Velloziaceae is a monocot family that is made up of five genera and c. 250 species with a disjunct distribution in Africa mainland, Madagascar, Arabian Peninsula, China and South America. They are recognized as the largest lineage of vascular plants that can tolerate desiccation, hence are resurrection plants.
European old-growth forests are estimated to occupy only 0.7% of the total forested area; they are of prime ecological value, representing small vestiges of how Europe’s past primeval forest may have looked. In addition, old-growth forests provide various and important ecosystem services, such as biodiversity maintenance, long-term carbon storage, and landscape uniqueness. Therefore, old-growth forests represent valuable natural laboratories for evaluating how trees of different dimensions and ages respond to global change drivers, including climate warming and land-use changes. Although there is increasing attention on these ecosystems, knowledge of the long-term impacts of climate change in the Mediterranean environment is still limited. A recent study found that in Mediterranean mountainous area old-growth forests show remarkable resistance to climate warning.
This is the third post of the series, celebrating the brilliant winners of the #plantscistory2021 contest and their stories. Maria Park is a PhD Student at the University of Minnesota. Her interests are forest biodiversity loss, plant ecophysiology, climate change, plant-soil interactions, remote sensing/spectral biology, and art-based science communication.
Many important crop plants can be devastated by pathogens including bacteria, fungi and viruses. Knowing exactly how some plants respond could give researchers the information to breed crops with the best disease-fighting power or even design new and improved immune sensors in genetically modified plants.
Ferns are the second most species rich lineages of land plants and highly suitable to test the association between genome diversity and lineage diversification. Many studies have recovered substantial differences in genome diversity. However, less attention has been given to ferns.
aching and disinfecting agent. However, it is also constantly produced in living cells. Often as a byproduct of biological processes, sometimes intentionally, for example to kill pathogens. It is also thought that H2O2 plays an important role as a signaling molecule.
Research shows that multi-species mixtures out-yielded perennial ryegrass monocultures receiving double the amount of fertiliser.The most productive swards were a combination of species from the three functional groups of grasses, legumes and herbs. With legume proportion between 30 and 70%, yields were better than the best monoculture.
New research has shed light on when plants first evolved the ability to respond to changing humidity in the air around them, and was probably a feature of a common ancestor of both flowering plants and ferns.
Researchers have concluded that tree fecundity peaks or plateaus when trees reach adult size, and then begins to decline. The study examines 597 species from more than 500 sites in North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. This work has led to the development of a calibrated model to accurately calculate long-term tree fecundity.
For the first time, researchers have, with the help of cryogenic electron microscopy, succeeded in producing a high-resolution image of photosystem II – the central complex of photosynthesis – of the model plant Arabidopsis. The enormous complex is responsible for the vital oxygen production in photosynthesis that once made life possible on our planet.
