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Understanding how the complexities of biodiversity are maintained on islands has long been one of the central issues studied in conservation biology. With the global onset of anthropogenically driven biodiversity changes, the influence of anthropogenic activities challenges the applicability of the widely accepted Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography (ETIB). This study aimed to test how island area, isolation (MD: distance to the mainland, and ND: distance to the nearest island), and human activities (habitat heterogeneity, and proportion of road area relative to island area to refer to the human impact on island) separately and jointly affect the species diversity of vascular plants. The number of plant species with different growth forms (woody plants, herbs, and lianas) was calculated on 35 islands in Sanyang Wetland, which is a human-dominated wetland near the highly populated city of Wenzhou, China. We also evaluated the relative importance of these variables on the number of species using a random forest analysis. The number of species increased with increasing island area and habitat heterogeneity and decreased with increasing isolation for different growth forms. A significant, positive relationship was observed between the number of species and the proportion of road area for herbs, but not for woody plants and lianas. Habitat heterogeneity was the most important predictor for all plants, the proportion of road area was the most important predictor for herbs, and MD was the most important predictor for woody plants and lianas. These results indicate that ETIB remains relevant in the context of human disturbance, but the relative importance of ecological processes on species diversity differs significantly among plant growth forms. Therefore, we should consider plant functional groups when testing multifactorial effects on species diversity on human-dominated islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we assess how ecosystem type affects the short-term post-fire resilience of fire-prone forests, which are the predominant ecosystems in South West (SW) Europe. For this purpose, we focused on three forest systems, widespread across the European Atlantic coast, which are highly susceptible to fires at their SW distribution boundary, namely the European thermophilous Atlantic deciduous forests, dominated by Quercus robur L., and two types of forest plantations widespread globally, Eucalyptus globulus Labill. and Pinus pinaster Aiton plantations. At the community structure level, resilience to fire was measured based on changes in cover of each vertical stratum. At the functional level, resilience to fire was measured based on replacements of (both morphological and regenerative) plant functional types in the overstory and understory layers. The study variables were vertical structure and abundance of plant functional types in both overstory and understory layers. Vertical structure was assessed by defining nine vertical strata and estimating the cover in each vegetation stratum. All species identified in the overstory and understory layers were functionally classified according to their morphological attributes and regenerative traits pertaining to fire. One year after fire, we observed considerable differences in the structure between the three forest communities studied, particularly in the overstory layer, because most of the vertical strata were well recovered in the oak forest, partially recovered in the E. globulus plantation, and completely lost in the P. pinaster plantation. In contrast to the Atlantic deciduous forest and eucalyptus plantation, the pine plantation displayed distinct changes in its distribution of plant functional types. The pine plantation showed extremely low resilience to fire because the overstory layer decreased considerably, and the understory layer experienced substantial changes in the distribution of morphological and regenerative plant functional types. Fire favoured certain species which prevailed over others and, while grasses, herbaceous and spiny shrubs increased, the abundance of most morphologically functional plant types disappeared or decreased. These changes in the structure of forest communities and in the distribution of plant functional types have important implications for ecosystem functioning and services provision. Therefore, this study may serve as a foundation for devising forest management measures aimed at increasing ecosystem resilience to fire. • Quercus native forest maintains their structure and functionating after fire. • Eucalyptus youth plantations does not recover the entire canopy one year after fire. • Plant morphological types changed drastically in Eucalyptus and Pinus communities. • Fire resilience was high in native forest and low in Eucalyptus and Pinus plantations. • These results have major implications for ecosystem functioning and forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milled peatlands in the Northern Hemisphere are frequently restored in order to mitigate negative effects of climate change and to benefit biodiversity. The aims of this study are to analyse the development of vegetation on milled peatlands in Estonia after restoration using the moss layer transfer technique (MLTT), relate the plant functional type cover with peat chemical factors, and study correlations between bryophyte and vascular plant cover on sites with different vegetation composition. Nutrient-poor (NP) Viru and nutrient-rich (NR) Ohtu milled peatlands in Northern Estonia were restored via MLTT between 2006 and 2008. Plant species cover was