Why it’s good for trees to be fast at least once in their lifetime |

Christian Ammer, University of Göttingen, discusses his article: Get out of the starting block quickly—Small initial differences in seed and seedling size affect tree survival and growth over 25 years Four-year-old saplings on a subplot where beech seeds were sown. Slight differences in seedling height in the year of germination have led to increasingly high […]

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What makes a changing community stable? Lessons from 60 years of succession |

Caiyue Yang and Shaopeng Li, from East China Normal University, and Scott J. Meiners, from Eastern Illinois University, discuss their article: Compensatory and statistical-averaging effects jointly explain the decrease in species asynchrony over 60 years of succession The arch at the entrance to the William L. Hutcheson Memorial Forest Center where the Buell–Small Succession Study […]

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What makes a changing community stable? Lessons from 60 years of succession |

Caiyue Yang and Shaopeng Li, from East China Normal University, and Scott J. Meiners, from Eastern Illinois University, discuss their article: Compensatory and statistical-averaging effects jointly explain the decrease in species asynchrony over 60 years of succession The arch at the entrance to the William L. Hutcheson Memorial Forest Center where the Buell–Small Succession Study […]

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Can a plant’s own defence system change the legacy it leaves in the soil? |

Duo Chen, University of Konstanz in Germany, discusses her article: Induced resistance of plants reduces their negative soil-legacy effects on natives but not on naturalized aliens Plants leave a lasting imprint on the soil Plants do much more than grow in soil. Throughout their lives, they alter the environment around their roots by taking up […]

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Can plant traits help us predict who gets eaten? |

Nicolas D. Zurbuchen, University of Zurich, discusses his article: Intraspecific trait variation responds consistently to global change drivers and mediates herbivory across unrelated plant species Plants may look still, but they live in a busy world. Around them, insects and other invertebrates are feeding, fungi are infecting leaves, and the climate is changing. For plant […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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