For the first time, estimates of comparative seed yield and number for over 800 annuals and their predictor equations have been produced and the ecological importance of these regenerative traits has been illustrated.
The Berg hypothesis proposes that specialized-flower traits experience stronger stabilizing selection than non-floral structures and predicts that variation in specialized-flower traits will be mostly uncorrelated with...
Corner’s rules describe a global spectrum from large-leaved plants with thick, sparingly branched twigs with low-density stem tissues and thick piths to plants with thin, highly branched stems with high-density stem...
The best chance of growing to maturity is to have the best start. A new theory connects seed and leaf size with phytomers to describe the relationship between regeneration and growth through a plant's lifetime.
Corner’s rule states that in woody plants, twigs (current-year shoots) with thicker stems support larger leaves. Larger leaf areas require thicker twigs for hydraulic and mechanical support, but a question remains...
Finding that Amborella trichopoda is sister to the rest of the angiosperms has raised the question of whether it shares certain key functional trait characteristics and plastic responses apparently widespread within the...
Costa Rican coffee (Coffea arabica) plants are often grown in agroforests. Studying the relationship between shade-inducing trees on coffee plant biomass and root competition in the topsoil, and overall belowground net...
Plant morphological traits respond to drought in a rather flexible way; however, there is recent evidence of exceptions. In a new study published in AoB PLANTS, Zhang et al. examined the effect of drought on...
Rhizophora mangle supports a thinner stem of higher mechanical resistance when compared to Avicennia germinans, a co-existing mangrove lacking rhizophores.
Hosting ants confers effective protection against herbivores, and swollen, hollow stems functioning as domatia have evolved many times in plants. Blatrix et al. study the allometry of stem secondary growth in Leonardoxa...