determined annually or biannually from 2009 to 2018, on permanent plots established during the restoration of both sites. Plant functional type cover was assessed in relation to peat chemical properties and time since restoration. The nutrient status of the restoration site plays a major role in vegetation succession, even if similar restoration methods have been applied. Vascular plant cover, especially evergreen shrubs, increased with time since restoration, while bryophyte (mainly Sphagnum) cover increased at the NP site and decreased at the NR site. At the NR site bryophyte cover decreased with increasing vascular plant cover, while the opposite pattern was observed at the NP site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The growth of plant roots and their acquisition of resources are significantly impacted by changes in precipitation patterns. Although numerous studies have examined the impact of precipitation on fine root systems, the rooting strategies of woody and herbaceous plants under different precipitation patterns remain to be comparatively evaluated. Accordingly, in the current study, we conducted a meta-analysis of 64 peer-reviewed articles to explore the response of 17 biomass and fine-root traits of woody and herbaceous plants to precipitation changes. Our findings demonstrate that woody and herbaceous plants have developed different root strategies to cope with altered precipitation. Specifically, when precipitation increased, the fine roots of woody plants had a larger surface area and significantly increased shallow root growth. In contrast, the fine-root morphological traits of herbaceous plants showed a stronger response to increased precipitation, in which fine-root length, volume, and tissue density increased. This may result in more effective use of available water by herbaceous than woody plants. When precipitation decreased, woody plants displayed more active fine-root morphological alterations, presenting a conservative fine-root phenotype of resource acquisition, with lower specific root length and higher fine-root tissue density. Moreover, woody plants transfer absorptive fine-root structures to deep soil layers, whereas herbaceous plants are less drought-tolerant. Furthermore, woody plants may allocate biomass more optimally than herbaceous plants in precipitation-reduction scenarios. Increased precipitation may boost soil carbon sequestration and stability in woody plant-dominated forest ecosystems under future climate change scenarios, while drought may considerably reduce soil carbon storage in grassland ecosystems. In more arid environments, where woody and herbaceous plants coexist, drought may lead to the expansion of woody plants and subsequent predominance of woody plants vegetation change. our findings will fill knowledge gaps in the literature regarding the effects of precipitation changes on the fine-root dynamics of various functional plants and will improve predictions of the vegetation dynamics of forests, grasslands, and other ecosystems vegetation dynamics under changing precipitation patterns. • Woody and herbaceous plants have different rooting strategies to cope with altered rainfall. • Woody plants benefited the most from optimal biomass allocation under less precipitation. • Higher fine root morphological plasticity may be an effective adaptation strategy. • Drought may also cause woody plant expansion and vegetation change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Over 2000 measurements of plant belowground biomass were compiled. • Accurate generic allometric models could be developed. • These models were validated across stands where whole-plot excavation data were available. • Gains in prediction efficiencies using species-specific models were negligible. Abstract Accurate quantification of below-ground biomass (BGB) of woody vegetation is critical to understanding ecosystem function and potential for climate change mitigation from sequestration of biomass carbon. We compiled 2054 measurements of planted and natural individual tree and shrub biomass from across different regions of Australia (arid shrublands to tropical rainforests) to develop allometric models for prediction of BGB. We found that the relationship between BGB and stem diameter was generic, with a simple power-law model having a BGB prediction efficiency of 72–93% for four broad plant functional types: (i) shrubs and Acacia trees, (ii) multi-stemmed mallee eucalypts, (iii) other trees of relatively high wood density, and; (iv) a species of relatively low wood density, Pinus radiata D. Don. There was little improvement in accuracy of model prediction by including variables (e.g. climatic characteristics, stand age or management) in addition to stem diameter alone. We further assessed the generality of the plant functional type models across 11 contrasting stands where data from whole-plot excavation of BGB were available. The efficiency of model prediction of stand-based BGB was 93%, with a mean absolute prediction error of only 6.5%, and with no improvements in validation results when species-specific models were applied. Given the high prediction performance of the generalised models, we suggest that additional costs associated with the development of new species-specific models for estimating BGB are only warranted when gains in accuracy of stand-based predictions are justifiable, such as for a high-biomass stand comprising only one or two dominant species. However, generic models based on plant functional type should not be applied where stands are dominated by species that are unusual in their morphology and unlikely to conform to the generalised plant