Stable gullies provide a suitable habitat for functional insects and reduce the threat of pests on crops in farmland of Northeast China.

Gullies with lower altitudes compared to the surrounding environment are widely distributed in farmland of the watershed and their numbers are still expanding. However, it is still unclear how these gullies regulate the functional insects in farmland. In this study, land use types combined with the herbaceous plant, herbicide application, soil moisture, topography and climatic factors during crop growth were considered to understand how gullies influence the dynamics of functional insects in farmland from a watershed (240 ha) of Northeast China. The primary findings demonstrate that the richness and abundance of functional insects are generally greatest in gullies, particularly in stable gullies, and decrease in the following order: forest belts, grasslands, and farmlands within the watershed. Notably, the ratios of beneficial insects to pests (BI/Pest) in terms of richness and abundance were lower in gullies before July but reversed after July, in comparison to farmland. Stable gullies exhibited higher BI/Pest abundance and diversity ratios than developing gullies. The richness and abundance of functional insects were higher in the middle sections of gullies compared to their heads and tails. Furthermore, the ratios of BI/Pest were generally lower in farmlands than in any gully position. Functional insect dynamics were mainly determined by season, followed by plant abundance and biomass in the gullies, and rarely by soil moisture in the both watershed and single gullies scales. Generally, the richness and abundance of functional insects in farmland were mainly influenced by gullies, especially influenced by the gully middle position. Insect composition in farmland influenced by stable gullies was stronger than by developing gullies, and stable gullies were more beneficial in reducing the threat of pests to crops in the farmland of the watershed.

Exploring main soil drivers of vegetation succession in abandoned croplands of Minqin Oasis, China.

Background: The Minqin Oasis, which is located in Wuwei City, Gansu Province, China, faces a very serious land desertification problem, with about 94.5% of its total area desertified. Accordingly, it is crucial to implement ecological restoration policies such as cropland abandonment in this region. In abandoned croplands, abiotic factors such as soil properties may become more important than biotic factors in driving vegetation succession. However, the connections between soil properties and vegetation succession remain unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, this study investigated these connections to explore major factors that affected vegetation succession, which is meaningful to designing management measures to restore these degraded ecosystems. Methods: This study investigated seven 1-29-year-old abandoned croplands using the "space for time" method in Minqin Oasis. Vegetation succession was classified into different stages using a canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and two-way indicator species analysis (Twinspan). The link between soil properties and vegetation succession was analyzed using CCA. The primary factors shaping community patterns of vegetation succession were chosen by the "Forward selection" in CCA. The responses of dominant species to soil properties were analyzed using generalized additive models (GAMs). Results: Dominant species turnover occurred obviously after cropland abandonment. Vegetation succession can be classified into three stages (i.e., early, intermediate, and late successional stages) with markedly different community composition and diversity. The main drivers of vegetation succession among soil properties were soil salinity and saturated soil water content and they had led to different responses of the dominant species in early and late successional stages. During the development of vegetation succession, community composition became simpler, and species diversity decreased significantly, which was a type of regressive succession. Therefore, measures should be adopted to manage these degraded, abandoned croplands.

The effect of successive summer drought periods on bacterial diversity along a plant species richness gradient.

Drought is a major stressor to soil microbial communities, and the intensification of climate change is predicted to increase hydric stress worldwide in the coming decades. As a possible mitigating factor for the consequences of prolonged drought periods, above and belowground biodiversity can increase ecosystem resistance and resilience by improving metabolic redundancy and complementarity as biodiversity increases. Here, we investigated the interaction effect between plant richness and successive, simulated summer drought on soil microbial communities during a period of 9 years.To do that, we made use of a well-established biodiversity experiment (The Jena Experiment) to investigate the response of microbial richness and community composition to successive drought periods alongside a plant richness gradient, which covers 1-, 2-, 4-, 8-, 16- and 60-species plant communities. Plots were covered from natural precipitation by installing rain shelters 6 weeks every summer. Bulk soil samples were collected 1 year after the last summer drought was simulated. Our data indicate that bacterial richness increased after successive exposure to drought, with the increase being stable along the plant richness gradient. We identified a significant effect of plant species richness on the soil microbial community composition and determined the taxa significantly impacted by drought at each plant richness level. Our data successfully demonstrates that summer drought might have a legacy effect on soil bacterial communities.

