Interactions between soil properties and the rhizome-root distribution in a 12-year Moso bamboo reforested region: Combining ground-penetrating radar and soil coring in the field

Phyllostachys edulis Argonaute genes function in the shoot architecture

Argonaute (AGO) proteins are the core components of the RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISC) in the cytoplasm and nucleus, and are necessary for the development of plant shoot meristem, which gives rise to the above-ground plant body. In this study, we identified 23 Phyllostachys edulis AGO genes (PhAGOs) that were distributed unequally on the 14 unmapped scaffolds. Gene collinearity and phylogeny analysis showed that the innovation of PhAGO genes was mainly due to dispersed duplication and whole-genome duplication, which resulted in the enlarged PhAGO family. PhAGO genes were expressed in a temporal-spatial expression pattern, and they encoded proteins differently localized in the cytoplasm and/or nucleus. Overexpression of the PhAGO2 and PhAGO4 genes increased the number of tillers or leaves in Oryza sativa and affected the shoot architecture of Arabidopsis thaliana. These results provided insight into the fact that PhAGO genes play important roles in plant development.

Belowground bud banks and land use change: roles of vegetation and soil properties in mediating the composition of bud banks in different ecosystems

Introduction

Belowground bud banks play integral roles in vegetation regeneration and ecological succession of plant communities; however, human-caused changes in land use severely threaten their resilience and regrowth. Although vegetation attributes and soil properties mediate such anthropogenic effects, their influence on bud bank size and composition and its regulatory mechanisms under land use change have not been explored.

Methods

We conducted a field investigation to examine impacts of land use change on bud bank size and composition, vegetation attributes, and soil properties in wetlands (WL), farmlands (FL), and alpine meadow (AM) ecosystems in Zhejiang Province, China.

Results

Overall, 63 soil samples in close proximity to the vegetation quadrats were excavated using a shovel, and samples of the excavated soil were placed in plastic bags for onward laboratory soil analysis. The total bud density (1514.727 ± 296.666) and tiller bud density (1229.090 ± 279.002) in wetland ecosystems were significantly higher than in farmland and alpine meadow ecosystems [i.e., total (149.333 ± 21.490 and 573.647 ± 91.518) and tiller bud density (24.666 ± 8.504 and 204.235 ± 50.550), respectively]. While vegetation attributes critically affected bud banks in WL ecosystems, soil properties strongly influenced bud banks in farmland and alpine meadow ecosystems. In wetland ecosystems, total and tiller buds were predominantly dependent on soil properties, but vegetation density played a significant role in farmlands and alpine meadow ecosystems. Root sprouting and rhizome buds significantly correlated with total C in the top 0 - 10 cm layer of farmland and alpine meadow ecosystems, respectively, and depended mainly on soil properties.

Discussion

Our results demonstrate that land use change alters bud bank size and composition; however, such responses differed among bud types in wetland, farmland, and alpine meadow ecosystems.

The geophysical toolbox applied to forest ecosystems - A review

Studying the forest subsurface is a challenge because of its heterogeneous nature and difficult access. Traditional approaches used by ecologists to characterize the subsurface have a low spatial representativity. This review article illustrates how geophysical techniques can and have been used to get new insights into forest ecology. Near-surface geophysics offers a wide range of methods to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of subsurface properties in a non-destructive and integrative way, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. These techniques can be used alone or combined to take advantage of their complementarity. Our review led us to define three topics how near-surface geophysics can support forest ecology studies: 1) detection of root systems, 2) monitoring of water quantity and dynamics, and 3) characterisation of spatial heterogeneity in subsurface properties at the stand level. The number of forest ecology studies using near-surface geophysics is increasing and this multidisciplinary approach opens new opportunities and perspectives for improving quantitative assessment of biophysical properties and exploring forest response to the environment and adaptation to climate change.