The possibility of using the elemental compositions of species as a tool to identify species/genotype niche remains to be tested at a global scale. We investigated relationships between the foliar elemental compositions (elementomes) of... more
The possibility of using the elemental compositions of species as a tool to identify species/genotype niche remains to be tested at a global scale. We investigated relationships between the foliar elemental compositions (elementomes) of trees at a global scale with phylogeny, climate, N deposition and soil traits. We analysed foliar N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S concentrations in 23,962 trees of 227 species. Shared ancestry explained 60–94% of the total variance in foliar nutrient concentrations and ratios whereas current climate, atmospheric N deposition and soil type together explained 1–7%, consistent with the biogeochemical niche hypothesis which predicts that each species will have a specific need for and use of each bio-element. The remaining variance was explained by the avoidance of nutritional competition with other species and natural variability within species. The biogeochemical niche hypothesis is thus able to quantify species-specific tree niches and their shifts in response to environmental changes. Based on a global-scale analysis of the leaf elemental composition of tree species, the authors show that shared ancestry is the major factor shaping plant elementomes, thus providing large-scale empirical support for the biogeochemical niche hypothesis.
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Combined effects of cumulative nutrient inputs and biogeochemical processes that occur in freshwater under anthropogenic eutrophication could lead to myriad shifts in nitrogen (N):phosphorus (P) stoichiometry in global freshwater... more
Combined effects of cumulative nutrient inputs and biogeochemical processes that occur in freshwater under anthropogenic eutrophication could lead to myriad shifts in nitrogen (N):phosphorus (P) stoichiometry in global freshwater ecosystems, but this is not yet well-assessed. Here we evaluated the characteristics of N and P stoichiometries in bodies of freshwater and their herbaceous macrophytes across human-impact levels, regions and periods. Freshwater and its macrophytes had higher N and P concentrations and lower N : P ratios in heavily than lightly human-impacted environments, further evidenced by spatiotemporal comparisons across eutrophication gradients. N and P concentrations in freshwater ecosystems were positively correlated and N : P was negatively correlated with population density in China. These results indicate a faster accumulation of P than N in human-impacted freshwater ecosystems, which could have large effects on the trophic webs and biogeochemical cycles of estu...
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Biogeochemistry, Ecology, China, Eutrophication, and 15 moreMedicine, Phosphorus, Macrophytes, Human Activities, Nitrogen, Ecosystem, Fresh water, Accumulation, Anthropogenic Impacts, Ecological Applications, Macrophyte, Freshwater Ecosystems, Freshwater Ecosystem, Imbalance, and Biogeochemical Cycle
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Nutrient availability is a key factor in Mediterranean ecosystems that affects the primary productivity and the community structure. The great variability of its natural availability is now increasing due to frequent fires, pollution... more
Nutrient availability is a key factor in Mediterranean ecosystems that affects the primary productivity and the community structure. The great variability of its natural availability is now increasing due to frequent fires, pollution events and changes in rainfall regime associated to climate change. Quercus ilex ssp. ballota and Pinus halepensis are the most abundant tree species in the NW Mediterranean
Research Interests: Climate Change, Plant Biology, Biology, Phosphorus, Community Structure, and 15 moreNutrient Uptake, Trees, Nutrient, Primary Production, Forestry Sciences, Quercus ilex, Mediterranean Climate, Soil Type, Nutrient Availability, Aleppo Pine, Pinus Halepensis, Soil Nutrients, Mediterranean Basin, Nutrient Concentration, and Root biomass
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Research Interests: Botany, Chemical Ecology, Carbon, Biology, Invasive Species, and 15 moreClimate, Biodiversity, Abiotic Stress, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Atmospheric sciences, Ecology and Environment, Hawaii, Introduced species, Hawaiian Islands, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Alien, Alien species, Alien Plants, and Herbivore
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Chemistry, Climate Change, Biology, Drought, and 15 moreGlobal Change Biology, Biological Sciences, Global change, Protein Structure and Function, Seasonality, Environmental Sciences, Soil moisture, Field Experiment, Species Composition, Shrubland, Warming, Mediterranean Climate, Nitrogen-Use Efficiency, N, and Climatic condition
Research Interests: Climate Change, Biology, Functional Ecology, Ecology, Biological Sciences, and 15 morePhosphorus, Environmental Sciences, Nutrient Content, Potassium, Climate Model, Forest biomass, Conditional Expectation, inorganic P, Mediterranean Climate, Heavy Rainfall, Evergreen, Above ground biomass, Organic Matter, Experimental Data, and nutrient cycle
