Ecosystems
Spring is coming a week earlier to European forests
Botanists found evidence for the effects of climate change stored in herbaria.
Ecosystems
What is it that makes some plants rare?
What’s behind the patterns of plant distribution, and are there any common features of rare plants? A team of botanists has been reviewing articles to find out.
Ecosystems
Increased nutrients could help subarctic shrubs mitigate some of the stresses from a warmer environment
A Scandinavian team have examined how climate change will affect nutrient availability for shrubs and found a surprising result.
Computational Models
Simulating mangrove light interception
3D reconstruction of mangrove tree phyllotaxis from digitized plants yields novel data.
Ecosystems
Poor acclimation to drought in subalpine forest tree seedlings
How do subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce seedlings respond to experimental drought when grown under field conditions?
Ecosystems
Study in Sydney reveals that preserving pollination is more complex than boosting bees
An Australian team has been studying how to best grow vegetables by experimenting with pak choi in urban gardens. They found that canopy cover and garden richness, rather than pollinator visits are the key factors in improving yield.
Ecosystems
Under-damaged reed beds are harming small wetland birds
Small wetland birds may find nesting easier if you periodically set fire to the neighbourhood.
Computational Models
Finding the habitat of an invisible plant
Finding a suitable habitat for Rafflesia arnoldii is difficult. While it produces the single largest flower on the planet, it’s invisible for much of its life.
Ecosystems
Changing seasons change tree growth, changing carbon sequestration by forests
An earlier spring changes the growing conditions for trees, and not always for the better.
Ecosystems
Reverse archaeology reveals new insights into global warming
Often archaeologists will examine differences in vegetation to gain information on buried sites. Now, some botanists have reversed this and are using archaeological sites to learn about the effect of nutrient differences on plants.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Botanists find the effects of ancient climates in the modern genomes of two closely related oak species
Botanists examined the genomes of two species, Quercus acutissima and Q. chenii, to see if changes in the climate three million years ago affected how they hybridised.
Close Encounters
Plants that have adapted to exploit human activity now depend on disturbance
Plants that have grown in partnership with human activity in meadows can be a great source of seeds for restoration projects, but their ability to germinate is also a problem.