The responses of fine root mass, length, production and turnover to the increase in soil N availability are not well understood in forest ecosystems. In this study, sequential soil core and ingrowth core methods were employed to examine the responses of fine root (B1 mm) standing biomass, root length density (RLD), specific root length (SRL), biomass production and turnover rate to soil N fertilization (10 g N m -2 year -1 ) in Larix gmelinii (larch) and Fraxinus mandshurica (ash) plantations. N fertilization significantly reduced fine root standing biomass from 130.7 to 103.4 g m -2 in ash, but had no significant influence in larch (81.5 g m -2 in the control and 81.9 g m -2 in the fertilized plots). Similarly, N fertilization reduced mean RLD from 6,857 to 5,822 m m -2 in ash, but did not influence RLD in larch (1,875 m m -2 in the control and 1,858 m m -2 in the fertilized plots). In both species, N fertilization did not alter SRL. Additionally, N fertilization did not significantly alter root production and turnover rate estimated from sequential soil cores, but did reduce root production and turnover rate estimated from the ingrowth core method. These results suggested that N fertilization had a substantial influence on fine root standing biomass, RLD, biomass production and turnover rate, but the direction and magnitude of the influence depended on species and methods.

The hydrological characteristics of litter in four different forest succession stages, i.e., a Pinus massoniana forest, a mixed conifer and broad-leaved forest with conifer being the dominant species, a mixed conifer and broad-leaved forest with deciduous trees as dominant species, and an evergreen broad-leaved forest, have been studied by means of substituting space for time. The results show that while a community is developing to a zonal climax, the amount of litter becomes larger and its decomposition intensity becomes stronger; there is a positive relation between its water-holding capacity and velocity and its community maturity for the halfdecomposed litter layer.

Cosmological constraints from current and upcoming galaxy cluster surveys are limited by the accuracy of cluster mass calibration. In particular, optically identified galaxy clusters are prone to selection effects that can bias the weak lensing mass calibration. We investigate the selection bias of the stacked cluster lensing signal associated with optically selected clusters, using clusters identified by the redMaPPer algorithm in the Buzzard simulations as a case study. We find that at a given cluster halo mass, the residuals of redMaPPer richness and weak lensing signal are positively correlated. As a result, for a given richness selection, the stacked lensing signal is biased high compared with what we would expect from the underlying halo mass probability distribution. The cluster lensing selection bias can thus lead to overestimated mean cluster mass and biased cosmology results. We show that the lensing selection bias exhibits a strong scale-dependence and is approximately 20 – 60% for ΔΣ at large scales. This selection bias largely originates from spurious member galaxies within ±20 – 60 $h^{-1} \rm Mpc$ along the line of sight, highlighting the importance of quantifying projection effects associated with the broad redshift distribution of member galaxies in photometric cluster surveys. While our results qualitatively agree with those in the literature, accurate quantitative modelling of the selection bias is needed to achieve the goals of cluster lensing cosmology and will require synthetic catalogues covering a wide range of galaxy–halo connection models.

We surveyed the forest litter amount at the Lianxiahe watershed in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area and analyzed some hydrological characteristics such as the maximum water-holding capacity and water absorption rate of litter in six types of forests, i.e. the Cupressus funebris forest, the coniferous mixed forest, the coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest, the broad-leaved forest, the Pinus massoniana forest, the bush forest. Results showed that the litter amount follows the order of the coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest > the pure C. funebris forest, the P. massoniana forest > the coniferous mixed forest > the broad-leaved forest > the bush forest. The maximal water holding capacity of the undecomposed litter is in the order of the C. funebris forest > the coniferous mixed forest > the bush forest > the coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest > the broad-leaved forest > the P. massoniana forest. The maximal water-holding capacity of the half-decomposed litter is the P. massoniana forest > the coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest > the C. funebris forest > the coniferous mixed forest > the broad-leaved forest > the bush forest. In this watershed, the water holding capacity of the litter in the C. funebris forest is the highest, followed by the coniferous mixed forest, coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest, P. massoniana forest, broad-leaved forest and bush forest. When the soil is covered only by litter, both the maximal rainfall amount and intensity in different forest stands are different if there is no water infiltration and runoff from the ground surface.

An efficient Sonogashira coupling of a heterocyclic phosphonium salt with a terminal alkyne via C–P bond cleavage was developed. The reactions proceeded smoothly in the presence of palladium catalyst, copper­(I) iodide, and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (DIPEA) in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) at 100 °C for 12 h, producing the corresponding alkynyl-substituted pyridine, quinoline, pyrazine, and quinoxaline in moderate to good yields with wide substrate scope and broad functional group tolerance. In addition, gram-scale synthesis could also be achieved, and the reaction could be applied to the functionalization of alkyne-containing complex molecules derived from sugars and pharmaceutical and naturally occurring products (e.g., estrone, d-galactopyranose, menthol, and ibuprofen).