News

• 
  Researchers Discover How Forest Biodiversity Increases Productivity via Complementary Use of Canopy Space by Tree Species

  A new study published in PNAS shows that tree diversity consistently promotes aboveground biomass through fostering greater canopy structural complexity (CSC). Species complementarity is the main driver, with its positive effects strengthening over time

  Oct 03, 2025
• 
  Researchers Reveal Molecular Assembly and Efficient Light Harvesting of Largest Eukaryotic Photosystem Complex

  On September 11, Science featured the work of Chinese researchers on its cover. A team co-led by Prof. WANG Wenda and Prof. TIAN Lijin from the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators, reports the first three-dimensional structure of the photosystem I–fucoxanthin–chlorophyll a/c-binding protein supercomplex (PSI-FCPI) from a coccolithophore. The study reveals how this giant photosynthetic machine can expand its light-harvesting cross-section by 3–4 fold while still maintaining over 95% energy conversion efficiency.

  Sep 12, 2025
• 
  Decadal Warming Depletes Topsoil Nitrogen Stocks in Permafrost Ecosystems

  A research team led by Prof. YANG Yuanhe from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IBCAS), in collaboration with partners, highlights that the vulnerability of soil nitrogen (N) stocks with prolonged warming in a Tibetan permafrost ecosystem.

  Sep 09, 2025
• 
  Chinese Scientists Reveal Hidden Extinction Crisis in Native Flora

  A team led by Dr. SHEN Guozhen from the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with domestic and international collaborators, has revealed a "hidden extinction crisis" in China's flora over the past four decades. The study, published in One Earth on 3 September, integrates satellite-derived land-cover data (1980-2018) with species-composition models to quantify, for the first time at a national scale, how habitat loss reshapes extinction risk for entire plant communities.

  Sep 01, 2025
• 
  The Tree Growth-Herbivory Relationship Depends on Functional Traits Across Forest Biodiversity Experiments

  A new study published on Nature Ecology & Evolution has revealed a positive relationship between tree growth and insect herbivory, as well as between tree species richness and herbivory. ​The research, conducted by an international team of scientists and led by Prof. LIU Xiaojuan from Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IBCAS), based on data from 8,800 trees across 80 species in nine biodiversity experiments from Tree Diversity Network (TreeDivNet) in various biomes.

  Aug 31, 2025
• 
  Uncovering Fast Decomposition of Nitrogen-Rich Mineral-Associated Organic Matter in Soils

  A recent study published in Global Change Biology reveals that nitrogen (N)-rich mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) decomposes more rapidly than expected. This finding challenges the prevailing view that microbe-derived N-containing compounds are strongly sorbed to mineral surfaces and hence resistant to degradation.

  Aug 25, 2025
• 
  Scientists Review the Impact of the Formation of the Three Great Asian Plateaus on Climate and Biodiversity

  The uplift and outward growth of the three great plateaus in Asia fundamentally changed the Asian landscapes and climates. The current biodiversity of the three plateaus is not a product of the Pleistocene ice age but is the result of a long and complex evolutionary process.

  Aug 22, 2025
• 
  Review Reveals SnRK1 as a Central Energy Hub Regulating Plant Stress Resistance and Development

  A research team led by Prof. YANG Wenqiang from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with partners, has revealed the molecular network by which SnRK1, as a conserved energy sensor in plants, acts as a core hub integrating energy homeostasis, stress adaptation, and growth regulation.

  Aug 11, 2025
• 
  Abrupt Permafrost Thaw Promotes Microbial Carbon Use Efficiency

  In a recent study published in PNAS, a research team led by Prof. YANG Yuanhe from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provides compelling evidence that microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE; the proportion of C uptake used for microbial growth) increases after abrupt permafrost thaw.

  Aug 11, 2025
• 
  Mapping Asia Plants Plus Initiative Selected as a UNESCO IDSSD First Set of Endorsed Projects

  Recently, the “Mapping Asia Plants Plus” (MAP+) initiative, led by the Biodiversity Committee, Chinese Academy of Sciences (BC-CAS), has been selected as a project of the United Nations' International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024-2033) (IDSSD) Project.

  Aug 08, 2025