functional group models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Precipitation exclusion induced a reduction of NPP in savanna. • Precipitation exclusion decreased NPP of perennials but elevated for the annuals. • NPP of savannas exhibited significant inter-annual variation. • Herb community had more resilience to precipitation exclusion than woody community in savanna. Abstract Declines in precipitation are expected to affect plant performance and ecosystem carbon uptake. The response of ecosystem productivity to declines in precipitation and potential underlying mechanisms have been well studied in many biomes; however, little is known about the role of declines in precipitation and the involved mechanisms in savanna ecosystems. In a 4-year field precipitation manipulation experiment, we simulated four levels of precipitation exclusion (control, 30%, 50% and 70%) to assess the effects of declines in precipitation on net primary productivity (NPP) in a savanna ecosystem in southwestern China. NPP was strongly correlated with soil water content during the experimental period. Precipitation exclusion significantly decreased the NPP of the entire vegetation including trees, shrubs, perennials and litterfall but significantly increased the NPP of annuals. Our results suggested that precipitation exclusion can reduce the productivity of savannas and that plant functional types differ in sensitivity to precipitation exclusion. These findings imply that future declines in precipitation in savanna regions may negatively impact carbon accumulation and may induce shifts in plant functional types to buffer the effects of declines in precipitation on productivity and stabilize ecosystem function in savannas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both overabundant ungulates and invasive shrubs negatively impact forest floor plants, but few studies have investigated their interaction. We tested for direct effects and interactions of white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus , and the invasive shrub, Lonicera maackii , on forest floor plant richness and composition in five sites in southwest Ohio. In each site a deer exclosure and an unfenced plot (each 20 × 20 m) were established in 2010; in half of each plot all L. maackii was removed. Each spring and summer, 2011–2014, percent cover of each plant species in 50 × 20 cm subplots was recorded. Herb layer species richness was greater where L. maackii was removed, and this effect tended to be stronger where deer were excluded. Species composition in the spring was not affected by treatments, whereas summer species composition (in one year) was affected by L. maackii treatment. Cover of graminoids, spring herbs, and vines were lower where L. maackii was intact, whereas cover of shrubs and tree seedlings were lower, and cover of bare ground higher, where deer had access. Our findings reveal that deer and L. maackii negatively impact different components of the forest herb layer. However, the combined effects on species richness tended to be antagonistic (less than additive), possibly due to deer browse reducing the cover of this invasive shrub. This suggests that the diversity of the herb layer will be enhanced more by both removal of invasive shrubs and reduction of the deer population than by either management action alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate what community selection forces are operating on Grime's CSR strategies in different semi-natural grassland habitats that were not subjected to successional processes, a time-series analysis of 2946 Danish grassland plots from an eight-year period with pin-point plant cover data was conducted. Grime's CSR strategies were used for grouping plant species into functional types, which were then treated as dependent variables in a time-series analysis. Across four grassland habitat types, there was significant selection against ruderal plant species during the eight-year period. Furthermore, the monitoring data indicated that the decreasing cover of ruderals may, in part be, due to reduced grazing pressure of large herbivores. As a consequence of the findings in this study and others, it may be suggested that increased disturbance, e.g. by large herbivores, is a suitable management strategies for grassland habitats. • Community selection forces on Grime's CSR strategies in different grassland. • Time-series analysis of 2946 Danish grassland pin-point cover plots • Significant selection against ruderal plant species during the eight-year period • The decreasing cover of ruderals may be due to reduced grazing [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Soil seed banks of wet temperate forests provide a storage effect. • Fire-cued germination concentrated in ant-dispersed species. • Germination of shade-tolerant species not enhanced by fire cues. • Edaphic variability and structural complexity promote plant diversity. • Practices that generate heterogenous environments will benefit biodiversity. Our understanding of how environmental heterogeneity shapes plant community dynamics is largely based on above-ground diversity despite the importance of seed banks as reservoirs of genetic and taxonomic diversity that buffer plant populations and influence vegetation following disturbance. Using a plant functional trait approach, this study examined the importance of fire-related germination cues and environmental determinants of plant community turnover in wet forests of south-eastern Australia – forests of both high conservation value and the focus of current timber harvesting. We surveyed extant vegetation, soil seed banks, forest structure and edaphic