Ecological Applications最新文献

{"title":"What happens after oil and gas decommissioning? A global systematic review of marine environmental effects","authors":"Anaëlle J. Lemasson, Antony M. Knights","doi":"10.1002/eap.70243","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.70243","url":null,"abstract":"The thousands of oil and gas (OG) platforms placed at sea for fossil fuel extraction have introduced new hard substrate to the marine environment. Over time, these structures can become colonized by a diversity of marine life, fostering novel ecosystems. However, an increasing number of OG platforms are reaching decommissioning age and decisions regarding their fate must be made. Some view these artificial structures as litter that ought to be removed; others view them as valuable contributors to marine biodiversity worth preserving. Evidence of the environmental effects of these structures following different decommissioning strategies is needed to identify the potential benefits of each option and make informed decisions. Here, using a systematic synthesis approach, we show that our understanding of the effects of different decommissioning options is greatly limited by a lack of empirical evidence. Only three articles addressed the effects of OG removal, preventing firm conclusions either for or against this option. Most research focused on Rigs‐to‐Reefs options, revealing that reefed structures can create biodiverse systems, although with clear differences between reefing methods. Decommissioned structures with higher vertical relief (e.g., standing or topped) may offer higher ecological value than those with lower relief (e.g., toppled). Risks related to the decommissioning methods (e.g., harm from explosives, non‐native species introduction) are discussed. Despite the urgency, empirical research on decommissioning environmental impacts remains limited, particularly from the southern hemisphere. We call for coordinated international effort to establish standardization across decommissioning procedures, and monitoring and reporting requirements, to ensure that robust data are available to address this complex environmental challenge.","PeriodicalId":55168,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Applications","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147739515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing the variability and vulnerability of carbon function in coastal soft sediment ecosystems to inform protection","authors":"Tegan Evans, Ines Bartl, Shahrokh Heidari, Rebecca V. Gladstone‐Gallagher, Stefano Schenone, Patrice Delmas, Simon F. Thrush","doi":"10.1002/eap.70234","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.70234","url":null,"abstract":"Coastal soft sediment ecosystems can sequester and process large quantities of carbon, making these environments important in mitigating the impacts of climate change. However, demersal fishing methods can resuspend sediment, releasing CO <jats:sub>2</jats:sub> , and in the longer term change the physical, biological, and biogeochemical characteristics of the seafloor. Within the global response to climate change, there is a need for tools to support the identification of sites within our coastal zones that can maximize carbon storage and where marine protection will be most beneficial for both blue carbon budgets and biodiversity recovery. We assess multiple aspects of carbon cycling in coastal soft sediment environments to explore the drivers of function and their vulnerability to seafloor disturbance. This information is interpreted to demonstrate how it can support decision‐making for enhancing blue carbon and marine protection for climate change mitigation. We found carbon cycle functionality is driven across multiple gradients, and sites with large infauna were more vulnerable to resuspension‐induced CO <jats:sub>2</jats:sub> release. The results demonstrate that by accounting for environmental variability and complexity in marine protection, we have the opportunity to enhance multiple aspects of carbon cycling, protect biodiversity, and manage the vulnerability of sites to resuspension‐induced CO <jats:sub>2</jats:sub> release.","PeriodicalId":55168,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Applications","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147733474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Freshwater habitats within the Natura 2000 network","authors":"Annette Baattrup‐Pedersen, Marta Baumane, Anders Nielsen, Dennis Trolle, Paulo Branco, Florian Borgwardt, Daniel Hering, Sebastian Birk","doi":"10.1002/eap.70241","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.70241","url":null,"abstract":"Freshwater biodiversity is experiencing dramatic declines. Despite improvements, the trend remains negative, underlining that effective and coordinated initiatives are needed. Protected areas are considered a global cornerstone of biodiversity conservation, and in Europe, the Natura 2000 network plays a central role in safeguarding biodiversity. In the present study, we examine if designated Annex I listed freshwater habitats of the Habitats Directive are sufficiently