Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are key elements essential for plant growth and development. Due to fertilizer application, rapid urbanization, and fossil fuel combustion, nitrogen deposition has reached relatively high levels in China. However, there is still uncertainty regarding the response of N:P stoichiometry in plants and soil to N deposition across different ecosystems. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted using 845 observations from 75 studies to evaluate the response of plant and soil N and P concentrations and N to P ratios across various ecosystems to N addition. The analysis revealed that N concentration and N:P stoichiometry in plants and soil increased under N addition, while P concentration in plants and soil decreased on average. Furthermore, the magnitude of these responses was related to the N input rate and experimental duration. Finally, the effects of N addition on N concentration, P concentration, and N:P in terrestrial ecosystems would alter their allocation patterns, depending on relevant climate factors such as mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation. This study highlights the ecological impact of N addition on the biogeochemical cycling of major elements (N and P) in terrestrial ecosystems in China. These findings are necessary for improving our understanding of the characteristics of plant ecological stoichiometry and helping to plan measures for increasing N deposition.

Animal personality is of great ecological and evolutionary significance and has been documented in many animal taxa. Despite genetic background, personality might be prominently shaped by external environments, and it is significant to explore the environmental factors that influence the ontogeny of animal personality in early life. Here, we reared newborn mosquitofish Gambusia affinis under different treatments of risk predictability (i.e., no risks, unpredictable risks, risks at 5 min after feeding and risks at 2 h after feeding) and measured their two personality traits at sexual maturity. We measured the behavioral repeatability, correlation between behavioral characteristics, and the impact of risk predictability. We found that the fish showed repeatability in exploration in all risk treatments, as well as repeatability in shyness under predictable risks. When growing up in risk treatments, no matter predictable or unpredictable, shyness and exploration showed a negative correlation, suggesting a behavioral syndrome between the two behavioral traits. The fish reared under predictable risks were less explorative than those under unpredictable risks, while there were no differences in shyness among treatments. Besides, smaller fish were bolder and more explorative than larger ones. Our findings imply that risk predictability in early life may play an important role in shaping animal personality and modifying the average behavioral levels.

Mountain ecosystems are crucial for global biodiversity conservation. However, their landscape features are constantly changing owing to urban expansion. Understanding the relationships between biotic communities and landscape features is essential for biodiversity conservation. This study aimed to examine the effect of land-cover type on avian communities in Lishui, a mountainous urban area in eastern China. Avian surveys were conducted using a total of 168 line transects across different land-cover types once per season from December 2019 to January 2021. We assessed the diversity of bird communities by calculating various metrics at both taxonomic and functional levels. Among the land-cover types measured, woodland, built-up land, cultivated land, and water bodies significantly influenced bird community diversity and composition. Species richness, species abundance, and functional richness were negatively correlated with the proportion of woodland but positively correlated with the proportion of non-natural land cover, such as built-up and cultivated land. In contrast, functional evenness was positively correlated with the proportion of woodland and grassland but negatively correlated with the proportion of non-natural land cover. Land-cover type also exhibited significant correlations with avian functional characteristics such as diet, foraging strata, and body mass, thereby influencing the overall community structure. Our results indicated that mountainous landscape patterns substantially affect avian communities. Different land-cover types possess varying resource endowments that affect the distribution of avian species. Therefore, urban landscape planning in mountainous areas should carefully consider the various functions provided to organisms by different types of land cover to promote biodiversity.