Key message Bedrock can store appreciable amounts of available water, and some trees
apparently use this resource to survive drought. Abstract Several forest ecosystems rely on …

Soil nutrient contents and stoichiometric ratios are determinants for soil biogeochemical
cycling and functions. Variable rock fragment contents (RFC) may shape the soil nutrient …

Resource limitation for soil microorganisms is the crucial factor in nutrient cycling and
vegetation development, which are especially important in arid climate. Given that rock …

Plant water uptake from the soil is a crucial element of the global hydrological cycle and
essential for vegetation drought resilience. Yet, knowledge of how the distribution of water …

Soil water and temperature play a crucial role on hydrological and heat cycling in terrestrial
ecosystems, yet rock fragment content in affecting soil water content, temperature, and their …

Soils with a significant proportion of rock fragments (RFs, with diameter> 2 mm) are widely
distributed in terrestrial ecosystems. However, a lack of quantitative information about RF …

Abstract Background The paper by Korboulewsky and co-authors in this issue of Plant and
Soil address some of the central questions of critical zone ecohydrology: how do plants …

Deep soil water utilization allows plants to cope with drought stress. However, little is known
about the roles of the understorey layers in driving spatio‐temporal variations of deep soil …

Rock fragments have a significant impact on soil hydrological processes and nutrient
content. However, the specific relationship between them has not been studied on hillslopes …

Stony soils are very widely distributed and contain abundant rock fragments (> 2 mm), which
impose major effects on soil properties and plant growth. However, the role of rock …