represented to enable conservation and restoration efforts, as outlined in Article 4 of the European Nature Restoration Law (NRR), to meaningfully contribute to reversing the ongoing decline in freshwater biodiversity. Additionally, we examine whether freshwater habitats are represented across their full natural geographical range, addressing a key spatial component of long‐term persistence, as reflected in the concept of “favorable reference area” as defined in Article 3 of the NRR. We found that freshwater habitats cover 6.2% of the total area of Natura 2000 sites with running waters covering only 0.4%. In addition to a low spatial coverage, the analyses also indicated that several freshwater Annex I habitats are not represented across their full natural geographical range. Based on the obtained results, we therefore argue that a systematic strengthening of the Natura 2000 network is required, with particular emphasis on: (1) expanding the extent of designated freshwater habitat types in‐ and also outside the existing network if necessary to adequately cover freshwater habitats, and (2) identifying and addressing representation gaps across all relevant biogeographic regions. To support this process, we have developed a webtool based on the datasets underlying the analyses, which enables relevant stakeholders including EU institutions, national agencies, and local managers to examine the distribution of freshwater habitats and species protected within the current Natura 2000 network. The webtool can be accessed at <jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\" xlink:href=\"https://www.waterwebtools.com/merlin\">https://www.waterwebtools.com/merlin</jats:ext-link> .","PeriodicalId":55168,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Applications","volume":"1 1","pages":"e70241"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147733475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Large‐scale experimental evaluation of woody plant removal in desert grassland: Restoration, novelty, or degradation?","authors":"Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Laura M. Burkett, Darren James, Juan Gamon, Robert L. Schooley","doi":"10.1002/eap.70240","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.70240","url":null,"abstract":"Woody plant encroachment into grassy ecosystems is a worldwide phenomenon that radically transforms ecosystem services. Billions of dollars have been spent to remove woody plants, but there is great uncertainty about the conditions in which such removals are beneficial. We conducted a collaborative, large‐scale monitoring experiment in the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico, USA, to test whether woody plant removal restored historical states, created novel states, or exacerbated land degradation and to examine the environmental conditions affecting outcomes. We monitored vegetation cover in 43 pairs of plots representing herbicide‐treated and herbicide‐untreated conditions of the same plant community and environmental setting, including measurements at baseline, 5, 10, and in some cases 15 years posttreatment. We compared outcomes to measurements in reference sites. Woody plant removal led to increases in plant species richness and perennial grass cover, but increases were due to disturbance‐adapted grasses rather than species characteristic of reference states. On average, grass cover in treatments did not attain levels observed in the reference state. Negative effects of woody plant removal on total canopy cover (related to soil erosion risk) and other plant functional groups of concern for wildlife were not observed. Elevation, slope, and baseline cover were important predictors of treatment‐associated gains in plant cover, while higher grazing intensity was related to increases in richness and forb cover. Our results indicate that while woody plant removal cannot be considered to restore a reference state due to the continued absence of reference grass species, it does not lead to obvious land degradation. Furthermore, more positive outcomes are maximized where (and when) soil moisture limitations are lowest or the cover of responding plants is highest prior to treatments. We recommend that future restoration actions be conducted as experiments that pay special attention to co‐production mechanisms, standardized monitoring methods, and salient and easily measured indicators.","PeriodicalId":55168,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Applications","volume":"72 1","pages":"e70240"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147733476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of fire timing and snow cover on tallgrass prairie plant re-emergence phenology, growth rate, and flowering","authors":"Michelle A. Homann,&nbsp;Ellen I. Damschen","doi":"10.1002/eap.70213","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eap.70213","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In a time of unprecedented global change, understanding plant community responses to contemporary disturbance regimes is necessary to improve the predictability of restoration outcomes. Although fires in tallgrass prairies