How many animal-pollinated angiosperms are nectar-producing?

The diversity of plant-pollinator interactions is grounded in floral resources, with nectar considered one of the main floral rewards plants produce for pollinators. However, a global evaluation of the number of animal-pollinated nectar-producing angiosperms and their distribution world-wide remains elusive. We compiled a thorough database encompassing 7621 plant species from 322 families to estimate the number and proportion of nectar-producing angiosperms reliant on animal pollination. Through extensive sampling of plant communities, we also explored the interplay between nectar production, floral resource diversity, latitudinal and elevational gradients, contemporary climate, and environmental characteristics. Roughly 223 308 animal-pollinated angiosperms are nectar-producing, accounting for 74.4% of biotic-pollinated species. Global distribution patterns of nectar-producing plants reveal a distinct trend along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients, with increased proportions of plants producing nectar in high latitudes and altitudes. Conversely, tropical communities in warm and moist climates exhibit greater floral resource diversity and a lower proportion of nectar-producing plants. These findings suggest that ecological trends driven by climate have fostered the diversification of floral resources in warmer and less seasonal climates, reducing the proportion of solely nectar-producing plants. Our study provides a baseline for understanding plant-pollinator relationships, plant diversification, and the distribution of plant traits.

[Application and prospects of hyperspectral remote sensing in monitoring plant diversity in grassland]. / é«˜å ‰è°±é¥æ„Ÿåœ¨è‰åŽŸæ¤ç‰©å¤šæ ·æ€§ç›‘æµ‹ä¸­çš„åº”ç”¨ä¸Žå±•æœ›.

The biodiversity of grasslands is important for ecosystem function and health. The protection and mana-gement of grassland biodiversity requires the collection of the information on plant diversity. Hyperspectral remote sensing, with its unique advantages of extensive coverage and high spectral resolution, offers a new solution for long-term monitoring of plant diversity. We first reviewed the development history of hyperspectral remote sensing technology, emphasized its advantages in monitoring grassland plant diversity, and further analyzed its specific applications in this field. Finally, we discussed the challenges faced by hyperspectral remote sensing technology in its applications, such as the complexity of data processing, accuracy of algorithms, and integration with ground-based remote sensing data, and proposes prospects for future research directions. With the advancement of remote sensing technology and the integrated application of multi-source data, hyperspectral remote sensing would play an increasingly important role in grassland ecological monitoring and biodiversity conservation, which could provide scientific basis and technical support for global ecological protection and sustainable development.

Effect of plant communities on bacterial and fungal communities in a Central European grassland.

BACKGROUND: Grasslands provide fundamental ecosystem services that are supported by their plant diversity. However, the importance of plant taxonomic diversity for the diversity of other taxa in grasslands remains poorly understood. Here, we studied the associations between plant communities, soil chemistry and soil microbiome in a wooded meadow of Certoryje (White Carpathians, Czech Republic), a European hotspot of plant species diversity. RESULTS: High plant diversity was associated with treeless grassland areas with high primary productivity and high contents of soil nitrogen and organic carbon. In contrast, low plant diversity occurred in grasslands near solitary trees and forest edges. Fungal communities differed between low-diversity and high-diversity grasslands more strongly than bacterial communities, while the difference in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) depended on their location in soil versus plant roots. Compared to grasslands with low plant diversity, high-diversity plant communities had a higher diversity of fungi including soil AMF, a different fungal and soil AMF community composition and higher bacterial and soil AMF biomass. Root AMF composition differed only slightly between grasslands with low and high plant diversity. Trees dominated the belowground plant community in low-diversity grasslands, which influenced microbial diversity and composition. CONCLUSIONS: The determinants of microbiome abundance and composition in grasslands are complex. Soil chemistry mainly influenced bacterial communities, while plant community type mainly affected fungal (including AMF) communities. Further studies on the functional roles of microbial communities are needed to understand plant-soil-microbe interactions and their involvement in grassland ecosystem services.

Aridity regulates the impacts of multiple dimensional plant diversity on soil properties in the drylands of northern China.

