Old collections of dried plants trapped in herbaria for centuries are acquiring unprecedented powers in understanding the history of plant evolution and improving biodiversity conservation, thanks to new technological...
Tag - Biodiversity
Michela Osnato
Farming Techniques Impact Biodiversity in Olive Groves
A study in southern Spain shows that using cover crops instead of tillage in olive groves can significantly increase biodiversity, suggesting organic farming with cover crops or abandonment of groves for natural...
Dale Maylea
Ants can be the heroes of forest regeneration
Human-caused disturbances can affect the ability of animals to help spread seeds, which could reduce the amount of plant diversity in some forests.
The importance of light for grassland plant diversity
Field experiment shows that competition for light is the key mechanism driving loss of plant diversity under eutrophication and lack of grazing.
Eurekalert
Botanical gardens act as artificial oases for butterflies in arid urban areas
Botanical gardens provide access to vital plants and water for butterflies in the southwest US. This will only become more important as the climate becomes warmer and drier.
Alun Salt
Native plants in urban settings can improve bird diversity
In urban areas, gardens and parks can provide green oases among the concrete, and birds are adapted to fly in and settle in these areas. But not all green spaces are the same.
Ecologists discover a place for the dead in graveyards
It was thought that people preferred graveyards to be tidy. A new survey finds that visitors can accept the presence of some decaying matter - opening more possibilities for biodiversity.
Ancient grasslands take centuries to develop
Ecologists are discovering the growth of a biodiverse grassland community can take over a thousand years.
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.
Fi Gennu
The poorly known Ethiopian crop Enset
Enset, a relative of the banana, provides the staple food for around 20 million Ethiopians, yet is barely known outside of the region.
Functional traits in endemism hotspots and refugia
Refugia are island-like habitats that are linked to long-term environmental stability and, as a result, high endemism. Conservation of refugia and endemism hotspots should be based on a deep ecological and evolutionary...
Alex Assiry
Pest control through conservation is not always a success
Is there a better way to control pests than spraying chemicals? Keeping a non-crop habitat nearby can help shelter predators, but new research shows the correlation between conservation and pest-control isn't simple.
Unexpected flowers in the Jurassic
Did flowering plants appear earlier than the fossil record indicates? Two papers independently conclude they did - and suggest what fossil evidence we should look for.
Integrative approaches to understanding angiosperm origins and diversity
The rise of angiosperms should be studied as part of the global increase in biodiversity.
botanyone
