Forest ecosystem responses to environmental changes: the key regulatory role of biogeochemical cycling

The phosphorus‐rich signature of fire in the soil–plant system: a global meta‐analysis

“…; Shen et al . ), and the feedbacks between above‐ and below‐ground biological communities (Chen & Xu ). Furthermore, some authors have argued that, in some cases, the apparent rejuvenating influence of fire may be directly linked to these biogeochemical effects (e.g.…”

Impact of global climate change and fire on the occurrence and function of understorey legumes in forest ecosystems

“…This exchange of tree C for soil N, with the amount of C allocated to the soil determined by soil N availability, appears to maintain high forest productivity under elevated CO 2 (Drake et al 2011). However, the greater immobilization of soil nutrients, in particular of soil N, due to the increasing organic C input to the soil, could soon lead to progressive nutrient limitations (Beedlow et al 2004;Chen and Xu 2010). This would challenge the plant's capacity to respond to elevated atmospheric CO 2 , thereby resulting in a decrease in plant productivity over time, as suggested by Drigo et al (2008).…”

“…Soil microbial communities, because they are mainly heterotrophic and are parts of the belowground processes, are likely to be affected as well by the stoichiometry changes in C, N, and P due to environmental change (Chen and Xu 2010). Although a large amount of information has been published on the influence of global environmental changes on forest ecosystems (e.g., Sitch et al 2008;Allen et al 2010;Liu et al 2011a), most of it deals with the aboveground ecosystem components (Xu and Chen 2006;Liu et al 2011b).…”

“…The impacts of global climate change on long-term forest growth and C sequestration have raised concern worldwide (Oren et al 2001;Reich et al 2006;Heimann and Reichstein 2008;Chen and Xu 2010). First, trees should be able to adjust their physiological responses over time to gradually changing environmental conditions (Dawson et al 2011) but in the long term, gradual and step increases in atmospheric CO 2 concentration could generate negative effects on plant photosynthesis (Sun et al 2010).…”

How do persistent organic pollutants be coupled with biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems under global climate change?

“…The net exchange of C between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere is the difference between C uptake by plant photosynthesis and releases by plant or ecosystem respiration, soil respiration, and disturbance processes such as fire, land management, and land-use change (IPCC 2007). The C biogeochemical cycling is a key coupling point between terrestrial ecosystems and the climate system (Cao and Woodward 1998a, b;Falkowski et al 2000;Xu and Chen 2006;Chen and Xu 2010). Therefore, GCC can have significant impacts on the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems (Root et al 2003;Williams et al 2004).…”