Aboveground dominant functional group predicts belowground properties in an alpine grassland community of western China

Effects of biotic and abiotic factors on soil organic carbon in semi-arid grassland

“…High species richness enhanced primary productivity (Wu et al, 2011), and aboveground plant resources will be returned to the soil through decomposing in litter layers (Bardgett and Wardle, 2003). The amount of plant residuals returned to the soil affected the SOC.…”

Interactions between tree and herb layers vegetation along a gradient of tree composition in Hyrcanian forests

“…We observed the greatest number of herb layer plants in mixed stands had rather than in pure beech one, which emphasizes the importance of mixed stands in preser vation of herb layer plant species. These different plant functional groups were dominated in research sites and according to Wu et al (2011); they are helpful in finding the interaction between vegetation and soil chemical properties. The results of this research show that the diversity of the tree and herb layer is strongly correlated with a decrease in the proportion of beech and an increase in the negative impacts of beech on the herb layer richness, especially on forbs species (Table 2).…”

Grassland community composition drives small-scale spatial patterns in soil properties and processes

“…In naturally-occurring stands of perennial grasses, Parker and Schimel (2010b) found zones of water depletion around perennial grass individuals when compared with surrounding annual forbs, but perennial grasses were also correlated with greater soil N concentrations. In addition, a study of an alpine grassland community in western China found that grass-dominated meadows had significantly higher soil N than did forb-dominated meadows (Wu et al, 2011). Whether perennial bunchgrass individuals are spatially associated with relative enrichment or depletion of soil N may depend on identity of plants in the interstices (i.e.…”