BACKGROUND African tropical rainforests are one of the most important hotspots to look for changes in the upcoming decades when it comes to C storage and release. The focus of studying C dynamics in these systems lies traditionally on living aboveground biomass. Belowground soil organic carbon stocks have received little attention and estimates of the size, controls and distribution of soil org...

A long-standing debate in plant ecology is how plant diversity – including species richness, functional, and phylogenetic diversity – determines primary productivity aboveground and belowground (Tilman et al., 1997; Cadotte et al., 2009). A leading mechanism linking diversity and productivity posits that diverse assemblages of plants are more likely to complement each other in resource acquirin...

Plant competition may mediate the impacts of herbivory on invasive plant species through effects on plant growth and defense. This may predictably depend on whether herbivory occurs above or below ground and on relative plant competitive ability. We simulated the potential impact of above- or belowground damage by biocontrol agents on the growth of a woody invader (Chinese tallow tree, Triadica...

BLUE CARBON IN FRESHWATER / BRACKISH MARSHES ON THE BARRIER ISLANDS OF VIRGINIA: ABOVEGROUND NET PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY AND CARBON POOLS Emily Caitlin Adams Old Dominion University, 2015 Director: Dr. Frank P. Day “Blue carbon” is a relatively new concept describing carbon distributed tidally and sequestered via net production within coastal ecosystems, including seagrass beds, mangrove forests, ...

The rangelands, as one of the largest dynamic biomes in the world,have very capabilities. Regulation of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere,particularly carbon dioxide as the main greenhouse gases, is one of these cases.The attention to rangeland, as cheep and reachable resources to sequestrate thecarbon dioxide, increases after the Industrial Revolution. Rangelands comprise thelarge par...

Aboveground plant performance is strongly influenced by belowground microorganisms, some of which are pathogenic and have negative effects, while others, such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, usually have positive effects. Recent research revealed that belowground interactions between plants and functionally distinct groups of microorganisms cascade up to abovegroun...

One of the major concerns about global warming is the potential for an increase in decomposition and soil respiration rates, increasing CO2 emissions and creating a positive feedback between global warming and soil respiration. This is particularly important in ecosystems with large belowground biomass, such as grasslands where over 90% of the carbon is allocated belowground. A better understan...

[1] This study was conducted to examine direct and indirect impacts of global warming on carbon processes in a tallgrass prairie in the U.S. Great Plains. Infrared radiators were used to simulate global warming, and clipping was used to mimic hay mowing. Experimental warming caused significant increases in green biomass in spring and autumn and total biomass in summer on most of the measuring d...

—Quantifying root biomass is critical to an estimation and understanding of ecosystem net primary production, biomass partitioning, and belowground competition. We compared 2 methods for determining root biomass: a new soil-coring technique and traditional excavation of quantitative pits. We conducted the study in an existing Joint Fire Sciences demonstration area in the central Great Basin. Th...

Soil nutrient availability, invasive plants, and insect presence can directly alter ecosystem structure and function, but less is known about how these factors may interact. In this 6-year study in an old-field ecosystem, we manipulated insect abundance (reduced and control), the propagule pressure of an invasive nitrogen-fixing plant (propagules added and control), and soil nutrient availabili...