We're used to microplastics being an environmental hazard in the oceans, but research confirms it can be a problem on land too.
Category - News in Brief
Dale Maylea
The rare lichen Pectenia plumbea requires a matchmaker to bring its fungus and alga together
A lichen is not one organism, but a community of at least two. If that's the case, how does the lichen as a whole reproduce?
Alun Salt
A school curriculum could make New York City seem less grey and more green
Far from being an oxymoron, an educational intervention shows that urban botany can have tremendous value.
Invasive plants’ success may start with invasive pollen
To pollinate you need the right pollen, but what happens when you arrive in new territory everyone you share pollinators with has the wrong pollen?
Endangered plant stands on the shoulders of midgets
A plant's survival in the location can depend on the microscopic life in the soil.
The parasitic plant Cuscuta sets up barriers to some minerals when infecting a host
If the parasitic plant dodder taps its host with a straw, then it's a specialised straw than can filter out some nutrients that the plant isn't using.
How fire may burn forests into scrubland
Forests that have coped with fires in the past may struggle to regenerate as climate change increases aridity in the Mediterranean Basin.
Adaptability is not always positive for plants tackling climate change
Becoming an early flowering plant may be a problem if your pollinators are asleep and your herbivores are not.
The total dispersal kernel: a review and future directions
The distribution and abundance of plants across the world depends in part on their ability to move, which is commonly characterized by a dispersal kernel (a probability density function describing where seeds land...
William Salter
The best way to grow strong upright rose stems is to bend them over
Bending rose stems dramatically increases photosynthesis.
The shape of leaves may be a defence against weevil attack
It's not just taste and texture. One weevil may be using origami to find the best home for its offspring.
Flowers evolve to balance the risks and rewards of self-pollination
The longer a plant waits to self-pollinate, the longer it has to attract pollen from outside. But waiting too long can have consequences.
One way to kill a dangerous pest could be to encourage it to grow
Striga is a parastic plant that lurks beneath the soil waiting to strike another plant root. Strangely it might be more effective to control the weed by making it germinate, than try to keep it dormant.
How do you measure a tree’s flammability without burning it?
Forest fires are a problem, but how do you measure a tree's flammability? New research suggests you look to the shoots, not the leaves.
