When fungal infection comes to Pinus radiata, it can run through the bottom of the crown of the tree, removing its leaves. What effect does this defoliation have when it occurs? Mireia Gomez-Gallego and colleagues...
A changing climate could bring drier or wetter conditions. A team of scientists has been examining how the genes of two plants adapt to both conditions.
Increasing energy demands and the necessity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are key motivating factors driving the development of lignocellulosic crops as an alternative to non-renewable energy sources. The effects...
Phenotypic plasticity can have a great impact on the distribution of taxa and the productivity of crops across contrasting environments. Berlin et al. study the genetic architecture of biomass traits, including...
While trait-based plant ecology attempts to use small numbers of organ-level traits to predict ecological strategies, there is a major gap between organ-level ecophysiology and plant fitness in an environmental context...
Competitive crops are important for sustainable cropping systems. For perennial weeds, below-ground organs, for instance rhizomes for couch grass, constitute the best measure of a crop’s long term suppressive...
Although parasitic plant–host associations occur in an ever-changing light environment, there is a poor understanding of how light influences the impact of the parasite on the host plant. Cirocco et al. hypothesize that...