Fungus gnats like red flowers with short stamens and a strong smell of acetoin, and scientists found that Euonymus plants have evolved these traits to attract these flies for pollination.
Category - Close Encounters
Renata Cantoro
The role of floral scent in pollinator attraction
Scientists studied how the scents of a Solanaceae species vary and how they affect pollinator visitation and found that although floral perfume is an important factor, other signals might affect pollinators visits.
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
Alun Salt
A.I. Assistant
Tiny Plant Made Smaller By Microbes
Lemna minor, Common Duckweed, is typically a small plant only a couple of centimetres long. New research finds that it gets even smaller when microbes interact with the plant.
Fi Gennu
Trees can benefit when their neighbour recruits ants
Planting more trees with nectar-secreting structures not only offers a greener strategy for reforestation and carbon capture, but also enhances the health of neighbouring trees by attracting ant defenders
Dale Maylea
Highbush Blueberries Bloom with Help from Fungal Friends
Improving pollination could also improve your grocery shopping.
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.
Small Furry Animals Influence Plant Species Size Diversity in Old Fields
Who knew herbivores could play favourites, subtly pushing for a plant world dominated by smaller species?
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.
Climate Change Creates a Complex Battlefield for Native and Exotic Plant Species
As the climate warms, shifts in temperature and water availability, affects competition and interaction among native and exotic plant species in Southern British Columbia.
Building Flowers for Pollinators: Does Every Flower Really Have Its Perfect Match?
Flowers and their pollinators are highly diverse. So, what determines the characteristics of flowers and their visitors?
Victor H. D. Silva
The Silent Facilitator of Plant Invaders in Northern Chile
In the arid plains of northern Chile, exotic halophytes leverage soil salinity as a weapon to outcompete native plants, setting the stage for an ecological invasion.
How Native Plants Could Help in the Battle Against Invasive Species in Aquatic Ecosystems
Scientists discover a promising strategy to combat aquatic invasive species using the natural defences of a local plant, Ludwigia peploides.
Coffee Plants Adapt Leaf Traits in Response to Fungal Disease, Study Finds
The study provides valuable insights into plant-pathogen interactions with implications for agriculture, ecology, and climate change resilience.
