Ecosystems
Very fine roots act as renewed carbon sink in rewetted peatland forest
New study suggests that rewetting peatland forests could increase their climate change mitigation function.
Close Encounters
Floral chemistry reveals the basis of an orchid pollinator shift
A greater concentration of a compound present throughout the species allowed one morph to attract bee pollinators.
Taxonomy & Evolution
Pollinators drive floral evolution in an Atlantic Forest genus
Can we use floral traits to accurately predict hummingbird and bat pollinators of the bromeliad genus Vriesea?
Reviews
Plants that … CURE
Plants that cure: A natural history of the world’s most important medicinal plants* by Elizabeth A Dauncey and Melanie–Jayne R Howes, 2020. Kew Publishing.
Taxonomy & Evolution
A new assessment of Madagascar’s Coffea species shows which traits reflect phylogenetic signal
Flowering phenology appears to have a strong genetic component, and may serve as a barrier to hybridization
Cells, Genes & Molecules
A step to the biofuels of the future?
Compiling a genome of an Asian grass is already producing useful results for breeding.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
The same mobile protein governs seed size and infloresence structure
The mobile protein connected to the regulation of flowering in Arabidopsis also helps regulate endosperm development in the seed.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Lessons from Mediterranean olive domestication: keep wild relatives close by and do not “overselect”
New study in the journal BMC Biology found that Mediterranean olives have almost as high genetic diversity as olive cultivars
Reviews
The crowning glory of Kew
Palace of Palms: Tropical dreams and the making of Kew by Kate Teltscher 2020. Picador. The UK’s Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew near London are
Ecosystems
Biotic interactions of native and non-native species under future warming
How do abiotic and biotic factors influence range expansion of closely related native and non-native Eugenia shrub species?
Taxonomy & Evolution
Flowering plants spelled the end of gymnosperm dominance
Coupled with the negative effects of global cooling, angiosperms pushed gymnosperm extinction past the point of recovery.
Ecosystems
How do plants colonise new territories?
The research suggests that different categories of species have dissimilar seed germination niches, which contributes to explaining their coexistence.