historically occurred throughout the growing season, contemporary prescribed fires are often conducted during the dormant season, in either spring or fall. Dormant-season burns remove vegetation and litter at different times of year, which has subsequent effects on microclimate dynamics. These dynamics may compound with projected changes in winter climate, including decreased snow cover and more variable soil temperatures. Short-term responses to microclimate conditions are most detectable early in the growing season, yet plant community metrics are often measured broadly at one or a few points during the peak growing season. Understanding how disturbance timing and a changing climate influence plant community responses through and beyond these early stages of growth is an imperative step toward improving the ability to predict long-term plant community responses during restoration. To evaluate responses to disturbance and winter climate, we manipulated fire application, fire timing, and snow depth in a tallgrass prairie restoration from 2016 to 2023, then evaluated re-emergence timing in spring and subsequent effects on relative growth rate and flowering effort throughout the 2023 growing season. Plants re-emerged earlier and grew more slowly in fall burn treatments than in spring burn and unburned treatments. Within their respective disturbance treatments, plants that re-emerged faster tended to grow faster, and relative growth rate was positively correlated with the probability of flowering. Winter snow cover was not correlated with re-emergence or growth rate, but snow removal tended to decrease the probability of flowering. Our results suggest resilience to winter climate change in the short term and demonstrate cascading effects of fire application and timing on tallgrass prairie plant phenology and fitness responses.</p>","PeriodicalId":55168,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Applications","volume":"36 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eap.70213","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147636077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Roles of riverine wetlands in diffusive greenhouse gas emissions: Comparing before and after wetland destruction","authors":"Wangshou Zhang,&nbsp;Hengpeng Li,&nbsp;Shuyi Xie,&nbsp;Tenglong Zhu","doi":"10.1002/eap.70233","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eap.70233","url":null,"abstract":"<p>While wetland construction and restoration are widely employed as nature-based solutions to achieve various eco-environmental goals, their roles in affecting diffusive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the targeted riverine systems remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the monthly and diurnal dynamics of diffusive GHG emissions in a headwater river, which initially contained a series of constructed wetlands but were later destroyed. Our findings reveal that the riverine reach with wetlands was a persistent source of diffusive CH₄ and CO₂ emissions, but a periodic sink for N₂O, with mean fluxes of 0.76 mmol m⁻² day⁻¹, 262.38 mmol m⁻² day⁻¹, and 5.44 μmol m⁻² day⁻¹, respectively. The hotspots for CH₄ and CO₂ and sinks for N₂O emissions occur coincidentally in warm months, when vegetative and microbial activities are strong. Once the wetlands were destroyed, we observed reductions in the emission fluxes of N₂O (9.62%), CH₄ (27.23%), and CO₂ (47.73%). Further analysis underscored that the environmental settings as shaped by wetlands foster anaerobic metabolisms, whereas the loss of wetlands reduces nutrient trapping and induces more aerobic conditions, which hinder anaerobic activity and associated GHG production. The comparative nature of this study uniquely illuminates the roles of wetlands in governing diffusive GHG dynamics, providing a valuable, data-driven starting point for a more refined evaluation of their net impact on aquatic GHG budgets.</p>","PeriodicalId":55168,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Applications","volume":"36 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147636022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shifting stage-specific constraints on productivity shape recovery potential for Yukon River Chinook salmon","authors":"Lukas B. DeFilippo,&nbsp;Kathrine G. Howard,&nbsp;Curry J. Cunningham,&nbsp;Robert M. Suryan,&nbsp;Patrick D. Barry,&nbsp;James M. Murphy,&nbsp;Wesley A. Larson","doi":"10.1002/eap.70229","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eap.70229","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Identifying key life history periods in which population productivity is constrained represents a persistent challenge in conservation and natural resource management. For species with complex life cycles, such as Pacific salmon (<i>Oncorhynchus</i> spp.), population dynamics may be shaped by interactions between natural and anthropogenic impacts occurring across multiple habitats and life history stages. In such cases, a stage-structured modeling approach is useful for identifying key life history periods and processes therein acting to drive realized abundance trends. Here, we develop