Elucidating the temporal and spatial dynamics of plant diversity and biomass is crucial for evaluating the sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems such as grasslands and forests. Although plant diversity and composition (including traits) are the major biotic drivers of plant biomass dynamics, both plant diversity and biomass are highly dependent on environmental variation. As such, in recent decades, the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in both experimental and natural plant communities have been highly debated. These relationships are influenced by environmental variation at local, regional, and global scales. For example, variations in the patterns of precipitation and temperature regulate plant physiological, metabolic, and ecological processes, thereby shaping plant diversity and biomass dynamics.
It is important to study plant diversity and biomass dynamics and their relation to the environment to explore the roles of physiological, metabolic, and ecological processes in community assembly processes and ecosystem functioning. However, our understanding remains limited; thus further studies across ecosystems and biomes are needed to explore the effects of environmental variation on plant diversity and biomass dynamics. This will require more informative plant diversity indices, such as plant functional traits, stand structural heterogeneity in forests, as well as biomass gain and loss, and test ecological mechanisms while considering plant physiological and metabolic processes.
This Research Topic will serve as a platform to unite papers covering diversity and biomass dynamics in the context of environmental variation. We encourage all submission types including both theoretical and experimental studies in grasslands and forests, with statistical modeling such as structural equations and multiple linear (mixed-effect) regression models.
We welcome the following subtopics:
• Environmental factors, plant functional traits, and biomass dynamics;
• Environmental drivers of aboveground versus belowground plant biomass dynamics;
• Plant diversity and biomass dynamics in a changing environment;
• Forest diversity, stand structure, and biomass dynamics under climate and soil conditions;
• Environmental variation and plant ecosystem multifunctionality;
• Reviews linking environmental variation, plant diversity, and biomass dynamics.
Elucidating the temporal and spatial dynamics of plant diversity and biomass is crucial for evaluating the sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems such as grasslands and forests. Although plant diversity and composition (including traits) are the major biotic drivers of plant biomass dynamics, both plant diversity and biomass are highly dependent on environmental variation. As such, in recent decades, the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in both experimental and natural plant communities have been highly debated. These relationships are influenced by environmental variation at local, regional, and global scales. For example, variations in the patterns of precipitation and temperature regulate plant physiological, metabolic, and ecological processes, thereby shaping plant diversity and biomass dynamics.
It is important to study plant diversity and biomass dynamics and their relation to the environment to explore the roles of physiological, metabolic, and ecological processes in community assembly processes and ecosystem functioning. However, our understanding remains limited; thus further studies across ecosystems and biomes are needed to explore the effects of environmental variation on plant diversity and biomass dynamics. This will require more informative plant diversity indices, such as plant functional traits, stand structural heterogeneity in forests, as well as biomass gain and loss, and test ecological mechanisms while considering plant physiological and metabolic processes.
This Research Topic will serve as a platform to unite papers covering diversity and biomass dynamics in the context of environmental variation. We encourage all submission types including both theoretical and experimental studies in grasslands and forests, with statistical modeling such as structural equations and multiple linear (mixed-effect) regression models.
We welcome the following subtopics:
• Environmental factors, plant functional traits, and biomass dynamics;
• Environmental drivers of aboveground versus belowground plant biomass dynamics;
• Plant diversity and biomass dynamics in a changing environment;
• Forest diversity, stand structure, and biomass dynamics under climate and soil conditions;
• Environmental variation and plant ecosystem multifunctionality;
• Reviews linking environmental variation, plant diversity, and biomass dynamics.
