Soil chemistry, not short-term deer exclusion, explains understory plant occupancy in Pennsylvania oak forests
A study of deer browsing has uncovered the contribution of soil chemistry to ‘the ghost of herbivory past’.
Category: News in Brief
Progression of drought drives metabolomic responses in Poplar
A plant’s response to drought might vary depending on how the drought arrives.
Root responses in Arundo donax
When soils dry they don’t dry uniformly, some parts remain damper than others. How does a reed like Arundo donax respond?
Collecting wild Miscanthus germplasm and research partners in Asia
While collecting plant material for crop breeding, a team from Aberystwyth University also thought hard about the human side of their work.
Bacteria living within plants can change them in unpredictable ways
Endophytic bacteria, microbes living in plant tissue, can change how a plant grows. But experiments with microbe communities shows that it’s not in a predictable way.
Abscisic acid receptors in Populus canescens aid water use
Botanists show how abscisic acid receptors in poplar can ease drought stress.
Morphological and physiological traits determine Arundo drought recovery
Arundo donax often reproduces clonally, but a new study finds small differences can affect how it recovers from drought stress.
Miscanthus response to combinations of salinity and drought
Exploring the salt tolerance of the Nona Bokra rice landrace
Biofuels grow better when willows weep less
A challenge for biofuels is water use. A successful biofuel strategy will have water-efficient plants.
What happens when a vampire plant ‘bites’ two victims at once?
When the parasitic plant dodder attacks two plants, stress felt by one victim can be passed to the other.
Poisoned soils could be healed with the right kind of cress
Buck Rogers found the land around New Chicago in the 25th century was polluted and barren. But pollution might not be a long-term problem if you have the right Brassica.
Where do all the Epipactis orchids come from?
Botanists use the orchid genus Epipactis as a model for speciation, but unravelling its family tree has been difficult.
