Pollinator foraging and orchid scent and nectar availability both peak at dusk.
Category - Close Encounters
Erin Zimmerman
Climate Change Spells Bad News for Bambi
Optimum vegetation for the roe deer reproductive season is coming earlier in the year, but the birth dates lagging, leaving less forage for deer at a critical time.
Alun Salt
Restoring “No Man’s Land” with native mycorrhizal fungi and plant seed mixtures
A new study in the Journal of Applied Ecology reveals the importance of introducing symbiotic fungi with native plant species for restoring post-mining ecosystems.
Juniper Kiss
Are ants a benefit or a detriment when they occupy a plant? New research says they may be both.
Research in two new papers shows how ants can interfere with pollination, but this interference is complicated.
Ants a principal pollinator for a threatened member of the Proteaceae
The plant is impervious to the pollen damage ants usually cause.
Should we be looking to parasitic plants to help control invasive species?
Biologists have been looking at biological controls like herbivores to control invasive plants. New research suggests we should also look at what parasitic plants can do.
Spider orchid conservation: the importance of serendipitous fungi
Mycorrhizal fungi can be isolated from related common species to propagate threatened Caladenia.
Wait! There is no such thing as a ‘specialist’ or ‘generalist’ plant pathogen
The latest study published in the Nature Communications journal reveals that pathogens with more diverse host plants do not have a wider temperature range.
Feeding (or not feeding) a fungus: plants may not be so good to their fungal partners after all
Interactions between plants and fungal symbionts are not always balanced affairs.
Liam Elliott
Do sword lilies use enough protection? Yes, post-pollination reproductive barriers work!
The study reveals the key role of gametic selection in siring success.
Seeing red isn’t the same everywhere! How and why red flowers differ between locations.
The precise colouration of red flowers differs according to where they are and what they interact with.
Life in the canopy is different : How genetics impacts variation in herbivory on oak trees
Trees may invest more in protecting their canopy leaves from munching insects than their other leaves
Tricky flowers: how floral variation in a food-deceptive orchid is maintained over generations
Sometimes it's a good idea not to send a consistent message to your pollinators.
Laura Skates
Koalas up a gum tree, but having the last laugh..?
Koalas break the local stereotype by being Australians who don't drink. Or so it was thought.
Nigel Chaffey