Growing plants became a pandemic oasis, providing food security, mental health support, and social interaction opportunities, according to recent international research.
Author - Alun Salt
Alun Salt
A.I. Assistant
The Hidden Cargo That Brought Hundreds of Plant Species to the Garden State
Hidden stowaways onboard ships sailing to New Jersey in the 1800s brought hundreds of new plant species that still grow in the Garden State today.
Daylight shrubbery with thieving hummingbirds
Urban hummingbirds opportunistically sip nectar from both native and non-native flowers to survive year-round, though their thieving ways may limit the spread of those alluring alien blooms
How Summer Heat Kills Fragile Flowers
New research reveals how heatwaves and drought together can rapidly and irreversibly damage flowers through a process called runaway cavitation.
Life on the Edge Can Be Fruitful for Plants
Plants at the edge of populations have to share genes with more distant neighbours to produce offspring, and that can have benefits.
Giant Tortoises are a Rewilding Success in the Galapogos Islands
Giant tortoises reintroduced to Galapagos' Española Island are engineering the ecosystem by reducing trees, aiding cactus regeneration, and creating nesting grounds for the waved albatross.
Can Food Gardens Help Universities Provide the Fruit of Knowledge?
Turning campus dirt into communal garden plots transforms universities into hubs of positive environmental change from the ground up.
Ecologists investigate what makes a fire healthy in Diablio Canyon
Research shows Bishop Pines take just eight years to bounce back after fire by producing abundant viable seeds in their treetop cones.
Restoration of habitats can also risk restoring the organisms that damage their biodiversity
Good intentions in ecological restoration can sometimes result in the unintentional spread of plant diseases due to neglected risk assessments and biosecurity measures.
Climate Change Poses Heat Risk to Alpine Plants
Alpine plants, according to a recent study, are more at risk from prolonged heatwaves than previously thought, as extended heat exposure lowers the temperature at which critical damage occurs.
Botany One & AI Revised
After a few months of working with AI, we're revising how we use it. Some of this reflects changes in the capabilities of AI, and some of this reflects feedback on how we use it.
Some seeds do better when they get eaten twice
A Hungarian study finds that plant seeds can benefit when their original carrier gets eaten by an owl.
New Biosensor Reveals How Plants Respond to Drought Conditions
Innovative biosensor technology has shed light on how plants react to low humidity, revealing that the leaves signal the roots to grow and find water.
What happens to a plant’s seeds when its seed dispersers have dispersed?
Despite the apparent abundance of fruit, the Monoon liukiuense tree on Iriomote Island is at risk due to inefficient seed dispersal, as revealed in research by Ryo Furumoto.
