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The synthesis scheme for the formation pathway of monometallic and bimetallic nanoparticles supported on hydrochar derived from lignin-rich precursory biomass.

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While the contribution of biodiversity to supporting multiple ecosystem functions is well-established in natural ecosystems, the relationship of the above and belowground diversity with ecosystem multifunctionality remains virtually unknown in urban greenspaces. Here, we conducted a standardized survey of urban greenspaces from 56 municipalities across six continents, aiming to investigate the relationships of plant and soil biodiversity (diversity of bacteria, fungi, protists, and invertebrates, and metagenomics-based functional diversity) with 18 surrogates of ecosystem functions from nine ecosystem services. We found that soil biodiversity across biomes was significantly and positively correlated with multiple dimensions of ecosystem functions, and contributed to key ecosystem services such as microbial-driven carbon pools, organic matter decomposition, plant productivity, nutrient cycling, water regulation, plant-soil mutualism, plant pathogen control, and antibiotic resistance regulation. Plant diversity only indirectly influenced multifunctionality in urban greenspaces via changes in soil conditions that were associated with soil biodiversity. These findings were maintained after controlling for climate, spatial context, soil properties, vegetation, and management practices. This study provides solid evidence that conserving soil biodiversity in urban greenspaces is key to support multiple dimensions of ecosystem functioning, which is critical for the sustainability of urban ecosystems and human wellbeing.

Purpose Climate models predict shifts in precipitation patterns characterized by increased precipitation amount and decreased frequency for semi-arid grasslands in northeast China. However, under these novel climatic conditions, potential differences in plant biomass and its allocation among different degraded grasslands remain unclear.Methods We conducted a mesocosm experiment to test the effects of higher precipitation amount (increased by 50% from the long-term mean) and lower frequency (decreased by 50%) on plant biomass and allocation in the lightly degraded (LDG), moderately degraded (MDG), and severely degraded grasslands (SDG).Results Lower precipitation frequency promoted belowground biomass (BGB), while reducing aboveground biomass (AGB) allocation through enhancing soil water variability. Higher precipitation amount enhanced AGB in LDG and MDG, but not in SDG due to less soil inorganic nitrogen. Lower precipitation frequency weakened the positive effects of higher precipitation amount on biomass. Under altered precipitation, adjustment of AGB vs. BGB allocation was the primary biomass allocation strategy in LDG and SDG. However, to maintain water acquirement, plants in MDG preferred to adjust root vertical distribution, and allocated more roots to the deep soil layer where had a relatively stable water source. This strategy was driven by the changes in plant community composition of the dominant species in MDG.Conclusions The ndings of this research emphasized the importance of considering the degradation level of grasslands when predicting the responses of the ecosystem functions to the projected changes in precipitation regime. These ndings are critical for making feasible decisions for the sustainable management of degraded grasslands.