We studied the influence of allochthonous N inputs on primary succession and soil development of a 50-year-old volcanic island, Surtsey. Seabirds increased the ecosystem N accumulation rate inside their colony to ~47 kg ha-1 y-1, compared to 0.7 kg ha-1 y-1 outside it. A strong relationship was found between total ecosystem N stock and both total above- and belowground biomass and SOC stock, which shows how fast external N input can boost primary succession and soil formation.

We have discovered and verified a new CO2 sink in one of the most unlikely places on earth－a saline desert located in a desert-oasis ecotone. The observed downward CO2 flux was not found in either plants or soil, but in groundwater. Fluctuation of the groundwater table moves the dissolved inorganic carbon in soil, which originated from soil/root respiration, downward into the groundwater body and forms a carbon sink hidden under the desert.

Lower-cost optical sensors, which can be left outdoors, are often used to provide information regarding plant photosynthetic activity. A lower-cost sensor was compared with an expensive instrument to see if the data collected were comparable. Both instruments were able to track changes in photosynthetic activity, but the values recorded by each were different. This can cause difficulties when comparing data across space and time. We provide advice on how best to use these sensors in the field.

A mean rate of increase in sea surface partial pressure of carbon dioxide and decrease in carbonate saturation state in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean, a CO2 source to the atmosphere, during the 1962–2012 period was determined. These changes were most likely associated with the increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration, and the transport of accumulated anthropogenic CO2 from a CO2 sink region via basin-scale ocean circulations.

A time series of nine oceanic parameters from the coastal time series station Boknis Eck (BE, southwestern Baltic Sea) in the period of 1957-2013 is analysed with respect to seasonal cycles and long-term trends. Most striking was a paradoxical decreasing trend in oxygen with a simultaneous decline in eutrophication. Possible reasons for this paradox, e.g. processes related to warming temperatures such as increased decomposition of organic matter or altered ventilation, are discussed.

We use a new risk analysis method, and six vegetation models, to analyse how climate change may alter drought risks in European ecosystems. The conclusions are (1) drought will pose increasing risks to productivity in the Mediterranean area; (2) this is because severe droughts will become more frequent, not because ecosystems will become more vulnerable; (3) future C sequestration will be at risk because carbon gain in primary productivity will be more affected than carbon loss in respiration.

The Kerguelen Plateau supports a strong spring chlorophyll bloom, in contrast with most of the Southern Ocean. Throughout the Southern Ocean, including in the Kerguelen area, wind can determine oceanic vertical velocities that may bring nutrients to the surface and contribute to the development of blooms. The Kerguelen Island itself generates a wind shadow that locally enhances upwelling velocities to the north of the main axis of the winds, and chlorophyll is high in this upwelling region.

There is great concern about the role that forest ecosystems play in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions under future global-change scenarios. It is assumed that projected climate change will increase the decomposition rate of woody debris, but the magnitude of this increase is unknown. Across eastern US forests, we show that the residence time of downed woody debris may decrease by as much as 13% over the next 200 years, depending on various future climate-change scenarios and forest types.

Methyl halides, compounds that contribute to stratospheric ozone destruction, have both anthropogenic and natural sources, but their natural sources are poorly characterized. The manuscript reports large emissions of methyl chloride and methyl bromide from subtropical salt marshes on the Gulf Coast of Texas, USA. The emission rates, including some of the largest observed from a natural source, contrast the much lower emission rates reported from higher-latitude salt marshes.

Economic models provide scenarios of land use and greenhouse gas emissions to earth system models to project global change. We found, and partially addressed, inconsistencies in land cover between an economic and an earth system model that effectively alter a prescribed scenario, causing significant differences in projected terrestrial carbon and atmospheric CO2 between prescribed and altered scenarios. We outline a solution to this current problem in scenario-based global change projections.

A 2-year field litter decomposition experiment was conducted along an altitudinal gradient in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. More rapid 2-year C is released from fresh foliar litter at upper elevations compared to lower elevations. However, high C release was observed at low altitudes during winter, but high altitudes exhibited high C release during growing season. The results suggested that the onset of C release in fresh litter could delay in this cold region in the scenario of climate warming.

In a paired plot design we studied the effect on soil organic carbon stocks of the transformation of a natural forest in the Po Valley in northern Italy into a short rotation poplar plantation 37 years ago and observed a reduction by 40% or 5.7 kg m−2 over the plowing depth of 55cm. A dedicated sampling scheme and application of spatial statistics was needed to proof this change because the homogenization effect of plowing created a spatial auto-correlation.

The recent geologic origin of Surtsey, the southernmost location of Iceland, provided an unprecedented opportunity for the first intensive population genetics study of plant colonization on a young volcanic island in the North Atlantic region. The study species, Honckenya peploides, a pioneer beach halophyte, was one of the first plants to colonize Surtsey via sea currents. The findings of this study parallel a growing number of studies showing either similar or greater genetic diversity.