Soil formation is the result of a complex network of biological as well as chemical and
physical processes. The role of soil microbes is of high interest, since they are responsible …

Summary 1 This account reviews information on all aspects of the biology of Juniperus
communis that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour …

Assumptions about the germination ecology of alpine plants are presently based on
individual species and local studies. A current challenge is to synthesise, at the global level …

The aim of this study was to understand (1) whether warmer climatic conditions affected the
vascular plant species composition,(2) the magnitude and rate of altitudinal changes in …

A positive relationship between seed size and subsequent offspring survival is a key
assumption in ecological theory concerning life‐history strategies. Yet, this relationship is …

In invasion ecology, hypothesis of an invasive species exhibiting enhanced performance in
the introduced range has been widely acknowledged. Examining the role of phenotypic …

In this study, we built up a database of 570 species from an alpine meadow on the eastern
Tsinghai–Tibet plateau. We examined the correlation of seed mass and germination with …

Plant survival in alpine landscapes is constantly challenged by the harsh and often
unpredictable environmental conditions. Steep environmental gradients and patchy …

We examined geographic variation in mean individual seed mass (MISM) among 38
populations within and across nine Pedicularis species in the eastern Tibetan Plateau …

Biological traits that are advantageous under specific ecological conditions should be
present in a large proportion of the species within an ecosystem, where those specific …