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Article
| Open AccessEffects of climate and environmental heterogeneity on the phylogenetic structure of regional angiosperm floras worldwide
Using a dataset that included 341,846 species in 391 angiosperm floras worldwide, this study finds that the global phylogenetic structure of angiosperms shows clear and meaningful relationships with environmental factors and that current climatic variables have the highest predictive power for phylogenetic metrics reflecting recent evolutionary relationships.
- Hong Qian
- , Shenhua Qian
- & Michael Kessler
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Article
| Open AccessMicrobiome convergence enables siderophore-secreting-rhizobacteria to improve iron nutrition and yield of peanut intercropped with maize
Intercropping has the potential to improve plant nutrition and crop yield. Here, the authors intercrop peanut and maize and show that Pseudomonas secreted siderophore pyoverdine play an important role in plant iron nutrition.
- Nanqi Wang
- , Tianqi Wang
- & Yuanmei Zuo
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Article
| Open AccessPhytophagy impacts the quality and quantity of plant carbon resources acquired by mutualistic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Plant antagonists may disrupt the allocation of carbon resources from plants to mutualistic microorganisms. Here, the authors report how plants attacked by cyst nematodes and aphids maintain carbon transfer to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi through fatty acid transfer whilst the limiting the loss of sugars.
- C. A. Bell
- , E. Magkourilou
- & K. J. Field
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Article
| Open AccessPervasive associations between dark septate endophytic fungi with tree root and soil microbiomes across Europe
While mycorrhizal-plant interactions are widely studied, other root symbionts may also be ecologically important. Here, the authors show that dark septate endophytes are a strong predictor of rhizosphere and associated soil microbiomes in broad-leaved tree across Europe.
- Tarquin Netherway
- , Jan Bengtsson
- & Mohammad Bahram
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Article
| Open AccessEvolution of masting in plants is linked to investment in low tissue mortality
Factors behind interspecific variation in masting are unclear. Here, the authors show that, in 517 species of terrestrial perennial plants, masting is more frequent in species that have high stem tissue density, suggesting that stronger stress resistance may buffer against missed reproductive opportunities.
- Valentin Journé
- , Andrew Hacket-Pain
- & Michał Bogdziewicz
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Article
| Open AccessEcophysiological adaptations shape distributions of closely related trees along a climatic moisture gradient
Energetic tradeoffs help determine where individual traits confer a competitive advantage. Here, the authors grow ten Eucalyptus species at four common gardens along a rainfall gradient and show that 50 traits mostly vary as predicted, and that species in their native ranges generally outperform others in height growth.
- Duncan D. Smith
- , Mark A. Adams
- & Thomas J. Givnish
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Article
| Open AccessRelationships of stomatal morphology to the environment across plant communities
The relationship between stomatal traits and environmental drivers across plant communities has important implications for ecosystem fluxes. Here, the authors explore community-scale stomatal trait-environment relationships, which are important for predicting future water and carbon cycles.
- Congcong Liu
- , Lawren Sack
- & Guirui Yu
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Article
| Open AccessEvolutionary history of the Arctic flora
The Arctic tundra is a relatively young biome. Here, the authors sample 32 angiosperm clades encompassing 3600+ species and find that both long-term dispersal and in situ speciation may have contributed to Arctic flora assembly, in association with landscape, climate and sea-level changes since the early Late Miocene.
- Jun Zhang
- , Xiao-Qian Li
- & Wei Wang
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Article
| Open AccessLeaf-level coordination principles propagate to the ecosystem scale
It is unclear whether trait trade-offs and optimality principles observed at the individual level scale up to the ecosystem level. Here, the authors show that plant trait coordination principles also predict patterns between community-level traits and ecosystem-scale processes.
- Ulisse Gomarasca
- , Mirco Migliavacca
- & Markus Reichstein
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Article
| Open AccessSingle-gene resolution of diversity-driven overyielding in plant genotype mixtures
Biodiversity often increases the functioning and productivity of ecosystems or communities. This work shows that such a positive diversity effect, namely overyielding in mixtures of two divergent Arabidopsis thaliana genotypes, can be genetically mapped and resolved to a single gene.
