Recent functional trait studies have shown that trait differences may favour certain species
(environmental filtering) while simultaneously preventing competitive exclusion (niche …

Despite the fundamental significance of water to plants and the persisting question of how
competing species coexist, this is the first review of hydrological niches. We define …

Drought has broad and deep impacts on vegetation. Studies on the effects of drought on
vegetation have been conducted over years. Recently, the cumulative effect of drought is …

The effects of short‐term drought on soil microbial communities remain largely unexplored,
particularly at large scales and under field conditions. We used seven experimental sites …

Feedbacks between plants and soil microbial communities play an important role in
vegetation dynamics, but the underlying mechanisms remain unresolved. Here, we show …

The environmental filtering hypothesis predicts that the abiotic environment selects species
with similar trait values within communities. Testing this hypothesis along multiple–and …

Climate change is expected to increase the magnitude and the frequency of extreme climatic
events such as droughts. Better understanding how plant communities will respond to these …

The topography is complex in the southwest karst region of China, with severe surface water
scarcity but abundant groundwater resources. Studying drought propagation and vegetation …

Due to the impacts of global warming, extreme precipitation events are increasing in
frequency and are accelerating the process of rocky desertification in the karst area in …

Recent studies from mountainous areas of small spatial extent (< 2500 km2) suggest that
fine‐grained thermal variability over tens or hundreds of metres exceeds much of the climate …