properties across 62 sites burnt in 1939 and not subsequently affected by wildfire or logging. A total of 46 families, and 99 species were identified in extant vegetation with 43 and 126 respectively in the soil seed bank, with only 32% of species co-occurring in both species' pools. Despite historically long fire return intervals, the soil seed bank demonstrated a clear positive response to fire-related germination cues (heat in combination with smoke) that were concentrated in hard-seeded species dispersed by ants. Seeds from early successional species showed no response to fire cues, while species typical of the wetter margins of these forests were killed by high heat. The soil seed bank was dominated by species associated with early successional stages, consistent with the initial floristics model of succession. Woody species were largely restricted to extant vegetation and replacement is most likely to occur from future seed rain. Spatially structured environmental heterogeneity shaped plant turnover with the relative strength of environmental controls differing among functional types and pools of diversity. Differential response of the combined species pool relative to extant vegetation demonstrates that the soil seed bank provides a storage effect. Forest management practices that generate patchy and heterogenous environments, including the intensity of regeneration burns and density of overstorey species, will benefit biodiversity conservation through overstorey structural controls on resource availability and diversity of understorey vegetation, that is transferred to soil seed banks via tight abiotic controls and seed inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drainage to increase timber production is a major cause of degradation of boreal peatlands in Europe. As a consequence of the forestry drainage, the area of pristine spruce swamp forests has declined drastically in northern Europe over the past century. In restoration by rewetting, drainage ditches are blocked to restore the pre-disturbance hydrological regime and, ultimately, the biodiversity values and ecosystem functions of pristine spruce swamp forests. In this study, we quantify vegetation recovery and examine mechanisms behind the changes in plant community composition. For this, we surveyed the understorey vegetation of 9 undrained, 9 drained and 18 rewetted spruce swamp forest sites in southern Finland. The vegetation survey was accompanied by water table (WT) position and tree stand measurements. Sphagnum cover decreased after drainage and increased after rewetting. Drainage increased the cover of the unvegetated ground surface, while the cover of moss species other than Sphagnum and feather mosses was highest in the rewetted group. A constrained ordination analysis shows that following rewetting, species composition had developed towards the undrained reference state. Regarding their plant community composition, the rewetted sites were situated in the middle of the undrained–drained axis, differing significantly from both the undrained and the drained sites. Similarity to the undrained reference state depended on current WT and was driven by the Sphagnum mosses. Among the rewetted sites, which varied in their rewetting age from 1 to 14 years, similarity to undrained was not dependent on time since rewetting. The most important predictors for the between-site variation in plant community composition were the division between the undrained and the other (drained or rewetted) sites, WT position and birch volume. Species diversity was lower in the undrained than in the drained and rewetted sites, mainly due to lower species evenness. It appears that the competitive superiority of the Sphagnum mosses in wet conditions results in a lower species diversity in the undrained reference state. The less optimal conditions for Sphagna that result from drainage enable higher diversity by opening space for other species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: With the prospect of altered levels of fire in mediterranean-type environments due to changing climatic conditions, managers are faced with the need to regulate fire with an incomplete knowledge of the ecological outcomes of their actions. Burning intervals for natural vegetation are often determined by using methods which provide an indication of ‘appropriate’ intervals based on the tolerances of key fire response species. The research presented here is an investigation into variation in species abundance in response to fire frequency, interval and time since fire. An ordination of species composition constrained by the corresponding fire history matrix revealed limited response at a community level. However, when species were considered individually using quantitative models, over half of the species responded significantly to at least one of the assessed components of fire regime. Species richness exhibited little variation; however there was change in species diversity (Shannon H) in response to time since fire. Quantitative models showed a range of species responses to fire, indicating that any given regime will favour some species at the cost of others. This study demonstrated that while current techniques provide guidance on tolerable fire intervals, such an approach is not necessarily ideal for all species. The determination of ecologically meaningful fire regimes may be better served when the changing abundances of species of interest are also taken into account. