Belowground persistence types relevant to severe disturbance.

Despite recent advances in plant trait ecology, we identified a knowledge gap in understanding how plants strategize to cope with severe and recurrent disturbances. Here, we propose a new classification system based on three hierarchical binary attributes: woodiness, reflecting longevity of plant structures; clonality, indicating the ability to regenerate from both above- and belowground organs; and resprouting ability, referring to the ability to replace aboveground organs. This framework results in six Belowground Persistence Types (BPTs): 1, herbaceous seeder; 2, herbaceous non-clonal resprouter; 3, herbaceous clonal resprouter; 4, woody seeder; 5, woody non-clonal resprouter; and 6, woody clonal resprouter.

Fine root and soil carbon stocks are positively related in grasslands but not in forests.

Increasing fine root carbon (FRC) inputs into soils has been proposed as a solution to increasing soil organic carbon (SOC). However, FRC inputs can also enhance SOC loss through priming. Here, we tested the broad-scale relationships between SOC and FRC at 43 sites across the US National Ecological Observatory Network.

A continental scale analysis reveals widespread root bimodality.

An improved understanding of root vertical distribution is crucial for assessing plant-soil-atmosphere interactions and their influence on the land carbon sink. Here, we analyze a continental-scale dataset of fine roots reaching 2 meters depth, spanning from Alaskan tundra to Puerto Rican forests. Contrary to the expectation that fine root abundance decays exponentially with depth, we found root bimodality at ~20% of 44 sites, with secondary biomass peaks often below 1 m.

Tree carbon allocation to root exudates: implications for carbon budgets, soil sequestration and drought response.

Root carbon (C) exudation plays a central role in nutrient acquisition, microbially mediated organic matter decomposition and many other critical ecosystem processes. While it is well known that roots respond strongly to belowground resources, we have a limited quantitative understanding about C allocation to exudates and its fate in soil under changing water availability. This review synthesizes the importance of exudate C fluxes, summarizes studies quantifying mass-specific exudation rate (SER), total exudation rate (TER) and root exudate fraction (REF; the proportion of TER in a plant's C allocation), examines drought effects and highlights key research priorities to advance the understanding of C allocation to exudates in forest ecosystems.

Terminology in ecology and evolutionary biology disproportionately harms marginalized groups.

The discipline of ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) has long grappled with issues of inclusivity and representation, particularly for individuals with systematically excluded and marginalized backgrounds or identities. For example, significant representation disparities still persist that disproportionately affect women and gender minorities; Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); individuals with disabilities; and people who are LGBTQIA+. Recent calls for action have urged the EEB community to directly address issues of representation, inclusion, justice, and equity.

Hurricanes pose a substantial risk to New England forest carbon stocks.

Nature-based climate solutions (NCS) are championed as a primary tool to mitigate climate change, especially in forested regions capable of storing and sequestering vast amounts of carbon. New England is one of the most heavily forested regions in the United States (>75% forested by land area), and forest carbon is a significant component of climate mitigation policies. Large infrequent disturbances, such as hurricanes, are a major source of uncertainty and risk for policies relying on forest carbon for climate mitigation, especially as climate change is projected to alter the intensity and extent of hurricanes.

Rooting depth and xylem vulnerability are independent woody plant traits jointly selected by aridity, seasonality, and water table depth.

Evolutionary radiations of woody taxa within arid environments were made possible by multiple trait innovations including deep roots and embolism-resistant xylem, but little is known about how these traits have coevolved across the phylogeny of woody plants or how they jointly influence the distribution of species. We synthesized global trait and vegetation plot datasets to examine how rooting depth and xylem vulnerability across 188 woody plant species interact with aridity, precipitation seasonality, and water table depth to influence species occurrence probabilities across all biomes. Xylem resistance to embolism and rooting depth are independent woody plant traits that do not exhibit an interspecific trade-off.

Global patterns of water storage in the rooting zones of vegetation.

The rooting-zone water-storage capacity-the amount of water accessible to plants-controls the sensitivity of land-atmosphere exchange of water and carbon during dry periods. How the rooting-zone water-storage capacity varies spatially is largely unknown and not directly observable. Here we estimate rooting-zone water-storage capacity globally from the relationship between remotely sensed vegetation activity, measured by combining evapotranspiration, sun-induced fluorescence and radiation estimates, and the cumulative water deficit calculated from daily time series of precipitation and evapotranspiration.

Championing inclusive terminology in ecology and evolution.

Amid a growing disciplinary commitment to inclusion in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB), it is critical to consider how the use of scientific language can harm members of our research community. Here, we outline a path for identifying and revising harmful terminology to foster inclusion in EEB.

Plant sizes and shapes above and belowground and their interactions with climate.

Although the above and belowground sizes and shapes of plants strongly influence plant competition, community structure, and plant-environment interactions, plant sizes and shapes remain poorly characterized across climate regimes. We investigated relationships among shoot and root system size and climate. We assembled and analyzed, to our knowledge, the largest global database describing the maximum rooting depth, lateral spread, and shoot size of terrestrial plants - more than doubling the Root Systems of Individual Plants database to 5647 observations.