- Samuel E. Wuest
- , Lukas Schulz
- & Pascal A. Niklaus
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Article
| Open AccessChina can be self-sufficient in maize production by 2030 with optimal crop management
Population growth in China has increased the demand for food. Combining data-driven projections with field experiments, Luo et al. find that China can achieve self-sufficiency in maize production by 2030 implementation of optimal planting density and management without expanding cropping areas.
- Ning Luo
- , Qingfeng Meng
- & Pu Wang
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Article
| Open AccessStomatal responses of terrestrial plants to global change
Stomatal conductance is an important plant ecophysiological trait and a common parameter in earth system models. This global meta-analysis shows how CO2, warming and other global change factors affect stomatal conductance individually and interactively.
- Xingyun Liang
- , Defu Wang
- & David S. Ellsworth
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Article
| Open AccessIdentification of a tomato UDP-arabinosyltransferase for airborne volatile reception
Volatiles from herbivore-infested plants can function as chemical warning signals to neighbouring plants. Here the authors show that a tomato UDP-glycosyltransferase can convert a volatile signal emitted by infested plants to promote plant defense.
- Koichi Sugimoto
- , Eiichiro Ono
- & Junji Takabayashi
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Article
| Open AccessGrowth of alpine grassland will start and stop earlier under climate warming
Climate change and earlier snowmelt could potentially extend the growing season for alpine grassland plants. Here, the authors combine field and chamber controlled experiments to show that extending the summer period did not result in prolonged root and leaf growth.
- Patrick Möhl
- , Raphael S. von Büren
- & Erika Hiltbrunner
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Article
| Open AccessLeaf water content contributes to global leaf trait relationships
Leaf functional traits are increasingly used as proxies for plant functions. Here, the authors show that leaf water affects other leaf traits and is a better predictor of whole-leaf photosynthesis and leaf area than leaf nitrogen or phosphorus content.
- Zhiqiang Wang
- , Heng Huang
- & Ian J. Wright
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal patterns of vascular plant alpha diversity
Global patterns of regional plant diversity are relatively well known, but whether they hold for local communities is debated. This study created multi-grain global maps of alpha diversity for vascular plants to provide a nuanced understanding of plant diversity hotspots and improve predictions of global change effects on biodiversity.
- Francesco Maria Sabatini
- , Borja Jiménez-Alfaro
- & Helge Bruelheide
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Article
| Open AccessA highly conserved core bacterial microbiota with nitrogen-fixation capacity inhabits the xylem sap in maize plants
The plant xylem microbiota remains understudied. Here, the authors characterise the xylem microbiota in maize plants finding that some bacteria carried N fixing genes. By using synthetic communities the authors confirm that xylem inhabiting and N fixing bacteria provide the host plant with N.
- Liyu Zhang
- , Meiling Zhang
- & Chao Ai
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Article
| Open AccessDrought-exposure history increases complementarity between plant species in response to a subsequent drought
Using experimental communities of grassland species, this study shows that drought-exposure history can accelerate recovery from subsequent drought through increased niche complementarity between species. This transgenerational effect may enhance the sustainability of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in a future with more frequent droughts.
- Yuxin Chen
- , Anja Vogel
- & Bernhard Schmid
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Article
| Open AccessCompetition contributes to both warm and cool range edges
Using a field experiment, this study shows that both lowland and alpine plant species experience greater competitive effects and a reduced ability to coexist towards their elevation range edges due to increased niche overlap and competitive inequality. These findings suggest competition helps set both lower and upper elevation range limits.
- Shengman Lyu
- & Jake M. Alexander
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Article
| Open AccessLimits to reproduction and seed size-number trade-offs that shape forest dominance and future recovery
The relationships that control seed production in trees are key to understand evolutionary pressures that have shaped forests. A global synthesis of fecundity data reveals that while seed production is not constrained by a strict size-number trade-off, it is influenced by taxonomy and nutrient allocation.
