued FES (e.g., clean and plentiful water supply, climate regulation) such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), are increasingly being used to foster FES stewardship, yet transitioning from the conventional single FES towards multi-targeted PES (MTPES) approaches could greatly improve the effectiveness of PES schemes. Here, we present five guiding principles of BFESM and discuss the opportunities and challenges of designing effective MTPES policy frameworks. Building on the strengths of each, we then propose an integrated BFESM-MTPES framework for balancing the biophysical understanding of complex synergies and tradeoffs across the target FES with the demands and interests of diverse stakeholders. We then discuss specific tools for developing a decision support framework that better integrates and informs strategies for managing forest-water interactions and other FES to achieve BFESM-MTPES goals based on innovative, science-based approaches. We conclude by highlighting key future research directions.
Phosphorus availability may shape plant–microorganism–soil interactions in forest ecosystems. Our aim was to quantify the interactions between soil P availability and P nutrition strategies of ...European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests. We assumed that plants and microorganisms of P-rich forests carry over mineral-bound P into the biogeochemical P cycle (acquiring strategy). In contrast, P-poor ecosystems establish tight P cycles to sustain their P demand (recycling strategy). We tested if this conceptual model on supply-controlled P nutrition strategies was consistent with data from five European beech forest ecosystems with different parent materials (geosequence), covering a wide range of total soil P stocks (160–900 g P m⁻²; <1 m depth). We analyzed numerous soil chemical and biological properties. Especially P-rich beech ecosystems accumulated P in topsoil horizons in moderately labile forms. Forest floor turnover rates decreased with decreasing total P stocks (from 1/5 to 1/40 per year) while ratios between organic carbon and organic phosphorus (C: Porg) increased from 110 to 984 (A horizons). High proportions of fine-root biomass in forest floors seemed to favor tight P recycling. Phosphorus in fine-root biomass increased relative to microbial P with decreasing P stocks. Concomitantly, phosphodi-esterase activity decreased, which might explain increasing proportions of diester-P remaining in the soil organic matter. With decreasing P supply indicator values for P acquisition decreased and those for recycling increased, implying adjustment of plant–microorganism–soil feedbacks to soil P availability. Intense recycling improves the P use efficiency of beech forests.
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