an integrated life-cycle model to explore stage-specific constraints on population productivity and recovery potential for Yukon River Chinook salmon. The Yukon River has historically supported one of the largest stock complexes of Chinook salmon in the world, forming the basis of important fisheries that are vital to the well-being of communities in this region. However, returns of Chinook salmon to the Yukon River have declined substantially, prompting conservation concerns and limitations on harvest opportunities. Our results point to periods of low juvenile recruitment as likely contributors to declining abundance levels over the past two decades, supporting previous studies implicating factors operating in the early (i.e., spawner-to-juvenile) life history stages. However, we find that elevated natural mortality in later, post-juvenile life history stages has increasingly limited population productivity and recovery potential in recent years following a protracted marine heatwave period. Collectively, our results emphasize how shifting conditions can induce novel stage-specific survival bottlenecks in species with complex life cycles, with important implications for conservation and management outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":55168,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Applications","volume":"36 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eap.70229","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147630271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Songbird population trajectories diverge under simulations of conifer encroachment versus removal in a sagebrush ecosystem","authors":"Elise C. Zarri,&nbsp;Jason D. Tack,&nbsp;Joseph T. Smith,&nbsp;Scott L. Morford,&nbsp;Thomas E. Martin,&nbsp;David E. Naugle","doi":"10.1002/eap.70228","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eap.70228","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Woody plant encroachment into grasslands and shrublands is a global phenomenon that negatively impacts ecosystem services and wildlife populations. North American sagebrush ecosystems have experienced widespread degradation from encroaching conifers, leading to losses of sagebrush-obligate wildlife. Removal of encroaching trees is a primary restoration method, but whether management actions can influence wildlife populations at management-relevant scales is rarely investigated. We studied a local Brewer's Sparrow in the Medicine Lodge Valley of southwest Montana to understand how their territory occupancy and nest success were impacted by tree and shrub cover. From 2019 to 2022, our data collection resulted in 1161 mapped territories and 449 nests, which we used to build models of territory occupancy and reproductive productivity relative to tree and shrub cover. We then used tree and shrub cover extracted from historical imagery to estimate population size and productivity 70 years in the past. Finally, using models of tree growth and expansion, we estimated population size and reproductive productivity under two simulated scenarios 30 years in the future: with and without restoration through conifer removal. We observed that tree cover has more than tripled at the study site since 1954, which our models predicted has caused an almost 25% decrease in the local population size and a 35% decline in offspring production. In a future scenario where tree removal is conducted in areas with &lt;20% tree canopy cover after 30 years, we predict population size and offspring production will likely remain stable. Alternatively, if tree cover is allowed to increase unabated, our simulations predict a potential population decline of 60%, with similar losses to offspring production. We observed a stark divergence in the potential futures of the local Brewer's Sparrow population and implications for the species at large. Continuing tree encroachment drastically decreases the available habitat and causes a steep decline in population size. However, proactive and continuing management of encroaching trees can alleviate further losses in a species that has already experienced significant range-wide declines. We also highlight the importance of encroaching trees as a previously underappreciated conservation risk for sagebrush avifauna.</p>","PeriodicalId":55168,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Applications","volume":"36 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eap.70228","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147619532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Historical data reveal extirpation of foundation species and kelp forest community deborealization in a coastal hotspot","authors":"Brian Timmer,&nbsp;Luba Y. Reshitnyk,&nbsp;Christopher J. Neufeld,&nbsp;Julia K. Baum","doi":"10.1002/eap.70223","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eap.70223","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Climate change is restructuring ecological communities globally, yet the impacts are often underestimated or poorly resolved due to the lack of historical baselines. In temperate oceans, biologically diverse and socioeconomically important