Relationships between plant diversity and soil properties are important for restoring ecosystem function to adapt climate change in drylands. Taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity are widely used for understanding community assembly and the responses of plant communities to environmental change. However, one dimension of diversity index is difficult to reflect the multiple dimensional plant diversity, and their effects on soil properties (i.e., moisture, nutrients, and texture characteristics) along aridity gradient in drylands are limitedly understood. In this study, we proposed a holistic biodiversity (HB) index to integrate all the characteristics of plant diversity, and investigated the relationships between plant diversity and soil properties across 41 sites along aridity gradient (from hyperarid to arid and semiarid levels) in drylands of northern China. The results showed that the taxonomic diversity and phylogenetic diversity increased significantly while most of functional diversity indices did not differ significantly along the aridity gradient. The functional diversity was more important than taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity to plant communities, and the importance of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity varied greatly and inversely along the aridity gradient. The HB index could much better reflect the positive or negative exponential relationships with soil properties compared to the single diversity index. Further, the aridity weakened the positive effects of plant diversity on several soil properties (including soil water content, soil organic carbon and soil total nitrogen), and indirectly strengthened the accumulation of soil total phosphorus, as well as intensified the soil coarsening by limiting the negative effects of plant diversity on soil sand content. Our findings suggest that the holistic biodiversity index can represent the overall traits of plant diversity in drylands, and guide a further step to understand the role of plant diversity in plant-soil relationships of dryland ecosystems.

Plants of Conservation Interest in a Protected Area: A Case Study of the Gran Sasso and Monti Della Laga National Park (Central Italy).

The National Park of Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga (PNGSL) is located in Central Italy and covers an area of 143.311 ha across three administrative regions (Abruzzo, Marche, and Lazio). It is the protected area hosting the highest number of vascular plants in both Europe and the Mediterranean basin. The plan of the park recognizes the need to establish a list of plants of conservation interest to prioritize for protection. The aim of this study is to identify plants (vascular and bryophytes) for inclusion on a protection list, taking into account their phytogeographic importance as well as the threat of extinction, and subsequently propose an original categorization (protection classes) suggesting specific conservation actions and measures. We used original criteria to select plants of conservation interest among the 2678 plant taxa listed in the national park. We identified 564 vascular plant species and subspecies (including nine hybrids) and one bryophyte to be included in the proposed protection list. The case study of the PNGSL could be a model for other protected areas.

Tree diversity enhances predation by birds but not by arthropods across climate gradients.

Tree diversity can promote both predator abundance and diversity. However, whether this translates into increased predation and top-down control of herbivores across predator taxonomic groups and contrasting environmental conditions remains unresolved. We used a global network of tree diversity experiments (TreeDivNet) spread across three continents and three biomes to test the effects of tree species richness on predation across varying climatic conditions of temperature and precipitation. We recorded bird and arthropod predation attempts on plasticine caterpillars in monocultures and tree species mixtures. Both tree species richness and temperature increased predation by birds but not by arthropods. Furthermore, the effects of tree species richness on predation were consistent across the studied climatic gradient. Our findings provide evidence that tree diversity strengthens top-down control of insect herbivores by birds, underscoring the need to implement conservation strategies that safeguard tree diversity to sustain ecosystem services provided by natural enemies in forests.

Competition mode and soil nutrient status shape the role of soil microbes in the diversity-invasibility relationship.

Understanding the relationship between plant diversity and invasibility is essential in invasion ecology. Species-rich communities are hypothesized to be more resistant to invasions than species-poor communities. However, while soil microorganisms play a crucial role in regulating this diversity-invasibility relationship, the effects of plant competition mode and soil nutrient status on their role remain unclear. To address this, we conducted a two-stage greenhouse experiment. Soils were first conditioned by growing nine native species separately in them for 1 year, then mixed in various configurations with soils conditioned using one, three, or six species, respectively. Next, we inoculated the mixed soil into sterilized substrate soil and planted the alien species Rhus typhina and native species Ailanthus altissima as test plants. We set up two competition modes (intraspecific and interspecific) and two nutrient levels (fertilization using slow-release fertilizer and nonfertilization). Under intraspecific competition, regardless of fertilization, the biomass of the alien species was higher in soil conditioned by six native species. By contrast, under interspecific competition, the biomass increased without fertilization but remained stable with fertilization in soil conditioned by six native species. Analysis of soil microbes suggests that pathogens and symbiotic fungi in diverse plant communities influenced R. typhina growth, which varied with competition mode and nutrient status. Our findings suggest that the soil microbiome is pivotal in mediating the diversity-invasibility relationship, and this influence varies according to competition mode and nutrient status.

