If you take a look at a tropical rainforest, the species of plants you see can tell you the story about their life.
Continue reading The size and light requirements of plants might determine the future of a whole forest
The finding bodes well for the survival of Lomas communities in the Atacama Desert under future climate change.
Continue reading Lomas microrefugia subject to random, but not function-based losses due to lowered rainfall
Seedling establishment is a crucial bottleneck in plant population dynamics, but seedlings don’t behave the same way fully-grown trees do.
Continue reading Living on the edge of fragmented forests: distance, insects and fungi impact plant traits
Salix herbacea, as other arctic-alpine species, likely found a refuge from the Ice Age in the Apennines. As the climate changed around them, the trees survived in a fragmenting population. This fragmentation has genetic consequences.
Continue reading The mountains are getting warmer, and willow colonies are shrinking
Fragmentation of natural habitats generally has negative effects on the reproductive success of many plant species; however, little is known about epiphytic plants. Epiphytes are non-parasitic plants that grow on other plants and they represent almost 10 % of vascular plant species. They are particularly important to tropical forest ecosystems due to their high taxonomic and functional diversity, and their roles in supplying nutrients, water and shelter for other organisms. Epiphytes are considered to be highly sensitive to habitat disturbance because they have low growth rates, delayed sexual maturity, limited seed dispersal, and no seed bank. A recent study by...
Continue reading Consequences of habitat fragmentation on the reproductive success of two Tillandsia species with contrasting life history strategies
The ongoing destruction of old-growth forests puts tropical forest species, with epiphytes as a key element, under great pressure. To maintain viable epiphyte communities in fragmented landscapes, remaining habitable patches have to be sufficiently connected. In a recent study published in AoB PLANTS, Einzmann and Zotz experimentally studied four vital dispersal steps of a vascular epiphyte in human modified-landscapes. Their findings suggest a high capacity for dispersal and successful early establishment for anemochorous species. Thus, potentially regenerating forests may receive considerable input from sources such as pasture trees and in this way gain structural complexity, which also greatly enhances their...
Continue reading Dispersal and establishment of vascular epiphytes in modified landscapes
Population size reduction can threaten long-term persistence of plant populations through loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding depression. Blambert et al. evaluate the consequences of population size reduction by comparing mating patterns, levels of genetic diversity and inbreeding depression of the rare and fragmented Jumellea fragrans and the widespread J. rossii. Population size reduction had a negative impact on genetic diversity of J. fragrans, but factors such as mating system or population history can limit the effects.
Continue reading Commonness, reproductive patterns and inbreeding depression of two Jumellea species
Habitat destruction and fragmentation affects genetic variation by reducing the size and increasing the isolation of populations.
Continue reading Genetic variation, habitat destruction and survival
Bertolasi et al. investigate pollen dispersal patterns in a relic U. minor stand surrounded by U. minor and U. pumila trees scattered across 80 km2.
Continue reading Genetic structure and gene flow patterns in Ulmus
Even though P. virginiana is a widespread species, fragmented populations experience significant reductions in fruit set and pollen limitation.
Continue reading Pollen limitation and reduced reproductive success
Islands play a central role in the study of plant evolution in the Mediterranean. Mayol et al. analyse the impact of varying patterns of habitat occupancy on genetic diversity and structure in Crepis triasii, an endemic plant from the eastern Balearic Islands, and find that genetic diversity is highly structured and positively correlated with population connectivity in the landscape. The results support the importance of restricted gene flow and drift as drivers of plant evolution in Mediterranean continental islands, and emphasize the importance of gene flow in preventing genetic erosion and maintaining the evolutionary potential of populations.
Continue reading Genetic connectivity and evolution in CrepisBotany One is a blog run by the Annals of Botany Company, a non-profit educational charity.
In addition to Botany One, the company currently publishes three journals, the Annals of Botany, AoB PLANTS, and in silico Plants.
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