About 3.7 billion years ago, a string of naturally occurring molecules — the same kind that astronomers have found in meteorites and just recently in a stellar nursery near the center of the Milky Way Galaxy— reacted with a naturally occurring catalyst and began the fateful process of self-assembled replication. One of the most fascinating…
When a plant species spreads beyond its habitat, it is usually seen as a threat to native flora and fauna. But what happens when that same species is struggling to survive in its original range? A new study published in New Phytologist and led by researchers at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv),…
In what researchers describe as a very rare phenomenon, large numbers of fruits and seeds from Posidonia oceanica, the higher plants that are vital for the health of the seas, have been washing ashore across Greece, Cyprus and other parts of the Mediterranean, signaling that this important and endangered seagrass has been in full “bloom.”…
The Florida Museum of Natural History has partnered with 35 herbarium collections across the United States to create a web portal for ferns. Wait! Hear me out. You’re probably thinking, “Ferns? The plants with the curly leaves that grow in shady places? Why should I care?” I’m glad you asked. Ferns — and a related…
Increasing urban vegetation by 30 per cent could save over one-third of all heat related deaths, saving up to 1.16 million lives globally from 2000 to 2019 according to a 20-year modelling study of the impact of increasing greenness in more than 11,000 urban areas. The study, led by Monash University Professor Yuming Guo and…
Wildflowers could be absorbing toxic metals from soil in urban areas and passing toxins on to pollinators, a study has found. Researchers from the University of Cambridge found that common plants including white clover and bindweed, which are vital forage for pollinators in cities, can accumulate arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead from contaminated soils. These…
Several ornamental species have demonstrated adaptive features that could increase their resilience to the current climate emergency but could also be linked to invasiveness in non-native environments. The present review examines the responses of ornamental plants’ grown in the Mediterranean region to relevant abiotic stress conditions such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, heavy metal toxicity,…
Fire regime is predicted to change, particularly in Mediterranean climate regions, towards more severe and frequent fire events. From a predictive perspective, trait-based ecology offers a comprehensive framework to characterize vegetation responses to fire. Since fires induce erosion and decrease soil nutrients, species’ functional traits and their distribution at community level should reflect these changes….
A Yale-led study warns that global climate change may have a devastating effect on butterflies, turning their species-rich, mountain habitats from refuges into traps. Think of it as the “butterfly effect” — the idea that something as small as the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can eventually lead to a major event such as a hurricane…
Botanical discoveries may sound like relics of a bygone era, but researchers are still uncovering dozens of new plant species every year. From the palm in Borneo that flowers underground to the orchid thriving parasitically on other plants in Madagascar, the strangeness of these species illustrate how little we know about Earth’s natural secrets. The study,…