Reviews
Sowing the seeds of future food security
“It’s easy to see how The Age of Seeds could be an award-winning book.”
Ecosystems
Lianas more likely to infest smaller trees
Sometimes it takes a shorter plant to help a liana get to the top.
Ecosystems
The importance of light for grassland plant diversity
Field experiment shows that competition for light is the key mechanism driving loss of plant diversity under eutrophication and lack of grazing.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Plant hormones to help prevent Striga invasion
Blocking the biosynthesis of canonical strigolactones by TIS108, a specific enzyme inhibitor, significantly lowered Striga infestation without affecting rice growth.
Close Encounters
Bats protect young trees from insect damage, with three times fewer bugs
Not only did the bats reduce the number of caterpillars, they also reduced defoliation by a factor of five.
Ecosystems
Vegetation regulates energy exchange in the arctic
Despite the importance of high-latitude surface energy budgets for land-climate interactions in the rapidly changing Arctic, uncertainties in their prediction persist.
Close Encounters
Want to save the bees? Pay attention to pathogens and flowers
Researchers at UMass Amherst deploy fluorescent paint, pipettes, tents, tweezers and scissors to trace three-way connection between plants, pathogens and bees
Ecosystems
Study examines how well-timed cover crops can suppress weeds in California orchards
Experiments show a variety of cover crop management programs can produce weed-suppressing cover crops.
Ecosystems
Botanists investigate fairy circles in the desert
When plants in the Namib desert suffer from water stress, strange things happen.
Plants & People
Archaeologists race against the climate to preserve aboriginal art
Trees that have stood for thousands of years may soon collapse due to climate change. If they do, they’ll take irreplaceable aboriginal art with them.
Reviews
House plants – the exotic within the home
Should African Violets have a conservation tariff to help protect their natural habitats? A new book asks some serious questions about the plants with which we share our homes.
Close Encounters
Vampire plant reduces fungi’s ability to decompose leaf litter
Parasitic plants draw life from their hosts, but now it seems that even after death, some plants have a baleful influence.