Different mechanisms underlie similar species-area relationships in two tropical archipelagoes.

Despite much research in the field of island biogeography, mechanisms regulating insular diversity remain elusive. Here, we aim to explore mechanisms underlying plant species-area relationships in two tropical archipelagoes in the South China Sea. We found positive plant species-area relationships for both coral and continental archipelagoes. However, our results showed that different mechanisms contributed to similar plant species-area relationships between the two archipelagoes. For coral islands, soil nutrients and spatial distance among communities played major roles in shaping plant community structure and species diversity. By contrast, the direct effect of island area, and to a lesser extent, soil nutrients determined plant species richness on continental islands. Intriguingly, increasing soil nutrients availability (N, P, K) had opposite effects on plant diversity between the two archipelagoes. In summary, the habitat quality effect and dispersal limitation are important for regulating plant diversity on coral islands, whereas the passive sampling effect, and to a lesser extent, the habitat quality effect are important for regulating plant diversity on continental islands. More generally, our findings indicate that island plant species-area relationships are outcomes of the interplay of both niche and neutral processes, but the driving mechanisms behind these relationships depends on the type of islands.

Vegetation communities and soil properties along the restoration process of the Jinqianghe mine site in the Qilian Mountains, China.

The study explores the impact of mine grassland restoration on plant communities and soil properties in alpine grasslands, a subject of significant interest due to the observed relationship between grassland changes, plant communities, and soil properties. While prior research has mainly focused on the consequences of grassland degradation on plant diversity and soil characteristics, the specific effects of varying restoration degrees in alpine mining grasslands at the regional scale remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we established 15 sampling plots (0.5m×0.5m) across five different restoration degrees within alpine mining grasslands in the Qilian Mountains, China. Our objective was to assess the variations in plant diversity and soil properties along these restoration gradients. We conducted comprehensive analyses, encompassing soil properties [soil water content (SWC), available nitrogen (AN), total phosphorus (TP), nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N), ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AP), soil organic carbon (SOC), nitrate nitrogen, soil pH, and electrical conductivity (EC)], plant characteristics (height, density, frequency, coverage, and aboveground biomass), and plant diversity indices (Simpson, Shannon-Wiener, Margalef, Dominance, and Evenness indexes). Our findings included the identification and collection of 18 plant species from 11 families and 16 genera across the five restoration degrees: Very Low Restoration Degree (VLRD), Low Restoration Degree (LRD), Moderate Restoration Degree (MRD), High Restoration Degree (HRD), and Natural Grassland (NGL). Notably, species like Carex duriuscula, Cyperus rotundus, and Polygonum viviparum showed signs of recovery. Principal component analysis and Pearson correlation analysis revealed that soil pH, SWC, SOC, NO3-N, and AN were the primary environmental factors influencing plant communities. Specifically, soil pH and EC decreased as restoration levels increased, while SWC, AN, TP, NH4-N, TN, AP, SOC, and NO3-N exhibited a gradual increase with greater restoration efforts. Furthermore, the HRD plant community demonstrated similarities to the NGL, indicating the most effective natural recovery. In conclusion, our study provides valuable insights into the responses of plant community characteristics, plant diversity, and soil properties across varying restoration degrees to environmental factors. It also elucidates the characteristics of plant communities along recovery gradients in alpine grasslands.

Effects of plant diversity and community structure on ecosystem multifunctionality under different grazing potentials in the eastern Eurasian steppe.

Grazing potential represents the potential carrying capacity of steppe livestock production. Understanding the impact of changes in plant diversity and community structure on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) at different grazing potentials is crucial for the sustainable management of steppe ecosystems. We examined the associations between plant diversity, community structure, above-ground ecosystem multifunctionality (AEMF), and below-ground ecosystem multifunctionality (BEMF) at various grazing potentials. Our assessment employed generalized linear mixed-effects models and structural equation models to determine the impact of these factors on ecosystem multifunctionality. Our study results indicated that ecosystem multifunctionality differed depending on the level of grazing potential and decreased as grazing potential declined. The impact of plant diversity and community structure on above- and below-ground ecosystem multifunctionality varied. Plant diversity and community structure correlated more with AEMF than BEMF. Plant diversity had the most significant effect on EMF under high grazing potential, while community structure had the greatest effect on EMF under moderate and low grazing potential. These improve our understanding of the correlation between steppe plant diversity, community structure, and above- and below-ground ecosystem multifunctionality. This understanding is necessary to develop strategies to increase plant diversity or regulate community structure and the sustainability of steppes.