Research Interests: Chemistry, Soil, Water Availability, Drought, Biological Sciences, and 15 moreSeasonality, Environmental Sciences, Soil moisture, Soil organic matter, Litter, Alkaline phosphatase, Quercus ilex, Mediterranean Climate, Soil Acidity, Organic C, Biological activity, Cold Stress, Soil Water Content, Acid Phosphatase, and Climatic condition
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Research Interests: Irrigation, Biology, Mediterranean, Biological Sciences, Phosphorus, and 15 moreGrowth, Environmental Sciences, Community Capacity, STEM, Plant growth, Nitrogen, Nutrient Content, Nutritional Status, Shrubland, Nutrient, Conditional Expectation, Rosmarinus, Plant Leaf, Dominant Species, and dry period
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... 1998. The chaparral vegetation in Mexico under non-Mediterranean climate: The convergence and Madrean-Tethyan hypotheses reconsidered. American Journal of Botany 85:13981408. ... Adrienne B. Nicotra, Jacob P. Hermes, Cynthia S.... more
... 1998. The chaparral vegetation in Mexico under non-Mediterranean climate: The convergence and Madrean-Tethyan hypotheses reconsidered. American Journal of Botany 85:13981408. ... Adrienne B. Nicotra, Jacob P. Hermes, Cynthia S. Jones, Carl D. Schlichting. ...
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We studied trace element accumulation in the moss Hypnum cupressiforme and the widely distributed Mediterranean trees Quercus ilex and Pinus halepensis located at increasing distances from the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. Hypnum... more
We studied trace element accumulation in the moss Hypnum cupressiforme and the widely distributed Mediterranean trees Quercus ilex and Pinus halepensis located at increasing distances from the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. Hypnum cupressiforme, Quercus ilex and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Pinus halepensis, have proved to be adequate as possible accumulative monitoring species in relation to trace elements pollution. No significant effects of crown orientation were found. One-year old leaves generally accumulated more trace elements than current-year leaves. All the studied trace elements showed greatest concentrations in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, with lead, cadmium and arsenic concentrations being especially high. In general, trace element concentrations in biomass were similar or higher than the values reported from other Mediterranean urban areas of Europe. The top soil-layer concentrations were also higher in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area indicating the existence of mechanisms of atmospheric deposition and/or concentration in the soil. The lower values of Pb of airborne origin relative to other elements such as Cd, Cu, Zn and Sb suggest that traffic exhausts are not the only important focus of pollutants in this area. The results of biomass concentrations and of enrichment factor of biomasses respect to bedrock and soils show that atmospheric inputs account for the higher trace element concentrations in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Principal Component Analysis, Biomass, Comparative Study, Medicine, and 15 moreMultidisciplinary, Soil Pollution, Atmospheric deposition, Biomonitoring, Lead, Quercus, Cadmium, Moss, Bryophyta, Pinus, Mediterranean Climate, Biological Monitoring, Soil Pollutants, Bedrock, and Plant Leaves
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Chemistry, Agronomy, Climate Change, Biological Sciences, and 15 moreEnvironmental Sciences, Soil moisture, Soil organic matter, Enzyme, Shrubland, Soil Temperature, Nutritional Quality, Mediterranean Climate, soil pH, Leaf Litter, Enzyme activity, Biological activity, Soil Water, N uptake, and soil protease
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Productivity of tropical lowland moist forests is often limited by availability and functional allocation of phosphorus (P) that drives competition among tree species and becomes a key factor in determining forestall community diversity.... more
Productivity of tropical lowland moist forests is often limited by availability and functional allocation of phosphorus (P) that drives competition among tree species and becomes a key factor in determining forestall community diversity. We used non-target 31P-NMR metabolic profiling to study the foliar P-metabolism of trees of a French Guiana rainforest. The objective was to test the hypotheses that P-use is species-specific, and that species diversity relates to species P-use and concentrations of P-containing compounds, including inorganic phosphates, orthophosphate monoesters and diesters, phosphonates and organic polyphosphates. We found that tree species explained the 59% of variance in 31P-NMR metabolite profiling of leaves. A principal component analysis showed that tree species were separated along PC 1 and PC 2 of detected P-containing compounds, which represented a continuum going from high concentrations of metabolites related to non-active P and P-storage, low total P c...
