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The interaction between woody plants and mycorrhizal fungi is an important biological interaction; however, the driving factors behind the diversity of mycorrhizal trees formed through the symbiosis of mycorrhizal fungi and woody plants remain unclear. In this study, we collected and compiled the woody plant data of 34 forest dynamic plots containing 3350 species from habitats around the world and divided them into AM and EcM trees. We tested the contribution of AM and EcM trees to tree diversity and its components in forest communities worldwide. Our results showed that AM trees rather than EcM trees affect the tree diversity of forest communities, and that the diversity of AM trees has a significant latitudinal gradient pattern. Climate variables, especially temperature, are strongly correlated with the diversity patterns for AM trees rather than EcM trees. Topography is the most significant factor affecting the diversity of EcM trees. Our findings highlight the importance of AM trees for the tree diversity of forest communities worldwide. Our findings have important implications for understanding the response of complex woody plant communities with different types of mycorrhizal symbiosis to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization induces rapid plant environmental modifications, leading to alterations in plant diversity distribution patterns and plant homogenization. However, how plant diversity is distributed along urbanization gradients in regional urban agglomerations and its relationship with environmental factors are not well defined. In three nearby Henan Province Chinese cities—Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, and Zhongmu—along an urbanization gradient, the distribution pattern of plant diversity was quantified. Both native and non-native plants found in urban green spaces were taken into consideration. A total of 176 plant quadrats were selected and separated into three urbanization gradient types using space-constrained hierarchical clustering: urban core, urban suburb, and urban outskirt. Polynomial fitting was used to characterize the spatial distribution patterns of plants along the urbanization gradient, and Pearson correlation and the Mantel test were employed to examine the effects of environmental factors, including longitude, latitude, altitude, distance from the urban center, temperature, and illumination, on plant diversity. A total of 313 vascular plant species, comprising 137 woody species and 176 herbaceous species, were examined. Along the three urbanization gradients, remarkable variations in plant diversity for woody and herbaceous species were observed. The spatial patterns of plant diversity were consistent across cities, whereas woody plants and herbaceous plants displayed the opposite behavior. Distance to the city center and temperature were the most substantial environmental effect factors for the diversity of woody plants, whereas light factors had a major impact on herbaceous plants. These findings show different life-type plants are affected differently by urbanization, and they offer managers and planners a recommendation for increasing urban plant diversity by executing various interventions throughout the urban gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to understand the essential relationship between the degree of inversion of MFe 2 O 4 and their electrochemical properties as anode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs), microspherical MFe 2 O 4 (M = Ni, Co and Zn) nanocomposites were prepared via a facile wet-chemical method. The results showed that all the obtained microspherical nanocomposites are composed of their corresponding nanoparticles with a diameter of about 20 nm. The electrochemical results showed that these hierarchical nanocomposites exhibit excellent properties with high capacities, good cycling stabilities and superior rate capabilities. Moreover, MFe 2 O 4 electrodes at different degree of inversion demonstrated the different Li-ions storage mechanisms. NiFe 2 O 4 , at high degree of inversion demonstrated one-step mechanism. CoFe 2 O 4, at medium degree of inversion demonstrated consecutive two-step mechanism. Finally, ZnFe 2 O 4, at low degree of inversion, demonstrated separated multistep mechanism. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that different degree of inversion can be used as the electrochemical performance descriptor for novel ferrites-based anode materials for high performance LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]