- Tong Qiu
- , Robert Andrus
- & James S. Clark
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Article
| Open AccessThe pollen virome of wild plants and its association with variation in floral traits and land use
Pollen can be a vehicle for viral spread among plants. Here, Fetters et al. apply viral metagenomics to characterize the pollen virome of a diverse set of wild plants, find known and previously un-known viruses and show that wild plant species harbor more viruses when surrounded by less natural vegetation and when they have traits that promote increased plant-pollinator vector interactions.
- Andrea M. Fetters
- , Paul G. Cantalupo
- & Tia-Lynn Ashman
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Article
| Open AccessThe 2018 European heatwave led to stem dehydration but not to consistent growth reductions in forests
Forest dynamics are monitored at large scales with remote sensing, but individual tree data are necessary for ground-truthing and mechanistic insights. This study on high temporal resolution dendrometer data across Europe reveals that the 2018 heatwave affected tree physiology and growth in unexpected way.
- Roberto L. Salomón
- , Richard L. Peters
- & Kathy Steppe
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Article
| Open AccessSustainable intensification for a larger global rice bowl
Increasing rice yield while improving resource use efficiency is of great importance. This study examines cropping systems globally to highlight areas where rice production can be improved by prioritizing R&D strategies.
- Shen Yuan
- , Bruce A. Linquist
- & Patricio Grassini
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Article
| Open AccessRewetting does not return drained fen peatlands to their old selves
Whether rewetting leads to effective restoration of drained peatlands is unclear. Here the authors analyse a large number of near-natural and rewetted fen peatland sites in Europe, finding persistent differences in plant community composition and ecosystem functioning, and higher variance in the restored sites.
- J. Kreyling
- , F. Tanneberger
- & G. Jurasinski
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Article
| Open AccessAridity-driven shift in biodiversity–soil multifunctionality relationships
Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships may vary with climate. Here, the authors study relationships of plant and soil microbial diversity with soil nutrient multifunctionality in 130 dryland sites in China, finding a shift towards greater importance of soil microbial diversity in arid conditions.
- Weigang Hu
- , Jinzhi Ran
- & Jianming Deng
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Article
| Open AccessExperimental warming differentially affects vegetative and reproductive phenology of tundra plants
It is unclear whether climate driven phenological shifts of tundra plants are consistent across the plant growing season. Here the authors analyse data from a network of field warming experiments in Arctic and alpine tundra, finding that warming differentially affects the timing and duration of reproductive and vegetative phenology.
- Courtney G. Collins
- , Sarah C. Elmendorf
- & Katharine N. Suding
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Article
| Open AccessBark-dwelling methanotrophic bacteria decrease methane emissions from trees
The photosynthesis performed by trees makes them an important sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide, but trees are also sources of the potent greenhouse gas methane. Here the authors find that tree bark in some common lowland species is colonized by methane oxidizing bacteria that can reduce tree methane emissions by ~ 36%.
- Luke C. Jeffrey
- , Damien T. Maher
- & Scott G. Johnston
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Article
| Open AccessAsymmetric water transport in dense leaf cuticles and cuticle-inspired compositionally graded membranes
Most aerial organs of vascular plants are covered by a waxy cuticle that limits water loss. Here the authors show that the asymmetric architecture of the cuticle creates a polarity gradient to ensure directional movement of water through olive and ivy leaf cuticles and construct bioinspired artificial membranes that mimic cuticle behaviour.
- Aristotelis Kamtsikakis
- , Johanna Baales
- & Christoph Weder
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Article
| Open AccessIntraspecific host variation plays a key role in virus community assembly
The factors that determine whether pathogens co-occur in a host are poorly understood, especially for plant viruses. Here the authors conduct field experiments with the plant Plantago lanceolata and its viruses, showing that viral co-occurrences are driven predominantly by environmental context and host genotype rather than viral interactions.
- Suvi Sallinen
- , Anna Norberg
- & Anna-Liisa Laine
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Article
| Open AccessForest production efficiency increases with growth temperature
Many models assume a universal carbon use efficiency across forest biomes, in contrast to assumptions of other process-based models. Here the authors analyse forest production efficiency across a wide range of climates to show a positive relationship with annual temperature and precipitation, indicating that ecosystem models are overestimating forest carbon losses under warming.