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Plants in natural environments are increasingly being subjected to a combination of abiotic stresses, such as drought and warming, in many regions. The effects of each stress and the combination of stresses on the functioning of shoots... more
Plants in natural environments are increasingly being subjected to a combination of abiotic stresses, such as drought and warming, in many regions. The effects of each stress and the combination of stresses on the functioning of shoots and roots have been studied extensively, but little is known about the simultaneous metabolome responses of the different organs of the plant to different stresses acting at once. We studied the shift in metabolism and elemental composition of shoots and roots of two perennial grasses, Holcus lanatus and Alopecurus pratensis, in response to simultaneous drought and warming. These species responded differently to individual and simultaneous stresses. These responses were even opposite in roots and shoots. In plants exposed to simultaneous drought and warming, terpenes, catechin and indole acetic acid accumulated in shoots, whereas amino acids, quinic acid, nitrogenous bases, the osmoprotectants choline and glycine betaine, and elements involved in grow...
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We studied the impacts of anthropogenic changes in land use on the stoichiometric imbalance of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in Phragmites australis wetlands in the Minjiang River estuary. We compared... more
We studied the impacts of anthropogenic changes in land use on the stoichiometric imbalance of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in Phragmites australis wetlands in the Minjiang River estuary. We compared five areas with different land uses: P. australis wetland (control), grassland, a mudskipper breeding flat, pond aquaculture and rice cropland. Human activity has affected the elemental and stoichiometric compositions of soils through changes in land use. In general, soil C and N concentrations were lower and total soil K concentrations were higher at the sites under human land uses relative to the control site, and total soil P concentrations were generally not significantly different. The close relationship between total soil C and N concentrations in all cases, including fertilization with N, suggested that N was the most limiting nutrient in these wetlands. Lower soil N concentrations and similar soil P concentrations and higher soil K concentratio...
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The present work has explored for the first time acclimation of upper versus lower canopy leaves along an altitudinal gradient. We tested the hypothesis that restrictive climatic conditions associated with high altitudes reduce... more
The present work has explored for the first time acclimation of upper versus lower canopy leaves along an altitudinal gradient. We tested the hypothesis that restrictive climatic conditions associated with high altitudes reduce within-canopy variations of leaf traits. The investigated beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest is located on the southern slope of the Hrubý Jeseník Mountains (Czech Republic). All measurements were taken on leaves from upper and lower parts of the canopy of mature trees (>85 years old) growing at low (400 m above sea level, a.s.l.), middle (720 m a.s.l.) and high (1100 m a.s.l.) altitudes. Compared with trees at higher altitudes, those growing at low altitudes had lower stomatal conductance, slightly lower CO(2) assimilation rate (A(max)) and leaf mass per area (LMA), and higher photochemical reflectance index, water-use efficiency and Rubisco content. Given similar stand densities at all altitudes, the different growth conditions result in a more open canop...
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Global change analyses usually consider biodiversity as a global asset that needs to be preserved. Biodiversity is frequently analysed mainly as a response variable affected by diverse environmental drivers. However, recent studies... more
Global change analyses usually consider biodiversity as a global asset that needs to be preserved. Biodiversity is frequently analysed mainly as a response variable affected by diverse environmental drivers. However, recent studies highlight that gradients of biodiversity are associated with gradual changes in the distribution of key dominant functional groups characterized by distinctive traits and stoichiometry, which in turn often define the rates of ecosystem processes and nutrient cycling. Moreover, pervasive links have been reported between biodiversity, food web structure, ecosystem function and species stoichiometry. Here we review current global stoichiometric gradients and how future distributional shifts in key functional groups may in turn influence basic ecosystem functions (production, nutrient cycling, decomposition) and therefore could exert a feedback effect on stoichiometric gradients. The C-N-P stoichiometry of most primary producers (phytoplankton, algae, plants)...
