Can differences in xylem anatomy explain the contrasting responses of two olive cultivars to infection by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa?
Category - Close Encounters
William Salter
Honey bees are bad news for some plants in search of pollination
Some people fixate on honey bees as essential for pollination. Reality is more complicated. For one species, honey bee visits actively harm its chances of pollinating a partner.
Alun Salt
The pros and cons of ant mutualism in epiphytic Tillandsia species
Ants provide protection and nutrients to some plant species but are there downsides to this mutualistic relationship?
Do hybrids help a plant expand their range, or do they get in the way?
While hybrid plants might be less successful than their parents, if enough survive they can backcross with a parent species. This can help a parent colonise a new territory.
Ant protection from elephant herbivory in West African Acacias
Ants can provide effective protection from elephant herbivory in East African Acacia species, but is this true for species of West Africa?
Do flowers removed of nectar and pollen attract fewer bumblebee pollinators?
Do pollen thieves and nectar robbers reduce flower attractiveness to bumblebee pollinators in Impatiens oxyanthera?
A healthy sunflower diet can help domesticated bumblebees avoid infection
Sunflower pollen can reduce parasite load for a bumblebee, but it's not clear how.
Dale Maylea
Rising sea levels influence a battle to beat the shade in plants
Increasing salinity could free some shade-averse plants from the shadows of their neighbours.
Fi Gennu
Grapes, mind the (cell wall) barricades against grey mould!
Grape cell walls could explain their susceptibility to fungal disease.
Juniper Kiss
Global warming will limit opportunities for a sexually-deceptive orchid
Leporella fimbriata, the Hare Orchid, relies upon one species for pollination. A new study by Marta Kolanowska and colleagues in Czechia and Poland has looked at the impact of global warming on the orchid. They...
Kentucky crayfish aids plant on the run
What looks like a pile of mud to a human is an oasis to a dwarf sundew
Take away the deer and more subtle effects on plant communities become apparent
A twenty-year survey in western Canada shows how deer can obscure other ecological effects in forests.
A warming climate will change plants’ responses to herbivores in different ways
Invasive species might not always have the upper hand when temperatures rise.
Flies can be pollen thieves but plants deal with them
Some plants tackle thieves and pollinators eating pollen by producing enough both to feed visitors and fertilise available ovules.