kelp forests are the marine ecosystem most threatened by climate change. However, long-term historical baselines for kelp forests are lacking and the processes driving community-level changes remain poorly resolved. Here, using recently discovered aerial imagery and subtidal quadrat data from 1972, we recreated historical baselines for kelps and associated benthic macroalgae in a global hotspot within the northern Salish Sea (British Columbia, Canada). We resurveyed the same sites in 2023 to quantify community shifts, showing that a half-century ago, bull kelp (<i>Nereocystis luetkeana</i>) formed expansive kelp forests in the region (&gt;550 ha), none of which remain today. Satellite time series of bull kelp show that the majority was lost between 1972 and 1984. These data increase baselines of bull kelp canopy extent in this area by more than 10-fold. Changes to the benthic kelp forest assemblage were mainly driven by loss of the dominant kelp, <i>Saccharina latissima</i> (−78%), across all depths. Historically abundant species of red algae also decreased substantially (e.g., <i>Mazzaella splendens</i> [−98.5%] and <i>Plocamium pacificum</i>, [−62.1%]), largely above three meters depth. Applying the community temperature index (CTI) to this half-century comparison, we show that CTI of the kelp forest community (+1.4°C; 95% CI: 0.43–2.37°C) had tracked increases of summer SST (+1.66°C; 95% CI: 1.20–2.13°C) more closely than winter SST (+0.65°C; 95% CI: 0.46–0.84°C), indicating that temperatures during the hottest summer months are likely driving community shifts. The abundance of cold-affinity species decreased more than warm-affinity species abundance had increased, indicating that the subtidal kelp forest community was predominantly restructured by deborealization, rather than tropicalization. Community deborealization may be prevalent in temperate hotspots that are disjunct from areas with similar climatology, creating colonization barriers for warm-affinity species. Our study underscores the importance of historical data for understanding the true magnitude of climate change impacts and suggests that deborealization of temperate kelp forest communities may be more common than has previously been recognized.</p>","PeriodicalId":55168,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Applications","volume":"36 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/eap.70223","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147625566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Necromass carbon but not microbes constrain soil carbon release in restoration of degraded alpine grassland","authors":"Qijing Sun,&nbsp;Xiang Wang,&nbsp;Yangxue Wen,&nbsp;Qiaoyu Luo,&nbsp;Wenjin Li,&nbsp;Huichun Xie,&nbsp;Jianxiao Zhu,&nbsp;Qiang Wang","doi":"10.1002/eap.70225","DOIUrl":"10.1002/eap.70225","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Alpine grassland restoration, a critical strategy for enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in high-altitude ecosystems, profoundly influences plant–soil–microbe interactions that govern the magnitude of carbon (C)–climate feedback. However, the mechanisms driving plant and microbial regulation of SOC mineralization (i.e., soil CO₂-C release) during degraded alpine grassland restoration remain unresolved, limiting predictions of SOC cycling in these vulnerable ecosystems. Here, by integrating passive and active restoration experiments with aerobic incubation, high-throughput sequencing, and biomarker analyses, we disentangled how restoration-induced shifts in SOC composition (plant- and microbial-derived C) and microbial activity and diversity regulate soil CO₂-C release in degraded alpine grassland on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Our results showed that soil CO₂-C release increased significantly with restoration progression under both passive and active approaches. Alpine grassland restoration markedly enhanced plant-derived C accumulation and its SOC contribution, while microbial-derived C remained unchanged due to reduced necromass accumulation coefficients. Notably, although active restoration accelerated plant-derived C accumulation, its oxidation decomposition degree was lower compared to passive restoration and even to unrestored heavily degraded grasslands, increasing SOC pool lability. Fungal community restructuring, particularly in the saprophytic fungal community, emerged as a hallmark of restoration. More importantly, we found that elevated soil CO₂-C release during degraded alpine grassland restoration was not primarily mediated by microbial activity and diversity shifts but was strongly linked to divergent plant- and microbial-derived C accumulation patterns, especially the dynamics of plant-derived C. These insights underscore the critical roles of plant- and microbial-derived C redistribution in grassland restoration and suggest new mechanisms for restoration-induced soil C dynamics.</p>","PeriodicalId":55168,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Applications","volume":"36 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147625563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}