- A. Collalti
- , A. Ibrom
- & I. C. Prentice
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Article
| Open AccessSummer warming explains widespread but not uniform greening in the Arctic tundra biome
Satellites provide clear evidence of greening trends in the Arctic, but high-resolution pan-Arctic quantification of these trends is lacking. Here the authors analyse high-resolution Landsat data to show widespread greening in the Arctic, and find that greening trends are linked to summer warming overall but not always locally.
- Logan T. Berner
- , Richard Massey
- & Scott J. Goetz
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Article
| Open AccessWithin-individual phenotypic plasticity in flowers fosters pollination niche shift
Floral phenotypes impact interactions between plants and pollinators. Here, the authors show that Moricandia arvensis displays discrete seasonal plasticity in floral phenotype, with large, lilac flowers attracting long-tongued bees in spring and small, rounded, white flowers attracting generalist pollinators in summer.
- José M. Gómez
- , Francisco Perfectti
- & Rubén Torices
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Article
| Open AccessLand use and pollinator dependency drives global patterns of pollen limitation in the Anthropocene
An insufficient amount of pollen transfer by pollinators (pollen limitation) could reduce plant reproduction in human-impacted landscapes. Here the authors conduct a global meta-analysis and find that pollen limitation is high in urban environments and depends of plant traits such as pollinator dependency.
- Joanne M. Bennett
- , Janette A. Steets
- & Tia-Lynn Ashman
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Article
| Open AccessRobust leaf trait relationships across species under global environmental changes
It is unclear whether rapid global change will lead to unexpected trait combinations. In this global meta-analysis on vascular plants, Cui et al. show that, although within-species responses do not always follow the leaf economic spectrum, the slopes of interspecific trait relationships are robust to rapid environmental change.
- Erqian Cui
- , Ensheng Weng
- & Jianyang Xia
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Article
| Open AccessRepressive chromatin modification underpins the long-term expression trend of a perennial flowering gene in nature
The flowering regulator FLC shows upregulation and downregulation phases along with long-term past temperature in Arabidopsis halleri. Here, the authors reveal that H3K27me3-mediated chromatin regulation at AhgFLC provides the ability to respond to both the seasonal temperature trends and the perennial life cycle.
- Haruki Nishio
- , Diana M. Buzas
- & Hiroshi Kudoh
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Article
| Open AccessMikania micrantha genome provides insights into the molecular mechanism of rapid growth
Mikania micrantha is an extremely fast-growing invasive plant species that can cause serious damage to natural ecosystems. Here, the authors assemble its chromosome-scale reference genome and explore possible mechanisms that contribute to its rapid growth.
- Bo Liu
- , Jian Yan
- & Fanghao Wan
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Article
| Open AccessA mutualistic interaction between Streptomyces bacteria, strawberry plants and pollinating bees
Microbes can establish mutualistic interactions with plants and insects. Here, Kim et al. show that Streptomyces bacteria can protect strawberry plants and honeybees from pathogens, can move into the plant vascular tissue from soil and from flowers, and are transferred among flowers by the pollinators.
- Da-Ran Kim
- , Gyeongjun Cho
- & Youn-Sig Kwak
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Article
| Open AccessFunctional traits and phenotypic plasticity modulate species coexistence across contrasting climatic conditions
The response of traits and their plasticity to different environments within plant communities is incompletely understood. Here, the authors use field experiments under two climatic conditions to describe the dynamic relationship between ten annual plant species in association with 19 functional traits.
- Ignacio M. Pérez-Ramos
- , Luis Matías
- & Óscar Godoy
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Article
| Open AccessFoliar-feeding insects acquire microbiomes from the soil rather than the host plant
Leaf-feeding insect microbiomes could be influenced by the soil, the plant, or a product of the two. Here, the authors conduct a series of experiments to show that an herbivorous insect predominantly acquires its microbiome from the soil rather than the plant, and that these insect microbiomes reflect soil legacies of earlier growing plants.
