The DBH of the trees of each TSQ were measured; these were converted to basal areas and the basal areas of all the trees within a TSQ were added, for a total tree basal area measurement for each TSQ. This serves as a measure of competition for the...

Planned and current tree species on positions in Plots of Site A. Includes information on the topography inferred from the 1m interpolated GIS.

Soil chemical laboratory analyses of all 27 comparative study plots. Contents of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur as well as pH-values (H2O and KCl) of six depth increments per CSP. Total depth is 50 cm.

Hemispherical photos were taken from above the shrubs found in the TSQS in the BEF-China experiment. These were used to calculated the amount of light that penetrates through the tree canopy, to the understory shrubs. This openness was calculated,...

This is the 2008 CSP PLFA data from a subset of 12 CSPs representing the age gradient. Samples were analyzed over the depth profile of each CSP (see detailed methods below) and analyzed for phospholipid fatty acid profiles, which represent both th...

d13C and d18O isotopes were measured from the leaves of shrubs in TSQs. The leaves were collected, dried, milled into a powder, weighed and sent for stable isotope analyses in Jena (Max Planck Institute, Germany).