The Brazilian Atlantic Forest and seed rain patterns across fragmented landscapes
Luís Felipe Daibes, from Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, Haldre Rogers, from Virginia Tech, and Marco A. Pizo, from São Paulo State University, discuss their article: Landscape features predict broad-scale seed rain patterns across fragments of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, in both English and Portuguese Spanning a broad latitudinal gradient across South America, the Brazilian…...
[read more]Tue, 09 Jun 2026 03:24:38 +0000
Climate adaptation begins with seeds: Lessons from dryland tree recruitment
Alexandra Urza, Whitebark Institute in California, discusses her article: Seed source climate and precipitation timing determine dryland tree recruitment in hot and dry range margins As climate change intensifies drought and reshapes precipitation patterns across western North America, many dryland forests are facing an uncertain future. Adult trees can survive harsh conditions for centuries, but…...
[read more]Thu, 04 Jun 2026 07:00:00 +0000
European mistletoes are unusual plants in lots of ways – but not in their demographic strategy
Oliver Spacey, University of Oxford, UK, discusses his article: European mistletoe shares a similar demographic strategy with non-parasitic plants Few plants are as enshrined in folklore as mistletoe, and much of this is owed to its unusual ecology. A parasitic plant that never touches the ground and was thus associated with divine power, European mistletoe…...
[read more]Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:00:00 +0000
When losing species doesn’t weaken competition: Lessons from a Czech meadow
Eva Janíková, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, discusses her article: Realistic species loss has little effect on local resource depletion and competitive pressure in a temperate wet meadow A story that started with a simple idea When we began this project, we had clear expectations. Following ideas going back to Charles Elton’s hypothesis…...
[read more]Thu, 28 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000
A foundational salt marsh grass exhibits spatial variation in trait responses to sea level rise
Robert Dunn and Steve Pennings, University of Houston, discuss their article: Variable trait responses to rapid sea level rise in a foundational grass across a coastal marsh landscape One strategy that plants utilize to survive across a range of environmental conditions is to alter the expression of their traits. Functional traits are the characteristics of…...
[read more]Tue, 26 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000
The mechanisms driving the timing and duration of alpine meadow plant leaf senescence under climate warming and precipitation changes
Miaojun Ma. Lanzhou University, discusses his article: Warming advanced leaf senescence in alpine plants through advancing leaf emergence and increasing soil drought Background Plant autumn leaf senescence, which marks the end of photosynthesis and the growing season, as well as the onset of dormancy, is particularly critical in the plant annual cycle. Early or late…...
[read more]Thu, 21 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000
Darwin met the Red Queen
Carlos Roberto Fonseca, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) in Brazil, discusses his article: The Red Queen unveils the sexual and mating strategies of flowers In 1876, Charles Darwin wrote the book “The effects of cross and self-fertilization in the vegetable kingdom” to answer a simple, but important question: if self-fertilisation is the…...
[read more]Tue, 19 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000
Insects and non-woody plants slow down tropical forest succession
Kari Sogera Iamba, University of South Bohemia and the Institute of Entomology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, discusses his article: Insects and non-woody plants slow down tropical forest succession: A community-wide experiment in Papua New Guinea We investigated the factors driving rainforest regeneration in canopy gaps created by tree falls or selective logging. Ecological…...
[read more]Tue, 12 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000
When trees compete: How dynamic traits help them live together
Guochun Shen and Jing Yang, East China Normal University in Shanghai, China, discuss their article: Shifts in above- and belowground trait dissimilarity under competition mediate the future impact of neighbors When we walk into a forest, it is easy to picture trees competing for light, water, and nutrients. Some seedlings race upwards and cast their…...
[read more]Thu, 07 May 2026 04:14:26 +0000
Drought and nitrogen addition: How they jointly shape interactions among plant, arthropod, and soil nematode functional groups in temperate grasslands
Feixue Yu, Inner Mongolia University, discusses her article: Nitrogen addition weakens drought-driven coupling between plant, arthropod, and soil nematode functional groups The concurrent increase in drought and atmospheric nitrogen deposition has profoundly impacted multitrophic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in grasslands. Nitrogen enrichment is frequently assumed to alleviate drought stress by stimulating plant growth, but this…...
[read more]Tue, 05 May 2026 04:39:50 +0000
