Fertility and pH effects on polyphenol and condensed tannin concentrations in foliage and roots

Plant and Soil - Plant secondary compounds such as polyphenols and tannins are purported to influence nutrient cycling by affecting organic matter degradation, mineralization rates, N availability...     

Effects and mechanism of plant litter on grassland ecosystem: A review

Plant litter is dead, above and below ground; organic material i.e. leaves barks, needles, twigs and roots. Plant litter plays a key role in nutrient cycling and community organization in grassland ecosystems. Litter can have important consequences on recruitment of plant species through modification of biological, physical, and chemical features of microenvironment. Plant litter offers a major input of organic matter to the soil which modifies soil chemistry, hence impacts nutrient cycling. At early stages of litter decomposition, a particular amount of carbon is transporting to the soil nutrient pool. In terrestrial ecosystems, plant litter regulating biogeochemical cycles, maintain soil fertility, nutrient availability, and therefore influence plant growth, diversity, composition, structure, and productivity. Litter can also impact plant above net plant productivity and below net plant productivity in grassland ecosystem. Plant litter accumulation and decomposition can impact plant species composition and community structure through temperature, light and nutrient availability. The effects of plant litter on vegetation may be negative, positive or neutral due vegetation variability, study duration, habitat, latitude, quantity and quality of litter. These diverse effects of plant litter on grassland ecosystem might be due to, management practice type, management intensity, climate type, timing, precipitation and soil nutrient pool etc. Current review attempts to describe prominent effects of plant litter on vegetation, seed germination, soil fertility, Productivity, species composition, community structure and mechanism in grassland ecosystem.     

Increased litter decomposition rates of exotic invasive species Hieracium pilosella (Asteraceae) in Southern Patagonia,Argentina

Plant Ecology - Plant invasions can affect key ecosystem processes regulating carbon and nutrient balances, i.e., litter decomposition. Exotic herb Hieracium pilosella (hawkweed, Asteraceae)...     

Plant species natural abundances are determined by their growth and modification of soil resources in monoculture

Plant and Soil - Although modelling of water and nutrient uptake by root systems has advanced considerably in recent years, steep local gradients of nutrient concentration near the root-soil...     

The role of complementarity and selection effects in P acquisition of intercropping systems

Plant and Soil - How nitrogen deposition and increasing precipitation would affect leaf nutrient concentration and internal nutrient cycling of desert plants is still unclear. The aim of our study...     

Urban soil phosphorus hotspot and its imprint on tree leaf phosphorus concentrations in the Beijing region

Plant and Soil - Rapid urbanization has altered regional nutrient cycles and consequently affected soil nutrient availability for plant growth. This study aims to explore the way in which...     

Divergent responses of fine root decomposition to removal of understory plants and overstory trees in subtropical Eucalyptus urophylla plantations

Plant and Soil - Plant fine roots play an important role in forest nutrient cycling. However, how fine root decomposition responds to plant removal is poorly understood. We aimed to examine the...     

Nutrients and environment influence arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization both independently and interactively in Schizachyrium scoparium

Plant and Soil - Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are important for plant nutrient and water acquisition. Much is known about how nutrient addition and environment affect AMF, but little is known...     

Interaction of Water and Nitrogen Reveals Growth and Physiological Characteristics Responses of Isatis indigotica Fort. Seedlings

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - Water content of medium and nitrogen concentration of nutrient solution are considered crucial for the growth, photosynthetic characteristics and antioxidant...     

Effects of snow pack reduction and drought on litter decomposition in subalpine grassland communities

Plant and Soil - In subalpine grasslands, litter decomposition controls soil nutrient availability and is highly sensitive to increasing intensity and frequency of extreme climate events,...     

Plant litter quality regulates soil eco-enzymatic stoichiometry and microbial nutrient limitation in a citrus orchard

Plant and Soil - The impacts associated with litter decomposition in intensive cropping on eco-enzymatic stoichiometry and microbial nutrient limitation are still under debate. To evaluate the...     

Responses of leaf litter decomposability to nitrogen and phosphorus additions are associated with cell wall carbohydrate composition in a subtropical plantation

Plant and Soil - As woody plants encroach into grassland ecosystems, we expect altered plant-soil interactions to change the microbial processes that affect soil carbon storage and nutrient...     

Evidence of elemental homeostasis in fine root and leaf tissues of saplings across a fertility gradient in tropical montane forest in Hainan,China

Plant and Soil - For plants, elemental nutrients are important belowground resources that sustain growth and survival. To understand how tropical plant nutrient status responds to environmental...     

Understanding cassava yield response to soil and fertilizer nutrient supply in West Africa

Plant and Soil - Carbon distribution between root production and rhizodeposition represents the plant strategy for growth and nutrient capture. It can shift in response to changed availability of...     

Reduced snow cover changes nitrogen use in canopy and understory vegetation during the subsequent growing season

Plant and Soil - We examined how mechanical management of invasive macrophyte, Typha × glauca alters plant-soil interactions underlying carbon processes and nutrient cycling, which are...     

An energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence method for analysing Fe and Zn in common bean,maize and cowpea biofortification programs

Plant and Soil - Biofortification breeding programs have the need for rapid and accurate screening methods to identify nutrient dense genotypes. This study explores the use of energy dispersive...     

Leaf litter diversity positively affects the decomposition of plant polyphenols

Plant and Soil - Leaf litter decomposition is closely linked to nutrient cycling and driven by environmental conditions, species-specific leaf chemistry, and here in particular by polyphenols...     

Field-scale variability in site conditions explain phenotypic plasticity in response to nitrogen source in Pinus radiata D. Don

Plant and Soil - Leaf litter decomposition is an important process controlling nutrient cycling in most terrestrial ecosystems. We evaluated the relationships among traits of green leaves and...     

Mixing effects of litter decomposition at plant organ and species levels in a temperate grassland

Plant and Soil - Non-additive effects during the decomposition of mixed litter at species level have important consequences on ecosystem nutrient cycling, whereas such effect at plant organ level...     

Litter Decomposition in Yellowstone Grasslands: The Roles of Large Herbivores,Litter Quality,and Climate

Ecosystems - Plant litter decomposition is a key process that influences carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Litter decomposition is controlled by a number of factors such as...