Belowground cascading biotic interactions trigger crop diversity benefits.

Crop diversification practices offer numerous synergistic benefits. So far, research has traditionally been confined to exploring isolated, unidirectional single-process interactions among plants, soil, and microorganisms. Here, we present a novel and systematic perspective, unveiling the intricate web of plant-soil-microbiome interactions that trigger cascading effects. Applying the principles of cascading interactions can be an alternative way to overcome soil obstacles such as soil compaction and soil pathogen pressure. Finally, we introduce a research framework comprising the design of diversified cropping systems by including commercial varieties and crops with resource-efficient traits, the exploration of cascading effects, and the innovation of field management. We propose that this provides theoretical and methodological insights that can reveal new mechanisms by which crop diversity increases productivity.

Childcare centre soil microbiomes are influenced by substrate type and surrounding vegetation condition.

Urban development has profoundly reduced human exposure to biodiverse environments, which is linked to a rise in human disease. The 'biodiversity hypothesis' proposes that contact with diverse microbial communities (microbiota) benefits human health, as exposure to microbial diversity promotes immune training and regulates immune function. Soils and sandpits in urban childcare centres may provide exposure to diverse microbiota that support immunoregulation at a critical developmental stage in a child's life. However, the influence of outdoor substrate (i.e., sand vs. soil) and surrounding vegetation on these environmental microbiota in urban childcare centres remains poorly understood. Here, we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to examine the variation in bacterial communities in sandpits and soils across 22 childcare centres in Adelaide, Australia, plus the impact of plant species richness and habitat condition on these bacterial communities. We show that sandpits had distinct bacterial communities and lower alpha diversity than soils. In addition, we found that plant species richness in the centres' yards and habitat condition surrounding the centres influenced the bacterial communities in soils but not sandpits. These results demonstrate that the diversity and composition of childcare centre sandpit and soil bacterial communities are shaped by substrate type, and that the soils are also shaped by the vegetation within and surrounding the centres. Accordingly, there is potential to modulate the exposure of children to health-associated bacterial communities by managing substrates and vegetation in and around childcare centres.

The effect of livestock grazing on plant diversity and productivity of mountainous grasslands in South America - A meta-analysis.

Mountainous grasslands in South America, characterized by their high diversity, provide a wide range of contributions to people, including water regulation, soil erosion prevention, livestock feed provision, and preservation of cultural heritage. Prior research has highlighted the significant role of grazing in shaping the diversity and productivity of grassland ecosystems, especially in highly productive, eutrophic systems. In such environments, grazing has been demonstrated to restore grassland plant diversity by reducing primary productivity. However, it remains unclear whether these findings are applicable to South American mountainous grasslands, where plants are adapted to different environmental conditions. To address this uncertainty, we conducted a meta-analysis of experiments excluding livestock grazing to assess its impact on plant diversity and productivity across mountainous grasslands in South America. In alignment with studies in temperate grasslands, our findings indicated that herbivore exclusion resulted in increased aboveground biomass but reduced species richness and Shannon diversity. The effects of grazing exclusion became more pronounced with longer durations of exclusion; nevertheless, they remained resilient to various climatic conditions, including mean annual precipitation and mean annual temperature, as well as the evolutionary history of grazing. In contrast to results observed in temperate grasslands, the reduction in species richness due to herbivore exclusion was not associated with increased aboveground biomass. This suggests that the processes governing (sub)tropical grassland plant diversity may differ from those in temperate grasslands. Consequently, further research is necessary to better understand the specific factors influencing plant diversity and productivity in South American montane grasslands and to elucidate the ecological implications of herbivore exclusion in these unique ecosystems.

Exclusion of livestock decouples the relationship between plant production and diversity, species richness on complex topography in typical steppe in the Loess Plateau, China.