- S. Emilia Hannula
- , Feng Zhu
- & T. Martijn Bezemer
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Article
| Open AccessPlant defences mediate interactions between herbivory and the direct foliar uptake of atmospheric reactive nitrogen
Reactive nitrogen oxides can be assimilated by leaves, though the trophic and nitrogen cycling impacts of this are unclear. Here Campbell and Vallano show foliar uptake of NO2 increases defensive metabolites, reduces herbivore consumption and growth, and herbivory reduces foliar NO2 uptake.
- Stuart A. Campbell
- & Dena M. Vallano
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Article
| Open AccessIdentifying long-term stable refugia for relict plant species in East Asia
East Asia contains “relict” plant species that persist under narrow climatic conditions after once having wider distributions. Here, using distribution records coupled with ecological niche models, the authors identify long-term stable refugia possessing past, current and future climatic suitability favoring ancient plant lineages.
- Cindy Q. Tang
- , Tetsuya Matsui
- & Jordi López-Pujol
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Article
| Open AccessDisentangling the role of floral sensory stimuli in pollination networks
Can floral phenotype predict the most influential species for maintaining plant–pollinator communities? Here, Kantsa et al. develop a methodology for trait-based analysis, revealing the critical role of floral scent, and floral colour as perceived by insects, in shaping visitation networks.
- Aphrodite Kantsa
- , Robert A. Raguso
- & Theodora Petanidou
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Article
| Open AccessResource acquisition and reproductive strategies of tropical forest in response to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation
It has been suggested that tree phenology may be regulated by climatic oscillations. Here, Detto et al. present a 30 year tropical forest dataset that suggests leaf and fruit production is coordinated with ENSO cycles, with greater leaf fall observed prior to El Niño followed by greater seed production.
- Matteo Detto
- , S. Joseph Wright
- & Helene C. Muller-Landau
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Article
| Open AccessEcology and genomics of an important crop wild relative as a prelude to agricultural innovation
Domestication reduces genetic diversity and constrains crop improvement. Here the authors identify factors that shaped species diversity in the wild progenitors of chickpea, and produce wild introgression populations that increase diversity for breeding by ~100-fold, including traits of agronomic relevance.
- Eric J.B. von Wettberg
- , Peter L. Chang
- & Douglas R. Cook
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Article
| Open AccessDecision-making in plants under competition
Plants may respond to light competition by growing upwards, via physiological changes that maximise performance under low light, or by growing laterally. Here Gruntman et al. show that the light-competition scenario determines the strategy employed by the clonal plant Potentilla reptans.
- Michal Gruntman
- , Dorothee Groß
- & Katja Tielbörger
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Article
| Open AccessWind loads and competition for light sculpt trees into self-similar structures
Tree branches follow allometric scalings between length, thickness and dry mass. Here, Eloy and colleagues develop a functional-structural model that shows how such allometries in tree architecture can emerge through evolution as a result of competition for light, wind biomechanics, and wind sensing.
- Christophe Eloy
- , Meriem Fournier
- & Bruno Moulia
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Article
| Open AccessThe effects of forest canopy shading and turbulence on boundary layer ozone
Fully quantifying the influence of vegetation on atmospheric chemistry remains challenging. Here, the authors show that forest canopy shading and turbulence significantly modify air pollution throughout the atmospheric boundary layer, and must be taken into account in models of the atmosphere.
- P. A. Makar
- , R. M. Staebler
- & Q. Zheng
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Article
| Open AccessSymbiosis limits establishment of legumes outside their native range at a global scale
Symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia) aids the growth of many legume species, but may also restrict their ability to colonize new regions lacking suitable rhizobia. Here, the authors show that symbiotic legumes are indeed less likely to become established in new regions than their non-symbiotic relatives.
- Anna K. Simonsen
- , Russell Dinnage
- & Peter H. Thrall
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Article
| Open AccessReal-time divergent evolution in plants driven by pollinators
Pollinators are thought to be a driver of plant diversification, but their effects are difficult to disentangle from those of other biotic and abiotic factors. Here, the authors let plants evolve under different pollination regimes and show rapid and divergent evolution of plant height, floral traits and mating system.
- Daniel D. L. Gervasi
- & Florian P Schiestl