Seedling herbivory across elevational gradients: What drives both mean and variability in leaf damage?

Xiaoran Wang, East China Normal University, and Jian Zhang, Sun Yat-Sen University, discuss their article: Elevation and environmental factors shape variability rather than the mean of seedling herbivory across subtropical forests In mountain forests, not all seedlings experience insect herbivory in the same way. While some individuals suffer substantial leaf damage, others are barely affected.…

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest and seed rain patterns across fragmented landscapes

Luís Felipe Daibes, from Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, Haldre Rogers, from Virginia Tech, and Marco A. Pizo, from São Paulo State University, discuss their article: Landscape features predict broad-scale seed rain patterns across fragments of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, in both English and Portuguese Spanning a broad latitudinal gradient across South America, the Brazilian…

Climate adaptation begins with seeds: Lessons from dryland tree recruitment

Alexandra Urza, Whitebark Institute in California, discusses her article: Seed source climate and precipitation timing determine dryland tree recruitment in hot and dry range margins As climate change intensifies drought and reshapes precipitation patterns across western North America, many dryland forests are facing an uncertain future. Adult trees can survive harsh conditions for centuries, but…

European mistletoes are unusual plants in lots of ways – but not in their demographic strategy

Oliver Spacey, University of Oxford, UK, discusses his article: European mistletoe shares a similar demographic strategy with non-parasitic plants Few plants are as enshrined in folklore as mistletoe, and much of this is owed to its unusual ecology. A parasitic plant that never touches the ground and was thus associated with divine power, European mistletoe…

When losing species doesn’t weaken competition: Lessons from a Czech meadow

Eva Janíková, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, discusses her article: Realistic species loss has little effect on local resource depletion and competitive pressure in a temperate wet meadow A story that started with a simple idea When we began this project, we had clear expectations. Following ideas going back to Charles Elton’s hypothesis…

A foundational salt marsh grass exhibits spatial variation in trait responses to sea level rise

Robert Dunn and Steve Pennings, University of Houston, discuss their article: Variable trait responses to rapid sea level rise in a foundational grass across a coastal marsh landscape One strategy that plants utilize to survive across a range of environmental conditions is to alter the expression of their traits. Functional traits are the characteristics of…

The mechanisms driving the timing and duration of alpine meadow plant leaf senescence under climate warming and precipitation changes

Miaojun Ma. Lanzhou University, discusses his article: Warming advanced leaf senescence in alpine plants through advancing leaf emergence and increasing soil drought Background Plant autumn leaf senescence, which marks the end of photosynthesis and the growing season, as well as the onset of dormancy, is particularly critical in the plant annual cycle. Early or late…

Darwin met the Red Queen

Carlos Roberto Fonseca, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) in Brazil, discusses his article: The Red Queen unveils the sexual and mating strategies of flowers In 1876, Charles Darwin wrote the book “The effects of cross and self-fertilization in the vegetable kingdom” to answer a simple, but important question: if self-fertilisation is the…

Insects and non-woody plants slow down tropical forest succession

Kari Sogera Iamba, University of South Bohemia and the Institute of Entomology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, discusses his article: Insects and non-woody plants slow down tropical forest succession: A community-wide experiment in Papua New Guinea We investigated the factors driving rainforest regeneration in canopy gaps created by tree falls or selective logging. Ecological…

When trees compete: How dynamic traits help them live together

Guochun Shen and Jing Yang, East China Normal University in Shanghai, China, discuss their article: Shifts in above- and belowground trait dissimilarity under competition mediate the future impact of neighbors When we walk into a forest, it is easy to picture trees competing for light, water, and nutrients. Some seedlings race upwards and cast their…