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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 14, 2025

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning

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Published on: March 21, 2025

Global change and plant-ecosystem functioning in freshwaters.

Yingji Pan¹, Jorge García-Girón², Lars Lønsmann Iversen³

¹Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 130102 Changchun, China; Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands.

Trends in Plant Science

|January 11, 2023

Summary

Freshwater plants are vital for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Understanding their responses to global change is crucial for predicting future freshwater environments and ensuring essential services.

Keywords:

biogeography ecosystem functioning, the leaf economics spectrum freshwater plant functional traits global change impacts

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Environmental Science
Botany

Background:

Freshwater ecosystems are critical for global biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services.
Freshwater plants play a key role in nutrient cycling, carbon storage, and food provision within these ecosystems.
Global change poses a significant threat to the stability and functioning of freshwater systems.

Purpose of the Study:

To synthesize global plant responses, adaptations, and feedbacks to current and future freshwater environments.
To utilize trait-based approaches to understand freshwater plant dynamics from individual to community levels.
To identify knowledge gaps and outline benchmarks for future research on freshwater plant biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Main Methods:

Global synthesis of plant responses to freshwater environments.
Trait-based approaches applied to individuals and communities.
Analysis of plant adaptations and feedbacks under global change scenarios.

Main Results:

Global plant responses and adaptations to freshwater environments are diverse.
Trait-based approaches reveal patterns in freshwater plant community assembly and function.
Understanding plant feedbacks is essential for predicting ecosystem responses to global change.

Conclusions:

Freshwater plants are integral to ecosystem health and services.
Trait-based ecology provides a framework for understanding freshwater plant responses to global change.
Further transdisciplinary research is needed to safeguard freshwater plant biodiversity and services.