About this Research Topic

Background

Bamboos occur naturally in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions worldwide (except in Europe), from sea level to 4000 m. There are approximately 1250 bamboo species from 75 genera worldwide, with morphological characteristics ranging from growing tall as a tree to as low as grass. The giant bamboo species, such as Phyllostachys edulis (Moso bamboo), are essential forest resources economically and ecologically. The bamboo forest has significant environmental benefits such as conserving soil and water in sloping lands and high carbon sequestration to cope with climate change. Still, some bamboo forests have a high invasive ability to expand into adjacent forests, which may cause changes in ecosystem carbon, nutrient, and water cycling.

Under the background of global climate change, extreme climate events such as drought and heat waves are expected to increase or become more varying in frequency, intensity, and length. It is likely to affect plants and functions of ecosystems, even those distributing in humid areas, such as bamboos in the subtropical and tropical zones. Unlike dicotyledonous trees, bamboos have hollow culms and lack secondary growth, making them vulnerable to resist drought stress. However, they also possess connected rhizome systems, making them integrated physiologically and, thus, sharing resources but risks as well. However, the possible bamboo forest dynamics and tradeoffs between mechanisms are still unknown, as with the functional strategies of bamboo forests in coping with extreme events driven by climate change, such as flash drought, storm, and pests or disease. Therefore, the need for monitoring and predicting bamboo forest dynamics and the undertaking mechanisms is in urgent.

This Research Topic aims to present innovative researches in bamboo ecophysiology with clear hypotheses to address outstanding research questions of bamboo’s response to the change of forest structure/area or to environmental threats/disturbance/change raised by climate change. We welcome original research articles, short reports, and reviews that will provide a collection of recent advances in understanding the impacts of climate change (e.g., extreme climatic events and long-term gradual change) on bamboo species, and their mechanisms to cope with and recover from these abiotic stresses. We encourage articles covering, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Observation and modeling of bamboo forest dynamics (e.g., in forest cover, composition, non-or spatial structure, and forest functions represented by water, carbon, and nutrient cycling) under climate change or forest management activities;
• Ecophysiological response (e.g., water use, respiration, photosynthesis) of bamboos to climate change-related events, e.g., storm, flash drought, pests, or diseases;
• Hypothesis test on mechanisms undertaking bamboo forest dynamics under climate change (e.g., intra- and inter-species competition for resources).

Keywords: Bamboo, Global Change, Forest Structure, Biochemical Cycling, Forest Resilience

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