Improving plantation quality is a key strategy for mitigating climate change. However, the mechanisms by which microbial diversity and interactions jointly affect ecosystem quality remain poorly understood. Here, we evaluated how arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and protistan consumer diversity and interactions were related to soil (SQI) and vegetation (VQI) quality across 108 Pinus tabuliformis and Ulmus pumila plantation plots during spring and autumn. We found that AMF richness and network robustness exhibited significant seasonal and host-dependent variation (P < 0.05), whereas consumer richness showed no significant differences (P > 0.05). U. pumila plantations maintained higher soil and vegetation quality across both seasons. Multiple regression models showed that mean annual temperature was the dominant predictor of SQI and VQI in P. tabuliformis plantations, whereas soil properties and network robustness emerged as primary predictors of SQI and VQI in U. pumila plantations. SEMs identified reciprocal associations between network robustness and ecosystem quality in U. pumila plantations, whereas no significant direct associations were detected in P. tabuliformis plantations, where soil properties were positively associated with SQI. Our findings reveal that the relative importance of belowground biotic interactions in relation to plantation quality is host-dependent. U. pumila exhibited reciprocal associations between network robustness and ecosystem quality, whereas variation in P. tabuliformis plantation quality was more strongly associated with abiotic factors. These findings underscore the importance of microbial interaction network configuration, with network stability serving as a potential indicator for optimizing tree species configurations and enhancing plantation quality.
Climate and land-use changes are major drivers of species extinction. However, whether threatened and non-threatened species differ in their responses to these pressures remains unclear. Moreover, the factors inducing the difference are poorly understood. Here, using plant family Theaceae, in which over one-third of species are threatened, we explored the vulnerability of threatened and non-threatened species under future climate and land-use changes, assessed how range size, species current environmental condition, and the magnitude of environmental changes influence the distributional changes of threatened and non-threatened species. The results showed that threatened species were predicted to lose a higher proportion of ranges. Species with limited ranges are more vulnerable to future environmental changes compared to those with larger habitats across threatened and non-threatened groups. The range loss of Theaceae was related to current environmental conditions and the magnitude of future changes, with factors such as temperature, shrubland habitat, and elevation range being important for non-threatened species and soil pH for threatened species. Most non-threatened species were expected to shift towards northern or western regions in the 2070s, whereas threatened species showed a shift trend with multiple directions. Overall, narrow-ranged species were more vulnerable to future changes, and threatened species showed greater projected range loss largely because many of them had restricted current ranges. Our results provide a reference for developing effective conservation strategies, protection of sensitive habitat, enhancement of habitat connectivity, and human-assisted dispersal are urgently needed to minimize negative impacts of climate and land-use changes on Theaceae in China.
Abstract Climatic filtering alone does not fully explain floral color formation and biogeographic patterns, as it overlooks edaphic metal availability as a potential environmental driver. A global meta-analysis encompassing 113 plant species revealed that Fe-carotenoid responses varied with treatment concentration, whereas Cu showed opposing associations with carotenoids and anthocyanins. To examine whether these patterns contributed to intraspecific floral differentiation, we compared four color morphs of Stellera chamaejasme co-occurring in the Hengduan Mountains. Fe, Cu and Ti concentrations differed significantly among morphs, prompting hydroponic metal-addition experiments that further resolved the roles of these metals in pigment biosynthesis. Fe addition increased ζ-carotene desaturase (ZDS) protein content and carotenoid synthesis, whereas Cu addition enhanced anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) protein content and anthocyanin accumulation. In contrast, addition of the non-essential metal Ti suppressed both pigment pathways, likely through competitive interference with Fe- and Cu-dependent enzymes. These results suggest that essential and non-essential metals play contrasting roles in floral pigmentation, with essential metals primarily enhancing pigment biosynthesis and non-essential metals modulating these responses. High Fe supply had no significant effect on chlorophyll content in the yellow morph but significantly reduced it in the other three morphs. This pattern suggests that the yellow morph is uniquely suited to Fe-rich conditions, consistent with its exclusive occurrence in low-latitude, Fe-rich soils in China. Conversely, the white-red morph had the highest chlorophyll-to-soil-Fe ratio, suggesting greater adaptation to low-Fe habitats at higher latitudes and altitudes. This study establishes a mechanistic framework linking metal functional divergence to floral trait variation and intraspecific biogeography.
Abstract Forests are key components of global ecosystems, regulating nutrient cycling and energy flow. In karst landscapes, pronounced ground surface heterogeneity generates highly uneven resource distributions, thereby shaping forest community structure and biomass accumulation. Although multiple dimensions of biodiversity are known to influence aboveground biomass (AGB), how ground surface heterogeneity mediates biodiversity and AGB across fine spatial scales in fragmented forests remains unclear. In this study, we quantified ground surface heterogeneity using an entropy-based index across 212 subplots nested within 53 plots in a subtropical karst forest. By integrating multivariate biodiversity metrics and community-weighted traits, we evaluated the pathways through which ground surface heterogeneity regulates biodiversity and AGB. Our analyses revealed that structural diversity was the strongest predictor of AGB, whereas functional composition also contributed positively, suggesting that both selection and complementarity effects were involved. Moreover, at the plot scale, biodiversity and AGB exhibited unimodal responses to ground surface heterogeneity, indicating that AGB peaked at intermediate levels of heterogeneity, potentially reflecting enhanced structural differentiation and resource complementarity. Taken together, these findings demonstrate a clear hierarchical pathway that ground surface heterogeneity drives variations in biodiversity, which subsequently translates into enhanced stand structural diversity, ultimately maintaining higher AGB. This study underscores the central role of moderate ground surface heterogeneity in sustaining forest structural diversity and biomass accumulation, highlighting the importance of integrating habitat variability and structural metrics into forest management and restoration strategies in fragmented ecosystems.
Abstract Global climate change is reshaping temperature and precipitation regimes, intensifying compound extremes and altering terrestrial ecosystem functioning. Although their individual effects on ecosystem productivity are widely studied, their joint variability, here termed temperature–precipitation (T–P) synchrony, has emerged as a critical but underexplored driver of ecological outcomes. Here, we synthesize current understanding of T–P synchrony and its impacts on ecosystem productivity. We use T–P synchrony as a cross-timescale umbrella concept encompassing three complementary, scale-dependent aspects: seasonal phase alignment, anomaly covariability, and long-term trend concordance. Anomaly covariability includes both relationships between anomaly time series and the co-occurrence of anomaly events. These aspects show pronounced spatial heterogeneity, with typical expressions ranging from different seasonal alignments to contrasting anomaly combinations and trend relationships. Recent studies report intensifying anomaly covariability, especially for compound extremes, whereas long-term trend concordance remains constrained by thermodynamic and hydrological limits. Together, these aspects of T–P synchrony help explain why similar warming can enhance productivity in some ecosystems but suppress it in others. In general, warm–wet conditions tend to enhance productivity, whereas warm–dry conditions often amplify drought stress, reduce carbon uptake, and increase mortality risk. These effects are filtered by ecosystem traits and mediated by hydroclimatic intermediaries such as vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and soil moisture. Future progress depends on clearer definitions, stronger linkage between T–P synchrony and ecological responses, and better mechanistic resolution in observations, experiments, and models. Such efforts should improve assessment of ecosystem productivity, carbon-sink stability, and vulnerability under continued climate change.
