Microclimate (temperature and relative humidity) and biotic factors (decomposer colonization and tree species diversity) drive wood decomposition. However, their inter-correlations make it necessary to decouple direct and indirect effects. Further...

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...

Hemispherical photos were taken from above and below 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, and then through th...

Rain was captured in open field and in vegetated conditions parallel to measurements in the Comparative study plots (CSPs). Throughfall as well as sandloss from splashcups can be used to derive kinetic energy from raindrops.

Questions: One tenet of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning research is the dependence of ecosystem functions on species-specific differences in traits. Community assembly theory predicts niche differentiation among the constituent species, for...

We used shared herbivore species (zeta diversity) and multi-site generalized dissimilarity modelling to investigate the patterns and determinants of species turnover of Lepidoptera herbivores among study plots across a gradient in tree species ric...