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A carnivorous plant that feeds its pollinators
Edible floral trichomes discovered in bee-pollinated Pinguicula species show carnivorous plants can feed insects as well as feed on insects.
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Pitfalls between fungus gnats and plant pitchers
Fungus gnats might not be a glamorous group of insects but they are important pollinators, especially attracted to plants with dark red flowers. Not much is
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Hungry for fungi: green mycoheterotrophic plants are far more common than previously thought
A surprising number of plants snack on fungi as well as sunshine.
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Basal orchid cheats on its fungal partner
Apostasia nipponica is the first member of the early-diverging orchid clade found to be using this strategy.
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Connecting soil nitrogen and gypsy moth herbivory in a US oak forest
Can a better understanding of ecosystem nitrogen cycling allow us to more accurately predict invasive insect outbreaks?
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Slippery flowers help deter nectar-stealing ants
A wax crystal coating causes ants to slip off, while hornet and bee pollinators can fly right in.
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Fungal highways for P-solubilizing bacteria
New study in New Phytologist reveals that nutrient-solubilising bacteria can travel on fungi hyphae if the fungi provides a source of energy.
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Crop diversity and semi-natural habitat a boon to yields as well as pollinators
Greater proportions of semi-natural habitat surrounding fields increased bumble bee and honey bee densities.
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Nectar thieves prefer daylight robbery
Displaying flowers in light rather than shadow should help them attract pollinators, but a good display can also attract thieves.
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Computer simulation highlights the importance of pollinator diversity
Sharing pollinators can cause problems when pollen competes for transport
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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.
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Invasive plants can homogenize soil pathogens
The decreased number of pathogen species appears to benefit the invaders.