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics is an important pool in biological turnover of carbon and other elements of plants nutrition in forest ecosystems. Problems at its modelling are: quantification of SOM fractions which are decomposing with specific rates; description of humification, obtaining dependencies of SOM rates of transformation in dependence on external factors. Different methods of fractionating of SOM are now in use based on different solubility of fractions/ This approach presents difficulties at model''s initialization. We expanded a model of SOM dynamics ROMUL based on successive stages of mineralization and transformation of fresh litter, which correspond to SOM pools in horizons L, F and H of forest floor. A1 et al. are horizons in mineral soil. Rates of transformation of one SOM pool into another in these horizons can be obtained from experimental data. The dynamics of N, Ca and Mg is described using main equations of SOM transformations with inserting of additional constants or functions as independent multipliers for rates of transformation. Pools of elements available for plants nutrition, and some intermediate pools such as secondary soil minerals have been added to the model. New ROMUL has been successfully applied to ICP Forest plots in Russia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Protected areas play a significant role in carbon storage in arid and semi-arid land. In the central region of Argentina, there are three nature reserves located along a West to East rainfall gradient between two different phytogeographical provinces: the Monte and the Arid Chaco. The aims of this work were: (1) to quantify carbon storage in the three nature reserves and (2) to compare the different vegetation communities in the internal structure, expressed as canopy cover, diversity and relative abundance of woody plant functional types in each of the nature reserves. The combination of remote sensing data with a detailed inventory and local biomass allometric equations models were found to be appropriate tools for the estimation of carbon storage in each nature reserve. In general, canopy cover and carbon storage tends to increase from west to east and, within each nature reserve, from shrubland into mature forest community. Total carbon storage in mature woodlands ranged from 48 to 95Mgha−1, in open and mixed woodlands from 21 to 36Mgha−1, and in shrublands from 8 to 19Mgha−1. On the other hand, many similarities were observed between the mixed woodlands of the wetter Reserve and the mature forest of the more arid Reserve of the Arid Chaco, based on the organization of plant functional types, canopy cover and carbon storage. This knowledge of carbon storage would thus be a useful input for the development of strategies for reducing CO2 emissions caused by deforestation and forest degradation and, in particular, it is significant for planning policies to mitigate desertification in arid and semiarid lands. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article examines two hypotheses related to the generality and management applicability of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) to rangeland ecosystems in Mongolia. The researchers studied the diversity-disturbance relationship as a function of landscape condition and that some intermediate scales of grazing can play an important role in terms of sustainable rangeland management. They found out that intermediate levels of grazing were generally located below the ecological threshold at which disturbance should be limited to prevent drastic changes in ecological conditions. Based on the results, they concluded that some intermediate scales of grazing and ecological thresholds are mutually supportive tools for sustainable rangeland management.

Abstract: Heterogeneity and dynamics of eight soil surface characteristics essential for plants—ammonium and nitrate concentrations, water content, temperature, pH, organic matter, nitrification and ammonification rates—were studied in a Mediterranean-type ecosystem on four occasions over a year. Soil properties varied seasonally and were influenced by plant species. Nitrate and ammonium were present in the soil at similar concentrations throughout the year. The positive correlation between them at the time of greatest plant development indicates that ammonium is a readily available nitrogen source in Mediterranean-type ecosystems. The results presented here suggest that plant cover significantly affects soil surface characteristics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Forest ground vegetation constitutes the largest number of plant species that participate in forest dynamics. Single species or species groups of forest ground vegetation can be used as indicators for site conditions. Ground vegetation has to be accounted in forest simulation modeling if biodiversity dynamics are evaluated to serve the purpose of sustainable forest management. The usual approach is to segregate ground vegetation into plant functional types. However, there are other methods that could be used. In our contribution we propose to split ground vegetation into ecological-coenotic species groups. An application of the ecological-coenotic approach allowed for a forecasting of the dynamics of forest ground vegetation diversity on the basis of forest ecosystem modeling outputs, standard forest inventory data, and regional phytosociological data sets. A new software BioCalc designed for the forecasting of dynamics of forest ground vegetation diversity, and the EFIMOD model of the forest growth and element cycling in the forest–soil system is used for simulating the forest ecosystem parameters under different forest management regimes. An application of the proposed method for a study area situated in the Central European Russia is discussed. Two