Contents 1. Introduction 2. Effects of plant diversity on higher trophic levels 2.1. How plant diversity affects the soil food-web 2.2. Links between plant diversity and aboveground organisms 3. Effects of above-and belowground organisms on plant diversity and ecosystem processes 3.1. How decomposers affect resource availability and plant diversity 3.2. Aboveground herbivores and plant diversit...

[1] Spatially-distributed forest biomass components are essential to understand carbon cycle and the impact of biomass burning emissions on air quality. We estimated the density of forest biomass components (foliage biomass, branch biomass, and aboveground biomass) at a spatial resolution of 1 km across the Contiguous United States using foliage-based generalized allometric models and Moderate-...

We measured aboveground plant biomass, aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), detritus accumulation, and nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by aboveground vegetation in six Metrosideros polymorpha stands on the windward slopes of Mauna Loa, Hawai‘i, USA. Our objective was to quantify the effects of elevation (primarily temperature) on ecosystem properties during primary succession, as a key t...

Abstract Trials were conducted in two experimental runs at the Purdue University Horticulture Greenhouses, West Lafayette, IN, to determine ‘Redefined Murray Mitcham’ peppermint tolerance tiafenacil. Established 20-cm-diameter polyethylene pots was subjected a simulated harvest by removing aboveground biomass substrate surface; then, tiafenacil applied 0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 g ai ha −1 . Visib...

—During research on black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), we repeatedly observed a female American badger (Taxidea taxus) hunting prairie dogs on a colony in southern Phillips County, Montana. During 1–14 June 2006, we observed 7 aboveground attacks (2 successful) and 3 successful excavations of prairie dogs. The locations and circumstances of aboveground attacks suggested that the ...

Plants have a variety of chemical defenses that often increase in concentration following attack by herbivores. Such induced plant responses can occur aboveground, in the leaves, and also belowground in the roots. We show here that belowground organisms can also induce defense responses aboveground and vice versa. Indirect defenses are particularly sensitive to interference by induced feeding a...

The success of invasive plants may reflect environmental differences in their native and introduced ranges including both abiotic and biotic conditions, such as release from aboveground herbivory. However, in response to these novel conditions, plants from invasive populations may have higher growth rates and lower defense levels compared to those in the native range. This may contribute to the...

A portable tillage profiler (PTP) was constructed using a laser distance sensor, a linear actuator, a portable PC, and a lightweight aluminum frame that can quickly and accurately measure aboveground and belowground soil disruption caused by tillage. A laboratory experiment was conducted that determined that soil color did not detrimentally affect the PTP, with expected vertical errors of 2.3 m...

BACKGROUND Carbon stocks and fluxes in tropical forests remain large sources of uncertainty in the global carbon budget. Airborne lidar remote sensing is a powerful tool for estimating aboveground biomass, provided that lidar measurements penetrate dense forest vegetation to generate accurate estimates of surface topography and canopy heights. Tropical forest areas with complex topography prese...