Shersingh Joseph Tumber-Dávila

Summary: Belowground plant trait research has predominantly focused on trade‐offs in fine‐root traits via the root economics space (RES). Yet, this fine‐root framework captures only a fraction of the functional strategies plants employ beneath the soil surface. Here, we broaden the perspective on belowground plant functioning by integrating traits related to root system extent, clonality, and bud banks, using data from the new UNDERPLOT dataset. This integration links measurable traits to key belowground functions: resource acquisition, spatial exploration, and persistence. Our analysis shows that the fine‐root economics space explains less than 5% of the variation in traits related to root system extent, clonality, and bud banks. Instead, an expanded trait analysis reveals three significant dimensions, explaining 62% of total trait variation. The third dimension represents an independent, persistence‐related gradient, not captured by existing root economics frameworks. We propose that understanding belowground plant strategies requires embracing additional functional gradients. The strategy of persistence, in particular, varies significantly across growth forms and is a critical dimension of plant response to resource limitation and stress, becoming increasingly important as global change shifts disturbance regimes.

Summary: Fine‐root traits and exudation shape plant–microbe interactions and nutrient cycling, yet it remains unclear whether exudation correlates with root traits or responds independently to soil conditions. In a 16‐yr factorial warming × nitrogen addition experiment, we quantified fine‐root morphology, chemistry, and exudation in two dominant temperate trees: Quercus rubra and Acer rubrum . Root exudation responded more strongly to experimental treatments than most root morphological traits. Nitrogen addition increased exudation in both A. rubrum and Q. rubra , whereas warming reduced exudation in Q. rubra . These shifts were not explained by root foraging traits, which were largely species‐specific and stable. Instead, exudation was most closely associated with traits related to root construction and nutrient conservation, including root tissue density, root nitrogen concentration, and branching intensity. The contrasting effects of warming and nitrogen addition on exudation, despite stable root morphology, suggest that rhizosphere carbon inputs can shift without changes in root morphology. As such, future rhizosphere carbon fluxes may depend more on root tissue construction and belowground carbon allocation than on changes in root morphology. This suggests that physiological shifts in root carbon release may be a key pathway by which warming and nitrogen availability alter belowground carbon cycling.

Summary: Belowground plant trait research has predominantly focused on trade-offs in fine root traits via the root economics space. Yet, this fine root framework captures only a fraction of the functional strategies plants employ beneath the soil surface. Here, we broaden the perspective on belowground plant functioning by integrating traits related to root system extent, clonality and bud banks, using data from the new UNDERPLOT database. This integration links measurable traits to key belowground functions: resource acquisition, spatial exploration, and persistence. Our analysis shows that the fine root economics space explains less than 5% of the variation in traits related to root system extent, clonality, and bud banks. Instead, an expanded trait analysis reveals three significant dimensions, explaining 62% of total trait variation. The third dimension, represents an independent, persistence-related gradient, not captured by existing root economics frameworks. We propose that understanding belowground plant strategies requires embracing additional functional gradients. The strategy of persistence, in particular, varies significantly across growth forms and is a critical dimension of plant response to resource limitation and stress, becoming increasingly important as global change shifts disturbance regimes.

Trans, nonbinary, and intersex persons are—and have always been—an integral part of humankind. However, these communities are under attack. We live in a time of growing state repression and the normalization of political violence against trans, nonbinary, and intersex persons throughout much of the world, and we have a responsibility to understand these conditions and consider their implications for science education. In this commentary, we briefly outline the growing state repression of trans, nonbinary, and intersex persons, illustrating this repression with examples primarily drawn from the U.S. context, while acknowledging similar forms of repression happening in many countries. We discuss the ways that scientific discourses and ideologies are being co‐opted to rationalize these attacks, explain the responsibility this creates for science educators, and examine the important work that has already been done to understand and dismantle oppression and to celebrate the lives and accomplishments of these communities within and beyond science education. Finally, we offer recommendations for specific actions that science educators and researchers can take to uphold the human rights of trans, nonbinary, and intersex persons and communities.

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. We found that SOC and FRC stocks were positively related with an across-ecosystem slope of 7 ± 3 kg SOC m⁻² per kg FRC m⁻², but this relationship was driven by grasslands. Grasslands had double the across-ecosystem slope while forest FRC and SOC were unrelated. Furthermore, deep grassland soils primarily showed net SOC accrual relative to FRC input. Conversely, forests had high variability in whether FRC inputs were related to net SOC priming or accrual. We conclude that while FRC increases could lead to increased SOC in grasslands, especially at depth, the FRC-SOC relationship remains difficult to characterize in forests.

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. Root bimodality was more likely in areas with low total fine root biomass and was more frequent in shrublands than grasslands. Notably, secondary peaks coincided with high soil nitrogen content at depth. Our analyses suggest that deep soil nutrients tend to be underexploited, while root bimodality offers plants a mechanism to tap into deep soil resources. Our findings add to the growing recognition that deep soil dynamics are systematically overlooked, and calls for more research attention to this deep frontier in the face of global environmental change.