Grazing is widely used in more than one-forth of global terrestrial ecosystems, with three quarters are distributed on complex topography. Grazing and topography have both resulted in degradation of approximately 49 % of natural grasslands. However, research on the interaction between topography and livestock exclusion on grassland characteristics is scarce. This study was carried out on a typical steppe to explore the effect of topography and enclosure year on vegetation characteristics. Aboveground biomass, and species richness were examined for three different enclosure years (0, 3, and 6 years), on four slopes (0°, 15°, 30°, and 45° slope), and three aspects (flat, shady and sunny). The results indicated that: The aboveground biomass on the 0° slope had a greater value after 6 years of the enclosure. Aboveground biomass increased with the increasing enclosure year, while it decreased with increasing slope except enclosure for 0 year on shady slope. Aboveground biomass on the shady slopes was greater than on the sunny slopes. Species richness of community and perennial plants increased with increasing slope and enclosure year. The annual plants richness inversely correlated with slope and enclosure year. All plant diversity indexes increased with increasing enclosure year. Margalef and Shannon-wiener indexes decreased with increasing slope, while Simpson and Pielou indexes increased. This paper demonstrates that aspect, slope and enclosure affect aboveground biomass by affecting other vegetation characteristics. In conclusion, grassland production can be improved with moderate livestock exclusion under different topography.

Contrasting roles of plant, bacterial, and fungal diversity in soil organic carbon accrual during ecosystem restoration: A meta-analysis.

Plant and microbial diversity plays vital roles in soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation during ecosystem restoration. However, how soil microbial diversity mediates the positive effects of plant diversity on carbon accumulation during vegetation restoration remains unclear. We conducted a large-scale meta-analysis with 353 paired observations from 65 studies to examine how plant and microbial diversity changed over 0-160 years of natural restoration and its connection to SOC accrual in the topsoil (0-10 cm). Results showed that natural restoration significantly increased plant aboveground biomass (122.09 %), belowground biomass (153.05 %), and richness (21.99 %) and SOC accumulation (32.34 %) but had no significant impact on microbial diversity. Over time, bacterial and fungal richness increased and then decreased. The responses of major microbial phyla, in terms of relative abundance, varied across restoration and ecosystem types. Specifically, Ascomycota and Zygomycota decreased more under farmland abandonment than under grazing exclusion. In forest, Bacteroidetes, Ascomycota, and Zygomycota significantly decreased after natural restoration. The increase in SOC and Basidiomycota was higher in forest than in grassland. Based on standardized estimates, structural equation modeling showed that plant diversity had the highest positive effect (0.55) on SOC accrual, and while fungal diversity (0.15) also had a positive effective, bacterial diversity (-0.20) had a negative effect. Plant diversity promoted SOC accumulation by directly impacting biomass and soil moisture and total nitrogen and indirectly influencing soil microbial richness. This meta-analysis highlights the significant roles of plant diversity and microbial diversity in carbon accumulation during natural restoration and elucidates their relative contributions to carbon accumulation, thereby aiding in more precise predictions of soil carbon sequestration.

Plant diversity increases spatial stability of aboveground productivity in alpine grasslands.

Plant diversity can significantly affect the grassland productivity and its stability. However, it remains unclear how plant diversity affects the spatial stability of natural grassland productivity, especially in alpine regions that are sensitive to climate change. We analyzed the interaction between plant (species richness and productivity, etc.) and climatic factors (precipitation, temperature, and moisture index, etc.) of alpine natural grassland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. In addition, we tested the relationship between plant diversity and spatial stability of grassland productivity. Results showed that an increase in plant diversity significantly enhanced community productivity and its standard deviation, while reducing the coefficient of variation in productivity. The influence of plant diversity on productivity and the reciprocal of productivity variability coefficient was not affected by vegetation types. The absolute values of the regression slopes between climate factors and productivity in alpine meadow communities with higher plant diversity were smaller than those in alpine meadow communities with lower plant diversity. In other words, alpine meadow communities with higher plant diversity exhibited a weaker response to climatic factors in terms of productivity, whereas those with lower plant diversity showed a stronger response. Our results indicate that high plant diversity buffers the impact of ambient pressure (e.g., precipitation, temperature) on alpine meadow productivity, and significantly enhanced the spatial stability of grassland productivity. This finding provides a theoretical basis for maintaining the stability of grassland ecosystems and scientifically managing alpine grasslands under the continuous climate change.

Corrigendum: Identifying hotspots of woody plant diversity and their relevance with home ranges of the critically endangered gibbon (Nomascus hainanus) across forest landscapes within a tropical nature reserve.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1283037.].