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.
Local adaptation is common but not universal in plants and results from the interplay of gene flow with natural selection. Gene flow can increase local genetic variation and population size, which boost a species’...
Whilst studies on Arabidopsis thaliana have generally been highly molecular and/or genetic in nature, most studies using A. halleri have addressed adaptation and variation in adaptive traits in the species’ natural...
In the western United States, Clarkia (Onagraceae) taxa vary in mating system, life history, and photosynthetic physiology. Self-fertilizing taxa bloom earlier in the year and have higher rates of photosynthesis than...
Separate sexes and biased sex ratios are common in bryophytes, yet little is known about how fine-scale, sex-specific morphological traits are correlated with physiology and population sex-ratios. Slate et al. analysed...
Considerable intra-specific variation in functional strategies can occur within a single plant species. C-S-R theory was developed to classify functional strategies (competitive, stress tolerant, ruderal) in different...
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...
Adaptive hypotheses to explain the evolution of self-fertilisation in plants are well-characterised, but alternative evolutionary pathways are underexplored. The mating systems and photosynthetic rates of some sister...
In sea beet, Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima, seed dormancy largely controls germination timing, is highly heritable and varies geographically; climate might select for this trait. Wagmann et al. assess geographical...
Fine-root decomposition is an important determinant of nutrient and carbon cycling in grasslands, but little is known about the factors controlling interspecific root decomposition. By studying 18 Mediterranean...