How soil nutrients modulate plant facilitation in drylands: Contrasting the roles of fertile island strength and ecosystem fertility at a global scale

Victoria Giachetti and Martín Aguiar, University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, discuss their article: Stronger fertile island patterns enhance plant facilitation in drylands, regardless of overall ecosystem fertility Facilitation and fertile island formation: Two key structuring processes in dryland ecosystems At the core of dryland ecosystem functioning, there are two tightly linked processes: fertile island…

Small trees, big impact: Rethinking how trees and their underground partners shape their soils

Adam Weiler, Indiana University, discusses his article: Seeing the forest for all the trees: Mycorrhizal-associated nutrient economies are modulated by stem density and the synchrony between overstorey and understorey tree communities When we think about how forests influence the soil beneath them, it’s easy to picture the towering overstorey trees that define a woodland. These…

Earlier snowmelt impacts carbon cycling in montane meadows

Olivia Vought, University of Michigan, discusses her article: Earlier snowmelt increases the strength of the carbon sink in montane meadows unequally across the growing season In cold, mountain regions, the climate is warming, causing snow to melt earlier. In fact, winters are changing faster than the warmer seasons in many seasonally cold places. However, how…

More Snow, Fewer Species: A 16-Year Story from a Tibetan Meadow

Juntao Zhu, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discusses his article: Loss of resource-conservative species affects plant phylogenetic and functional structure under long-term snow addition The alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau are unique ecosystems shaped by a harsh climate and traditional yak grazing. But as the…

How the strategies of bilberry roots to access nutrients vary at small scales and with changes in nutrient availability

Barbara Meyers, University of Freiburg in Germany, discusses her article: Soil nutrient availability rather than spatial nutrient heterogeneity shapes the intraspecific response of root architectural, morphological and mycorrhizal traits in Vaccinium myrtillus Roots make up for a large proportion of plant biomass and play a central role in several plant functions: accessing water and nutrients…

Experimental resource supplementation shifts ant-mediated defense on silver cholla

Jenna Braun, York University, Toronto, discusses her article: Experimental resource supplementation shifts ant-mediated defense on silver cholla Extra-floral nectaries (EFN) play an important role within mutualisms between plants and ants. In this relationship, ants receive a nutrient-rich food source from plants in exchange for defending the plant from herbivores. Ant species are not equally effective…

How plants relate to each other when they share pollinators

Yong-Deng He and Zhong-Ming Ye, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discuss their article: Disentangling the mechanisms behind indirect interactions between plants via shared pollinators: Effects of neutral and niche-based processes In biodiversity hotspots like the alpine meadows of north-western Yunnan, more than 100 flowering species can bloom in a single season.…

How tree growth strategies shift with age and climate: What it means for forest management

Rongxu Shan and Zilong Ma from Sun Yat-sen University, and Han Y.H. Chen from Lakehead University discuss their article: Functional traits and individual tree growth relationship weakens with stand development but strengthens with increasing temperature. Forests are far more than just collections of trees: they are vibrant, dynamic ecosystems where each tree’s growth strategy plays…