Despite evidence from experimental grasslands that plant diversity increases biomass production and soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, it remains unclear whether this is true in natural ecosystems, especially under climatic variations and human disturbances. Based on field observations from 6,098 forest, shrubland, and grassland sites across China and predictions from an integrative model combining multiple theories, we systematically examined the direct effects of climate, soils, and human impacts on SOC storage versus the indirect effects mediated by species richness (SR), aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), and belowground biomass (BB). We found that favorable climates (high temperature and precipitation) had a consistent negative effect on SOC storage in forests and shrublands, but not in grasslands. Climate favorability, particularly high precipitation, was associated with both higher SR and higher BB, which had consistent positive effects on SOC storage, thus offsetting the direct negative effect of favorable climate on SOC. The indirect effects of climate on SOC storage depended on the relationships of SR with ANPP and BB, which were consistently positive in all biome types. In addition, human disturbance and soil pH had both direct and indirect effects on SOC storage, with the indirect effects mediated by changes in SR, ANPP, and BB. High soil pH had a consistently negative effect on SOC storage. Our findings have important implications for improving global carbon cycling models and ecosystem management: Maintaining high levels of diversity can enhance soil carbon sequestration and help sustain the benefits of plant diversity and productivity.

Soybean/maize intercropping has remarkable advantages in increasing crop yield and nitrogen (N) efficiency. However, little is known about the contributions of rhizobia or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to yield increases and N acquisition in the intercropping system. Plus, the mechanisms controlling carbon (C) and N allocation in intercropping systems remain unsettled. In the present study, a greenhouse experiment combined with 15N and 13C labeling was conducted using various inoculation and nutrient treatments. The results showed that co-inoculation with AMF and rhizobia dramatically increased biomass and N content of soybean and maize, and moderate application of N and phosphorus largely amplified the effect of co-inoculation. Maize had a competitive advantage over soybean only under co-inoculation and moderate nutrient availability conditions, indicating that the effects of AMF and rhizobia in intercropping systems are closely related to nutrient status. Results from 15N labeling showed that the amount of N transferred from soybean to maize in co-inoculations was 54% higher than that with AMF inoculation alone, with this increased N transfer partly resulting from symbiotic N fixation. The results from 13C labeling showed that 13C content increased in maize shoots and decreased in soybean roots with AMF inoculation compared to uninoculated controls. Yet, with co-inoculation, 13C content increased in soybean. These results indicate that photosynthate assimilation is stimulated by AM symbiosis in maize and rhizobial symbiosis in soybean, but AMF inoculation leads to soybean investing more carbon than maize into common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs). Overall, the results herein demonstrate that the growth advantage of maize when intercropped with soybean is due to acquisition of N by maize via CMNs while this crop contributes less C into CMNs than soybean under co-inoculation conditions.

Located in the inland arid area of Central Asia and northwest China, Xinjiang has recently received heightened concerns over soil water erosion, which is highly related with the sustainable utilization of barren soil and limited water resources. Data from the national soil erosion survey of China (1985-2011) and Xinjiang statistical yearbook (2000 was used to analyze the trend, intensity, and serious soil water erosion regions. Results showed that the water erosion area in Xinjiang was 87.6×10 3 km 2 in 2011, mainly distributed in the Ili river valley and the northern and southern Tian Mountain. Soil erosion gradient was generally slight and the average erosion modulus was 2184 t/(km 2 ·a). During the last 26 years, the water erosion area in Xinjiang decreased by 23.2%, whereas the intensity was still increasing. The driving factors from large to small impact included: population boom and human activities> vegetation degradation> rainfall and climate change> topography and soil erodibility> tectonics movement. Soil water erosion resulted in eco-environmental and socioeconomic losses, such as destroying farmland and grassland, triggering floods, sedimentation of reservoirs, damaging transportation and irrigation facilities, and aggravating poverty. A landscape ecological design approach is suggested for integrated control of soil erosion. Currently, an average of 2.07×10 3 km 2 of formerly eroded area is conserved each year. This study highlighted the importance and longevity of soil and water conservation efforts in Xinjiang, and offered some suggestions on ecological restoration and combating desertification in arid regions of Central Asia.

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Low availability of phosphorus (P) is a major constraint to production of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). The extent to which genotypic variation in root traits exists or contributes to P-acquisition efficiency (PAE) in cotton is unknown. To assess genetic variation in PAE, the biomass and P-acquisition characteristics of 32 cotton genotypes were evaluated in a hydroponic experiment. Significant genotypic variation in biomass and P content was detected among the cotton genotypes in two seasons. We then conducted a 2-year pot experiment to compare P-efficiency traits between three P-efficient and two P-inefficient genotypes under P-deficient and P-sufficient conditions (0 and 75 mg P2O5 kg–1 soil, respectively). We detected significant differences in biomass accumulation and allocation, P accumulation and allocation, root traits and PAE among the five cotton genotypes under P-sufficient and P-deficient conditions. Compared with P-inefficient genotypes, P-efficient genotypes had longer surface fine roots, and greater total root surface area, total root length, surface root length, and P concentration (partitioning index) in bolls. Root morphology, especially surface fine root length and middle root length, played an important role in P uptake under P-deficient conditions.