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C, N and P are three of the most important elements used to build living beings, and their uptake from the environment is consequently essential for all organisms. We have reviewed the available studies on water, soils and organism... more
C, N and P are three of the most important elements used to build living beings, and their uptake from the environment is consequently essential for all organisms. We have reviewed the available studies on water, soils and organism elemental content ratios (stoichiometry) with the aim of identifying the general links between stoichiometry and the structure and function of organisms
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The soil quality index (SQI) is based on several key indicators and is used to assess soil quality. More than 250,000 ha of walnut saplings (Juglans regia L.) were planted in previous cropland areas in the Sichuan Basin, China, using a... more
The soil quality index (SQI) is based on several key indicators and is used to assess soil quality. More than 250,000 ha of walnut saplings (Juglans regia L.) were planted in previous cropland areas in the Sichuan Basin, China, using a range of soil cover types that may affect soil quality with effects that are unclear. We investigated the effects of white film (WF), black film (BF), shade netting (SN), and maize straw (MS) soil cover types and an uncovered control type (CK) on soil chemical and biological indicators and the SQI in the 0–15 cm soil layer in a young walnut forest in the Sichuan Basin over a 27-month study period. The results showed that all soil cover types increased the soil organic matter (SOM), total potassium (TK), and available potassium (AK) concentrations (p < 0.05), whereas the total nitrogen (TN) and available nitrogen (AN) concentrations were greater only in soils covered by MS than in CK (p < 0.05). The available phosphorus concentrations were 64.1 a...
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Tropical plants are expected to have a higher variety of defensive traits, such as a more diverse array of secondary metabolic compounds in response to greater pressures of antagonistic interactions, than their temperate counterparts. We... more
Tropical plants are expected to have a higher variety of defensive traits, such as a more diverse array of secondary metabolic compounds in response to greater pressures of antagonistic interactions, than their temperate counterparts. We test this hypothesis using advanced metabolomics linked to a novel stoichiometric compound classification to analyze the complete foliar metabolomes of four tropical and four temperate tree species, which were selected so that each subset contained the same amount of phylogenetic diversity and evenness. We then built Bayesian phylogenetic multilevel models to test for tropical–temperate differences in metabolite diversity for the entire metabolome and for four major families of secondary compounds. We found strong evidence supporting that the leaves of tropical tree species have a higher phenolic diversity. The functionally closer group of polyphenolics also showed moderate evidence of higher diversity in tropical species, but there were no differen...
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Fertilisation of cereal crops with nitrogen (N) has increased in the last five decades. In particular, the fertilisation of wheat crops increased by nearly one order of magnitude from 1961 to 2010, from 9.84 to 93.8 kg N ha−1 y−1. We... more
Fertilisation of cereal crops with nitrogen (N) has increased in the last five decades. In particular, the fertilisation of wheat crops increased by nearly one order of magnitude from 1961 to 2010, from 9.84 to 93.8 kg N ha−1 y−1. We hypothesized that this intensification of N fertilisation would increase the content of allergenic proteins in wheat which could likely be associated with the increased pathology of coeliac disease in human populations. An increase in the per capita intake of gliadin proteins, the group of gluten proteins principally responsible for the development of coeliac disease, would be the responsible factor. We conducted a global meta-analysis of available reports that supported our hypothesis: wheat plants growing in soils receiving higher doses of N fertilizer have higher total gluten, total gliadin, α/β-gliadin, γ-gliadin and ω-gliadin contents and higher gliadin transcription in their grain. We thereafter calculated the per capita annual average intake of g...
Research Interests: Animal Science, Biology, Medicine, Gliadin, Wheat, and 4 moreGluten, Foods, Coeliac Disease, and Allergenic Proteins
Background: The quantity, quality, and type (e.g., animal and vegetable) of human food have been correlated with human health, although with some contradictory or neutral results. We aimed to shed light on this association by using the... more
Background: The quantity, quality, and type (e.g., animal and vegetable) of human food have been correlated with human health, although with some contradictory or neutral results. We aimed to shed light on this association by using the integrated data at country level. Methods: We correlated elemental (nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) compositions and stoichiometries (N:P ratios), molecular (proteins) and energetic traits (kilocalories) of food of animal (terrestrial or aquatic) and vegetable origin, and alcoholic beverages with cancer prevalence and mortality and life expectancy (LE) at birth at the country level. We used the official databases of United Nations (UN), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health, and Eurobarometer, while also considering other possibly involved variables such as incom...