Jinguo Hua

Landslides are a common geological hazard in mountainous areas, causing significant damage to ecosystems and production activities. Near-natural ecological restoration is considered an effective strategy for post-landslide recovery. To investigate the impact of near-natural restoration strategies on the recovery of plant communities and soil in landslide-affected areas, we selected landslide plots in Lantian County at 1, 6, and 11 years post-landslide as study sites, surveyed plots undergoing near-natural restoration and adjacent undisturbed control plots (CK), and collected and analyzed data on plant communities and soil properties. The results indicate that vegetation succession followed a path from “human intervention to natural competition”: species richness peaked at 1 year post-landslide (D_m = 4.2). By 11 years, dominant species prevailed, with tree species decreasing to 4.1 ± 0.3, while herbaceous diversity increased by 200% (from 4 to 12 species). Soil recovery showed significant temporal effects: total nitrogen (TN) and dehydrogenase activity (DHA) exhibited the greatest increases after 1 year post-landslide (132% and 232%, respectively), and by 11 years, the available nitrogen (AN) in restored plots recovered to 98% of the CK levels. Correlations between plant and soil characteristics strengthened over time: at 1 year, only 6–9 pairs showed significant correlations (p < 0.05), increasing to 21–23 pairs at 11 years. Near-natural restoration drives system recovery through the “selection of native species via competition and activation of microbial functional groups”. The 6–11-year period post-landslide is a critical window for structural optimization, and we recommend phased dynamic regulation to balance biodiversity and ecological functions.

The establishment of conservation areas is considered one of the most effective approaches to address biodiversity loss with limited resources. Identifying hotspots of plant diversity and conservation gaps has played a crucial role in optimizing conservation areas. Utilizing diverse types of research data can effectively enhance the recognition of hotspots and conservation gaps. Phenotypic trait diversity is a functional biogeography that analyzes the geographic distribution patterns, formation, and reasons for the development of specific or multiple phenotypic traits of organisms. Flower color and fruit color phenotypic traits are primary characteristics through which plants interact with other organisms, affecting their own survival and reproduction, and that of their offspring. This study utilized data from 1923 Phenotypic Trait Diversity Species (PTDS) with flower and fruit color characteristics to optimize conservation areas in the Shaanxi Qinling Mountains. Additionally, data from 1838 endemic species (ES), 190 threatened species (TS), and 119 protected species (PS) were used for validation. The data were primarily sourced from the Catalogue of Vascular Plants in Shaanxi, supplemented by the Chinese Virtual Herbarium and the Shaanxi Digital Herbarium. The results reveal that by comparing the existing conservation area boundaries with those determined by four types of data, conservation gaps are found in 14 counties in the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi. The existing conservation area only accounts for 13.3% of the area determined by the four types of data. There are gaps in biodiversity conservation in the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi, and the macroscopic use of plant phenotypic trait data contributes to optimizing these conservation gaps.

Strategies for restoring degraded ecosystems vary widely in the levels of human intervention. It has commonly been assumed that recovery with artificial inputs would be quicker and more efficient. However, is this truly the situation? We conducted a meta‐analysis to evaluate the differences and applicability between ecological restoration and ecological rehabilitation. Relationships between soil phosphorus content, plant diversity, and soil microbial diversity were analyzed using 463 valid experimental data points collected from 72 publications. The results indicated that in grassland ecosystems, ecological restoration outperformed rehabilitation by 35%, 68%, 38%, and 48% in belowground biomass, community coverage, plant richness, and Shannon diversity, respectively. In forests, rehabilitation trailed behind restoration by 58%, 26%, and 92% in belowground biomass, Simpson diversity, and bacterial Shannon diversity. Furthermore, there was minimal difference in the recovery mode among different fungal and bacterial phyla. Rehabilitation demonstrated lower stability and efficiency in long‐term phosphorus cycling compared to restoration. Overall, ecological restoration offers more stable and efficient long‐term phosphorus cycling, thereby questioning the effectiveness of ecological rehabilitation for sustainable ecosystem recovery, especially for species diversity and phosphorus cycling.