hundred-year dynamics of ground vegetation composition, forest types and species diversity is analysed under four forest management scenarios: NAT, natural development; SCU, selective cuttings; LRU, authorized by Russian legislation clear cuttings; ILL, non-authorized by the legislation but widespread clear cuttings. The simulation results showed that the total number of forest types is higher in all scenarios with cuttings relative to the NAT scenario. However, the NAT strategy leads to the growth of coniferous-broad-leaved forests close to the climax forest type of the study area. Cuttings hinder the development of climax forest structure due to the low level of deadwood in harvested forests and the absence of species-rich forest units dominated by nitrophilous tall herbs in the understorey. The NAT strategy leads to the highest species diversity in ground vegetation if a free forest development has taken place for rather long time, i.e. more than 100 years in the study area. The sum of species diversity is rather low for SCU, LRU, and ILL scenarios. It is 0.8, 0.7, and 0.6, respectively, in comparison with the NAT scenario. The SCU scenario lead to a simplification of ground vegetation together with a conservation of nemoral and boreal species. Scenarios with clear cuttings (LRU and ILL) maintain piny and meadow groups in ground vegetation. None of the forest management scenario leads to the maintenance of the whole set of ecological-coenotic groups in ground vegetation. Only a spatial combination of different management regimes in the forest area is necessary for the biodiversity restoration and maintenance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Phytosociological records from three different woodlands, each with oak–hornbeam stands (Tilio–Carpinetum), were analyzed in terms of the presence/absence of two harmful species, alien Impatiens parviflora and native Carex brizoides. Records from the Białowieża Primeval Forest (northeastern Poland) represented old-growth forest, and others from the Silesian Upland (southeastern Poland) represented managed forest and invaded forest. The three sets of records were compared in terms of stand structure, Ellenberg indicator scores, and the shares of various plant functional types. Vegetation analyses also included species richness scores, Shannon–Wiener indices, and DCA and CCA ordination with the cover of the two species as variables. There were fewer differences between managed and old-growth forest than between managed and invaded forest. Invaded forest was characterized by low species richness, higher frequency of hemerophilous species, lower frequency of myrmecochores, and higher light availability and temperature. It was concluded that, of the two invasive species, C. brizoides is a better indicator of human-induced disturbance. Both cover and binary data explained changes in floristic composition in the presence of this species. Invasion by both species was favored by forest management practices. Their presence led to further species impoverishment, and harmed the quality of the forest floor habitat. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Debate about the relative merits of the use of native plants in the landscape as opposed to exotic flora is occurring in many countries. On the one hand, much of the key landscape character in Europe is based on non-indigenous flora; on the other, in New Zealand, because the flora changes are relatively recent and arguably more noticeable, there is a strong tendency to favour native planting, especially in riparian areas. The authors of this paper are interested in how to link planting themes from urban gardens into adjacent streamside ecologies. Given that native plant use in these areas is well documented, the possibility of using exotic plants as research subjects was investigated. The opposition this proposal met with was based within the native versus exotic paradigm, and strongly tied to the discourse on weeds. This paper argues that changing the focus from a native versus exotic debate to an investigation of what plant material can offer ecologically, suggests a way forward. The possibility that, in gardens (and other landscapes) ecological, outcome-founded designs need not distinguish between native and exotic plants is explored, and it is shown that ecological outcomes are not the sole preserve of the native components of the flora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on ArcVeg, nutrient-based, plant community and ecosystem model, which aims to simulate effects of increased temperatures and climatic changes, on the biomass and community composition of arctic ecosystems. It reports that ArcVeg constitutes 18 different plant varities including graminoids, shrubs, and nonvascular plants.

The article discusses a study on temporal dynamics of grass and shrub aboveground net primary production (ANPP) in the Patagonian steppe. It states association of ANPP with senescence with climatic fluctuations in the region, and mentions amount of biomass harvests of grasses and shrubs. It notes dependence of shrub production on cumulative precipitation, and cites significance of separating functional types in studying productivity.

The article focuses on a study on relation of vertical distribution of soil organic carbon with climate and vegetation. It states the interaction of soil organic carbon (SOC) with atmospheric composition, climate and changes in land cover, and mentions use of SOC to analyze soil texture at different soil depths in the study. It notes estimation of global SOC storage and cites that plant functional types help regulate SOC distributions with depth of the soil .