Seedling herbivory across elevational gradients: What drives both mean and variability in leaf damage?

Xiaoran Wang, East China Normal University, and Jian Zhang, Sun Yat-Sen University, discuss their article: Elevation and environmental factors shape variability rather than the mean of seedling herbivory across subtropical forests In mountain forests, not all seedlings experience insect herbivory in the same way. While some individuals suffer substantial leaf damage, others are barely affected.…

When losing species doesn’t weaken competition: Lessons from a Czech meadow

Eva Janíková, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, discusses her article: Realistic species loss has little effect on local resource depletion and competitive pressure in a temperate wet meadow A story that started with a simple idea When we began this project, we had clear expectations. Following ideas going back to Charles Elton’s hypothesis…

How are plant and soil microbial diversity linked across mountain forests?

Jiayun Zou, Technical University of Munich, discusses his article: Biodiversity associations between aboveground and belowground communities in mountain forests across different climatic regions How tightly are the biological communities above and below the forest floor connected? In mountain forests, those associations remain poorly understood. While plants and soil microbes interact intimately, such as through symbioses…

‌The hidden fungal world: How tree species with different abundance shape rhizosphere symbioses‌

Jiarong Yang and Yu Liu, East China Normal University, discuss their article: Rare tree species host a high diversity of rhizosphere fungi Forest ecosystems are intricate webs of life where trees and their root-associated fungi form a delicate balance. One question that remains, is whether and how tree species abundance influences the fungal communities that…

Regrown but not recovered: Forest management regime alters deadwood volume and wood-inhabiting fungal diversity

Vincent Buness, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, discusses his article: Distinct diversity trajectories of boreal wood-inhabiting fungi following fire vs. clear-cutting As humans, we tend to trust our senses and assume that we can perceive most of what surrounds us. When we walk through the forest, we see trees with their stems and canopy, and…

Mass outweighs diversity: Dominant species mitigate grassland multifunctionality during drought in Inner Mongolia

Jiaqi Chen and Wentao Luo, Institute of Applied Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discuss their article: Dominant species determine drought effects on grassland multifunctionality The increasing frequency of extreme drought events poses a severe threat to grassland ecosystem multifunctionality—a metric aggregating multiple ecosystem functions. However, the ecological mechanisms driving these impacts remain contentious.…

Can plant functional diversity dilute plant virus infection?

Beatriz Aguirre, Cornell University, discusses her article: Plant functional diversity does not dilute virus infection, but community virus prevalence positively correlates with net C3 grass production Greater plant diversity can protect plant communities from pathogens in wild and agricultural plant communities, and the effects of many aspects of diversity, such as genetic and species diversity,…

Is there a general response of biodiversity to elevated CO2 and nitrogen across spatial scales?

Ethan E. Butler, Peter B. Reich, Neha Mohanbabu, and Forest Isbell from the University of Minnesota, USA, Zhong Wang from the Wuhan University inChina, and Xiujuan Qiao from the Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, discuss their article: Elevated CO2 and enriched nitrogen proportionally decrease species richness most at small spatial scales in a…

How does plant diversity recover after invasive species removal?

Shao-peng Li and Bingwei Lv, East China Normal University, discuss their article: Multidimensional diversity recovery following invasive species removal: Roles of colonization, extinction, and abundance shifts. Background Plant invasion is a global ecological challenge, and invasive species often outcompete native plants, leading to a loss of biodiversity and disruption of ecosystem functions. Removing these unwelcome…

Liana diversity and density in Ghana show positive association with precipitation, precisely opposite to pantropical trends

Bismark Ofosu-Bamfo, University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani, Ghana, discusses his article: Patterns and drivers of liana community structure across five forest ecosystem types in Ghana In recent years, ecologists in the tropics have dedicated a good amount of research to understand the pattern and drivers of community assemblages of woody climbing plants,…