In a 2-year field study, we quantified lateral root growth patterns and soil water depletion dynamics in the invasive annual Centaurea solstitialis and two native perennials, Elymus glaucus and Grindelia camporum. Centaurea solstitialis produced lateral roots most actively from early April to mid-June, during the late rosette to spiny seedhead stage while both root growth and water depletion we...

Soils in terrestrial ecosystems store more carbon (C) than plants and the atmosphere combined, and ecosystems’ C dynamics are strongly dependent of nitrogen (N) availability. Moreover, plant production in boreal ecosystems is often limited by low N availability, and N retention in soils is a major constraint on N recirculation to plants. Soil fungi strongly influence C and N interactions in bor...

Increasing global atmospheric CO2 concentration has led to concerns regarding its potential effects on the terrestrial environment. Attempts to balance the atmospheric carbon (C) budget have met with a large shortfall in C accounting (μ1.4 3 1015 g C y–1) and this has led to the hypothesis that C is being stored in the soil of terrestrial ecosystems. This study examined the effects of CO2 enric...

In a 2-year field study, we quantified lateral root growth patterns and soil water depletion dynamics in the invasive annual Centaurea solstitialis and two native perennials, Elymus glaucus and Grindelia camporum. Centaurea solstitialis produced lateral roots most actively from early April to mid-June, during the late rosette to spiny seedhead stage while both root growth and water depletion we...

The terrestrial biosphere is currently thought to be a significant sink for atmospheric carbon (C). However, the future course of this sink under rising [CO2] and temperature is uncertain. Some contrasting possibilities that have been suggested are: that the sink is currently increasing through CO2 fertilization of plant growth but will decline over the next few decades because of CO2 saturatio...

Climate change may considerably impact the carbon (C) dynamics and C stocks of forest soils. To assess the combined effects of warming and reduced precipitation on soil CO2 efflux, we conducted a two-way factorial manipulation experiment (4 °C soil warming + throughfall exclusion) in a temperate spruce forest from 2008 until 2010. Soil was warmed by heating cables throughout the growing seasons...

The southeastern landscape is composed of agricultural and forest systems that can store carbon (C) in standing biomass and soil. Research is needed to quantify the effects of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) on terrestrial C dynamics including CO2 release back to the atmosphere and soil sequestration. Longleaf pine savannahs are an ecologically and economically important, yet understu...

We conducted a field study in Danjiangkou Reservoir region of central China to evaluate soil C and N dynamics following afforestation by comparing soil organic C and N (SOC and SON), soil net N mineralization and nitrification, and inorganic N concentrations in the plant rhizosphere and open areas in the forest, shrubland and adjacent cropland. Afforestation increased SOC but did not significan...

SG wrote the article, developed and implemented the model and participated in the design of the experiment, the data acquisition and the discussion. NG was in charge of the day-today management of the experiment, the regular data acquisition, participated in the design of the experiment and the analysis of the data. FLD participated in the design of the experiment and the discussion. A-JF contr...

Climate warming affects ecosystem functioning by altering the rates of carbon (C) fixation and release. Modeling warming effect on terrestrial C cycling is critical given the feedbacks between climate and C cycling. However, the effect of warming on key model parameters and the resulting long-term C dynamics has not been carefully examined. In this study, measurements from a nine-year warming e...