Summit areas of oceanic islands constitute some of the most isolated ecosystems on earth and are highly vulnerable to climate change and introduced species. Within the unique high-elevation communities of Tenerife (Canary Islands), reproductive success and thus the long-term survival of species may depend on environmental suitability as well as threat by introduced herbivores. In […]

Bamboos are one of the most economically important plant groups globally, but this worldwide trade creates risks of invasions. In a recent review published in AoB PLANTS, Canavan et al. identified 1662 species of bamboo, of which almost a seventh (232) have been introduced outside their native range, with Asiatic and larger species preferred. Only […]

The potential socioeconomic and environmental impacts caused by transgene flow from genetically engineered (GE) crops have stimulated worldwide biosafety concerns. A recent study published in AoB PLANTS by Wang and Lu provides a model-based calculating tool/software that can accurately calculate pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF) frequencies of wind-pollinated plant species by including five biological and climatic […]

The morphology of almost all grasses can be conceptualized as a hierarchical arrangement of subunits, termed phytomers. Therefore, knowledge of phytomer growth and development serves as a basis to elucidate the rhythm of grass growth. A recent study published in AoB PLANTS by Yang et al. provides systematic analyses of the process of phytomer development […]

Mechanization and simplification are inevitable trends in agriculture to decrease input demands and simultaneously improve resource use efficiency. Dry direct-seeded rice is a resource-saving cropping system and has been considered as a replacement for traditional transplanted rice. However, the poor establishment of dry direct-seeded early rice, primarily induced by chilling stress, has limited the wide […]

Oceanic islands are of particular importance for the conservation of global diversity. Rare island plants with small population sizes and unique genetic patterns resulting from prolonged evolutionary isolation are usually extremely fragile. Therefore, research dedicated to conservation of these plants should consider threat factors, population structure and genetic diversity to enable the development of scientifically […]

Despite acceptance in the scientific community that population information and suites of characters are crucial for circumscription of taxonomic groups, new taxa continue to be published on the basis of few herbarium specimens. Given that there is increasing evidence that hybridisation plays an integral part in evolution, it is desirable to identify groups in which […]

Mistletoes are very fascinating parasitic plants.  Unlike most common plants, mistletoes grow on the branches of other plants and rely on these “host” plants for water and nutrients. Scientists have been trying to understand why parasitic plants differ in the number of host species parasitised. Like many parasitic plants, mistletoes can parasitise from one to several plant species. A […]

Finding that Amborella trichopoda is sister to the rest of the angiosperms has raised the question of whether it shares certain key functional trait characteristics and plastic responses apparently widespread within the angiosperms at large. With this in mind, Trueba et al. tested the hypothesis that local canopy openness induces plastic responses in Amborella in […]

Female reproductive success in females versus hermaphrodites has been well documented. However, documenting a potential advantage in fertility of male versus hermaphrodite individuals in subdioecious species is also essential for understanding the evolutionary pathway from hermaphroditism toward dioecy via gynodioecy. In a recent study published by Wang et al. in AoB PLANTS, siring success in […]

Climate change is expected to bring warmer temperatures and more variable precipitation patterns worldwide, patterns that will depend on the ability of the world’s flora to take up carbon under these new conditions. In a recent study published in AoB PLANTS, Smith et al. subjected deciduous tree seedlings growing in an old-field ecosystem in Massachusetts, […]

In a recent article published in AoB PLANTS, Schinkel et al. present a study on geographical parthenogenesis, an enigmatic and much disputed phenomenon that involves closely related sexual and apomictic (asexually reproducing) taxa displaying largely divergent distribution patterns. Based on a large sampling of natural populations of Ranunculus kuepferi, their study is the first quantitative, […]