Landslides cause significant disturbances to mountainous ecosystems and human activities. Due to climate change, the frequency of landslides as secondary disasters has notably increased compared to the past. Further exploration is needed to understand the effects of different restoration methods on post-landslide plant communities and soil properties over different periods of time. In this regard, we selected Lantian County in the northern foothills of the Qinling Mountains as our study area. We conducted surveys on artificially restored and naturally recovered plots at 1, 6, and 11 years after landslide events. Undamaged areas were chosen nearby as control plots. We identified vegetation types and species diversity after artificial and natural recovery and further analyzed the impact of different restoration strategies on vegetation patterns and soil properties. The research results indicate that, compared with natural recovery, artificial restoration can more quickly improve vegetation and soil. With the increasing time gradient, the average ground cover of the herbaceous layer in natural recovery decreased gradually from 47% at year one to 34% at year eleven. In contrast, in artificial restoration, the average ground cover of the herbaceous layer increased from 27% at year one to 44% at year eleven. For the shrub layer, in natural recovery, the average ground cover gradually increased to 39% over eleven years. While in artificial restoration, the average ground cover for the shrub layer gradually increased to 46% over the same period. In the artificial restoration plots, soil pH gradually increased (from 6.2 to 8.2), while TN content gradually decreased (from 1.7 g/kg to 0.9 g/kg). Similarly, TK content decreased (from 22.4 g/kg to 14.5 g/kg), and AP content showed a decreasing trend (from 20.7 mg/kg to 11.4 mg/kg). In the natural recovery plots, DNA content gradually increased (from 3.2 μg/g/d to 142.6 μg/g/d), and SC content gradually increased as well (from 2.4 mg/d/g to 23.1 mg/d/g). In contrast, on sites undergoing natural recovery, the short-term restoration rates of vegetation and soil are lower, but they show greater stability over a longer time. This study provides a new perspective on vegetation restoration strategies and is expected to offer insights for the optimization of post-landslide recovery in the future.

Over recent decades, there has been a severe nitrogen-deposition in alpine meadows which often leads to phosphorus limitation of plant productivity. In these high-altitude localities, Cyperaceae have an increasing biomass while other functional groups decrease. Meanwhile, Cyperaceae are known to have the ability of producing dauciform roots, which are formed under phosphorus limitation, but in China, are only described in these high-altitude places. So, is the superiority of Cyperaceae and the formation of dauciform roots in high-altitude localities related to the accumulation of nitrogen? And is there a link between them? A Carex filispica dominated community in Baima Snow Mountain was selected and quantitative fertilization with four levels of nitrogen and three levels of phosphorus was performed. After 2 weeks, Carex filispica individuals with and without dauciform roots were separated and analyzed for their regular root properties, dauciform root properties, biomass and chemical traits of above- and belowground parts. The total cover of the community declined under phosphorus limitation with increasing nitrogen supply, while the relative cover difference of Carex filispica increased with increasing nitrogen supply and decreased with increasing phosphorus supply. Dauciform roots had a more significant response to nitrogen supply than to phosphorus supply and they were formed the most at a low supply of nitrogen. The biomass and root properties of individuals with dauciform roots were enhanced by nitrogen supply and inhibited by phosphorus supply, while those of individuals without dauciform roots were often enhanced by phosphorus supply. Individuals with and without dauciform roots showed two different mechanisms, and were limited by significantly different factors, which can explain the opposite performance of Cyperaceae after nitrogen and phosphorus supply in previous studies.

In China, dauciform roots were hardly studied and only reported in alpine meadows, where sedges showed a different tendency from other functional groups such as grasses and forbs with degradation. In addition, Carex species were proved to have shifting scaling relationships among LES (leaf economics spectrum) traits under disturbance. So, are these unique performances of sedges related to the presence of dauciform roots, and if so, how? An alpine meadow dominated by Carex filispica in Baima Snow Mountain was selected, and quantitative trampling was performed (0, 50, 200, and 500 passes). The cover and dauciform root properties of Carex filispica were measured, as well as the morphological, chemical traits and biomass of leaves and roots, their correlations and the differences between individuals with and without dauciform roots were analyzed. After the trampling, individuals with dauciform roots showed multiple resource‐acquisitive traits: Larger, thicker leaves, more aboveground biomass, higher efficiency of nutrient utilization, and slenderer roots. Additionally, they had a tighter correlation among belowground biomass, morphological and chemical traits, as well as dauciform root properties and morphology of leaves, suggesting that their traits were more related than those without dauciform roots. The presence of dauciform roots in Carex filispica was related to advantages in multiple traits after trampling, which is consistent with and might be responsible for the unique performances of sedges.