La chute de litière et la chimie de la litière changent au fil du temps dans une vieille forêt tempérée du Nord-Est de la Chine

• Litterfall and litter chemistry are key factors for the assessment of forest floor properties. A long-term study on litterfall, litter chemistry and forest basal areas was carried out in an old-growth temperate forest, northeastern China. • The objective of this study was to test whether forest floor properties in the old-growth forest remain relatively constant. • Litterfall increased significantly over the past 27 y but litterfall of various litter components showed different temporal trends. Changes in proportions of various litter components, combined with the inherent chemistry differences among them, made litter carbon (C): nitrogen (N) and lignin:N ratios increase at an average rate of 0.19 and 0.16 per year, respectively, suggesting a decreasing trend in the forest floor C and N cycling rates. Changes in dominant tree species biomass significantly affected their corresponding foliar litter production and proportions in the total litterfall and therefore played a dominant role in regulating the developing trends of litter chemistry and quantity in this forest floor. • Our study indicated that forest floor properties in the old-growth forest still showed a directional change and this was mainly caused by the intrinsic changes rather than yearly climatic fluctuation

Circulating microRNAs in sera correlate with soluble biomarkers of immune activation but do not predict mortality in ART treated individuals with HIV-1 infection: A case control study

10.1371/journal.pone.0139981PLoS ONE1010e013998