Alpine plants and their fungal partners |

Skylar Burg, University of Jyväskylä in Finland, discusses her article: Abiotic conditions along altitude shape plant-fungal associations by influencing both fungal availability and association strength Setting out in the mountains High in the mountainous tundra of Norway, Sweden, and Finland, the perennial herb Bistorta vivipara, known as alpine bistort, thrives in conditions that challenge most […]

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How seasonal climates shape tree wood growth in the southern Altai Mountains |

Wenjin Wang, Zhejiang University in China, discusses their article: Seasonal climate variations drive decoupling between the duration and amount of xylem growth along a hydrothermal gradient in the southern Altai Mountains Climate change is transforming forests across the world. A key question many ecologists and forest managers are asking is: will warmer temperatures lead to […]

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Making robust projections of species distributions at fine resolution: Go spatially-nested |

Antoine Guisan, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, discusses his article: Spatially-nested species distribution models (N-SDM): An effective tool to overcome niche truncation for better inference and projections Setting the scene Species distribution models (SDMs) relate species observations to mapped environmental conditions to estimate the ecological niche (i.e., the ensemble of suitable conditions) and predict the spatial distribution […]

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Modelling the distribution of plant-associated microbes with species distribution models |

Sarah Ishak, Université du Québec à Montréal, discusses their article: Modelling the distribution of plant-associated microbes with species distribution models The array of bacteria, fungi, protists, viruses, and archaea that live inside or outside of plant tissue, AKA plant-associated microbes, perform functions that vary from beneficial to parasitic to simply neutrally existing with the plant. […]

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Decoding the diversity of root exudate chemistry in plant belowground strategies |

Huajun Yin, Peipei Zhang, and Han Yang, Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discuss their article: Shifts in root exudate composition coordinate with root resource conservation along an elevation gradient Root exudates: Small molecules, big influence Plant ecologists have long been fascinated by the diverse strategies plants use to acquire nutrients […]

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How Do Dry Conditions Affect Carbon Movement in Bamboo Forests? |

Xiaogai Ge, from the Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, and Mai-He Li, from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research in Switzerland, discuss their article: Drought Decreases Carbon Flux but Not Transport Speed of Newly Fixed Carbon from Leaves to Sinks in a Giant Bamboo Forest […]

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Climate and mycorrhizal type shape global plant nitrogen dynamics |

Qiong Chen and Zuoqiang Yuan, Northwestern Polytechnical University in China, discuss their article: Global mycorrhizal status drives leaf δ15N patterns Global mycorrhizal status drives leaf δ15N patterns. Nitrogen: A Vital Nutrient for Plants Nitrogen is a crucial nutrient for plants. It plays a vital role in their growth, development, and overall productivity. The availability of […]

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Can Resilient Species Keep Up? Climate Change Threatens Even Tough Seaweeds |

Fernando Lima, CIBIO/BIOPOLIS, University of Porto, Portugal, discusses his article: Simulated intertidal heat stress on the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum demonstrates differential population sensitivity to future climate Ascophyllum nodosum from Sommarøy, Norway (69.65°N, 17.99°E), in 2024. Photo by Rui Seabra. Climate change is often thought to threaten only vulnerable species, but what about the tough […]

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Local native species with global naturalization success can be strong competitors for alien species |

Guan-Wen Wei and Mark van Kleunen, from the Ecology Lab at the University of Konstanz in Germany, discuss their article: Responses of naturalized alien plants to soil heterogeneity and competition vary with the global naturalization success of the native competitors Biological invasions are happening With the development of transportation and globalization, species have been introduced […]

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