The banana and ginger group, order Zingiberales, is an exceptionally diverse group of primarily tropical plants. Within Zingiberales, the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) is unique in being not only the most species-rich but also the most disparate in terms of their morphology and anatomy, and the only group with a substantial number of species in temperate […]

Climate change has limited the availability of water for irrigating crops throughout many regions of the world. Indeed, current models of climate change predict that arid and semi-arid zones will be places where precipitation will drastically decrease. In this context plant root-associated fungi from ecosystems currently subjected to severe drought conditions could improve the ecophysiological […]

Although aluminium (Al) is toxic for the vast majority of angiosperm plants, high concentrations of Al (i.e., > 1,000 mg·kg-1 dry mass) are found in some plants. In a recent study published in AoB PLANTS, Schmitt et al. investigated the Al accumulation behaviour in the temperate, deciduous species Symplocos paniculata, which belongs to a mainly […]

Root morphological/physiological modifications are important for phosphorus (P) acquisition of plants under P deficiency, but strategies differ among plant species, and detailed studies on the response of maize roots to P deficiency are limited. In a recent study published in AoB PLANTS, Liu et al. compared the mechanisms of root adaptation of maize, white lupin […]

Sexual conflict and its evolutionary consequences are understudied in plants, but the theory of sexual conflict may help explain how selection generates and maintains variability in both plants and animals. In a recent study published in AoB PLANTS, Lankinen and Strandh show that pollen and pistil traits involved in a sexual conflict over timing of […]

Alpine treelines globally may move upslope due to climatic warming. Such movement would initially need seed germination and seedling establishment above current treelines. In a recent study published in AoB PLANTS, Loranger et al. studied these processes experimentally in five common European treeline tree species. Surprisingly, each species responded very differently to moisture and temperature […]

Conservation strategies are urgently needed for widely used tree species. Increasing numbers of species are threatened by overexploitation and their recovery might be poor due to low reproductive success and poor regeneration rates. One of the first steps for any conservation policy should be an assessment of the reproductive biology of the species in question. […]

The largest natural feature on Earth is the Pacific Ocean, which covers over one-third of our planet’s surface. Despite its extent, the historical biogeography of many lineages ­– of both terrestrial and marine ocean habitats – remains poorly investigated. In a recent study published in AoB PLANTS and designated as an Editor’s Choice, Cantley et […]

Epiphytes are an important component of tropical and subtropical flora, and serve vital ecological functions in forest hydrology and nutrient fluxes...

Topographically complex landscapes exhibit large variations in climate. This climate heterogeneity has been linked to high biodiversity and may enable species persistence with a changing climate. However, it is unclear how woody vegetation composition responds to climate heterogeneity defined by multiple climate variables at topographic scales of 10–100s of metres. In a recent study published […]

Fungal endophytes colonize living internal plant tissues without causing any visible symptoms of disease. Endophytic fungi associated with healthy leaves of the South American tree Embothrium coccineum (Proteaceae) appear to play an important role in host protection in nature. A recent study published in AoB PLANTS by González-Teuber showed that a few common taxa dominated […]

Metapopulations are a central concept in ecology and conservation biology, however estimating key parameters such as colonization rates presents a substantial obstacle to modeling metapopulations in many species. In a new study published in AoB PLANTS and designated as an Editor’s Choice paper, Charney and Record used 30 years of data monitoring the federally endangered […]