Ecosystems
Can Small Pellets Help Mosses Rebuild Degraded Soils?
Turning moss fragments into small pellets can aid their establishment, but taking this strategy from the laboratory to the field remains a challenge.
Ecosystems
When Does a Partnership Stop Working? Hornworts Reveal the Hidden Complexity of Symbiosis With Cyanobacteria
Hornworts and cyanobacteria show that even ancient partnerships can depend on where, when and how their partners meet.
Ecosystems
Travelling Far Does Not Mean Living Long for Moss Spores
A new study shows that moss spore longevity depends strongly on developmental stage and storage conditions, with important consequences for dispersal and establishment.
Ecosystems
How Can Overlooked Plants Help Rebuild Ecosystems Transformed by Mining?
Recovery after mining may begin close to the ground, with mosses and liverworts helping new ecosystems take shape.
Ecosystems
Bryophytes Reveal the Hidden Costs of Selective Logging
A forest may remain standing after selective logging, but its hidden biodiversity can still unravel as the largest trees disappear.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
A Hidden Secret in the Only Terrestrial Plants With Pyrenoids May Inspire the Photosynthesis of Future Crop Plants
Hornworts have evolved their own version of a carbon-concentrating mechanism, offering a surprising model for improving the photosynthetic efficiency of future crops.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Does a Moss From Antarctica Hide New Weapons Against Cancer?
Polytrichastrum alpinum has shown promising anticancer activity in laboratory tests, reducing the survival and spread of canine mammary tumour cells.
Ecosystems
Antarctica’s First Assessed Plant Is Already Endangered
A tiny Antarctic moss is sending a big warning: even the continent’s remote plant life may be threatened by climate change, human activity and invasive species.
Ecosystems
Lichens and Bryophytes Reveal the Effects of Urban Heat
Lichens and mosses may act as living sensors of urban warming, helping researchers understand how rising city temperatures alter biodiversity at the smallest scales.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Bryophytes May Repel Snails Without Contaminating Crops
Bryophytes may hold natural compounds that keep hungry snails away from crops while avoiding the broader risks of conventional chemical controls.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Mosses Also Master Aluminium Storage
Mosses from Brazil's rocky savannas are quietly doing something we usually associate with shrubs and trees: taking up and safely storing aluminium from the soil.
Ecosystems
What Our Footsteps Leave Behind: the Silent Impact of Tourist Trails on Lichens and Bryophytes
Trails may seem small and harmless amid the vastness of national parks, but new evidence suggests that their ecological impact may be far greater than it appears.