Soil fungi play a vital role in soil nutrient dynamics, but knowledge of their diversity and community composition in response to biochar addition into red soil is either limited or inconsistent. Therefore, we determined the impact of bamboo biochar (BB) with increasing concentrations (0, 5, 20, and 80 g kg⁻¹ of soil, referred to as B0, BB5, BB20, and BB80, respectively) on soil physicochemical properties and fungal communities (Illumina high-throughput sequencing) in red soil under Fokenia hodginsii (Fujian cypress). We found that increasing BB levels effectively raised the soil pH and soil nutrients, particularly under BB80. BB addition significantly increased the relative abundance of important genera, i.e., Basidiomycota, Mucoromycota, and Chytridiomycota that could play a key role in ecological functioning, e.g., wood degradation and litter decomposition, improvement in plant nutrients uptake, and resistance to several abiotic stress factors. Soil amended with BB exhibited a substantial ability to increase the fungal richness and diversity; BB80 > BB20 > BB5 > B0. Basidiomycota, Mucoromycota, Glomeromycota, Rozellomycota, Aphelidiomycota, Kickxellomycota, and Planctomycetes were positively associated with soil pH, total nitrogen, phosphorous, and carbon, and available potassium and phosphorous. Besides, the correlation analysis between the soil fungal communities and soil properties also showed that soil pH was the most influential factor in shaping the soil fungal communities in the red soil. These findings have significant implications for a comprehensive understanding of how to ameliorate acidic soils with BB addition, as well as for future research on sustainable forest management, which might increase soil fungi richness, diversity, and functionality in acidic soils.

The service quality and safety perception of urban forests are important factors that influence tourists to choose them as recreation destinations. This study aims to propose a theoretical model of multivariate relationships to explore the relationship between service quality (including visual quality, facility completeness, and accessibility) and safety perception to examine whether visual quality, facility completeness, and accessibility on tourists’ safety perception in the urban forest and to explain the specific reasons for the impact. We collected sample data from many urban forest green spaces in Fuzhou through a two-stage field survey (N = 891), and controlling for potential confounders, a structural equation model was used to estimate relationships. Safety perception was divided into safety environment perception, control perception, and safety emotion. Visual quality of an urban forest positively affected safety emotion. Traffic accessibility positively affected control perception. Facility completeness had a positive impact on safety emotion and control perception. Both safety emotion and control perception played an important intermediary role in improving the perception of a safe environment in the multivariate model. Visual quality, facility completeness, and accessibility all had a positive impact on tourists’ safety perception of urban forests. The findings suggest that improving the service quality of a green space can effectively improve tourists’ evaluation of the safety of the urban forest environment. Specifically, tourists’ psychological tolerance to threats and their self-confidence in survival can be enhanced by improving the service quality of a green space.

This study evaluated the effects of different light spectra (white light; WL, blue light; BL and red light; RL) on the root morphological traits and metabolites accumulation and biosynthesis in Sarcandra glabra. We performed transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling by RNA-seq and ultra-performance liquid chromatography−electrospray ionization−tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS), respectively. When morphological features were compared to WL, BL substantially increased under-ground fresh weight, root length, root surface area, and root volume, while RL inhibited these indices. A total of 433 metabolites were identified, of which 40, 18, and 68 compounds differentially accumulated in roots under WL (WG) vs. roots under BL (BG), WG vs. roots under RL (RG), and RG vs. BG, respectively. In addition, the contents of sinapyl alcohol, sinapic acid, fraxetin, and 6-methylcoumarin decreased significantly in BG and RG. In contrast, chlorogenic acid, rosmarinyl glucoside, quercitrin and quercetin were increased considerably in BG. Furthermore, the contents of eight terpenoids compounds significantly reduced in BG. Following transcriptomic profiling, several key genes related to biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid-derived and terpenoids metabolites were differentially expressed, such as caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase) (COMT), hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT), O-methyltransferase (OMT), and 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthetase (DXS). In summary, our findings showed that BL was suitable for growth and accumulation of bioactive metabolites in root tissue of S. glabra. Exposure to a higher ratio of BL might have the potential to improve the production and quality of S. glabra seedlings, but this needs to be confirmed further.

Increasing the forest's productivity is a global concern and there is a need to develop innovative technologies. The use of biochar (BC) in the restoration of degraded sites is mounting. Therefore, to assess the effects of rice straw biochar (BR) on soil physicochemical properties and physiology of Fokienia hodginsii, a one-year greenhouse pot experiment was conducted. The soil was mixed with BR at four different levels; 0, 5, 20, and 80 g kg⁻¹of soil as B0, BR5, BR20, and BR80, respectively. The light-response curves of photosynthesis were constructed by using the modified model of rectangular hyperbola including photosynthetic pigments and biochemical attributes quarterly. BR treated seedlings responded with a significant increase in the photosynthetic rate at first, second, and fourth season, respectively. Increasing the proportion of BR in the soil significantly influenced the soil pH and P availability. At the final harvest, improved soil and physiology promoted the seedling biomass (36%) under BR80 compared to B0. Therefore, these findings suggest that BR can be used to combat soil acidification and P availability in P deficit soil. Its amendment into the soil can be useful to alleviate the physiological performance of the conifer seedlings, but its effects may vary with soil type and BC feed-stock.