Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gbedomedji Hurgues Aristide Houenon, Helene Fandy, Aristide Cossi Adomou, Hounnankpon Yedomonhan
Summary: This study assessed the possibility of seed-based propagation for African tree species Detarium microcarpum and Detarium senegalense. Fruit morphotypes were identified and their influence on seedling emergence and early growth was evaluated. Results showed that morphotype 2 of both species had the highest seedling emergence rates and growth performances.
Article
Agronomy
Ikechukwu V. Agomoh, Craig F. Drury, W. Daniel Reynolds, Alex Woodley, Xueming Yang, Lori A. Phillips, Lars Rehmann
Summary: The study showed that under continuous corn cropping system, no-tillage practice compared to conventional tillage can improve corn seedling emergence and reduce the negative impact of stover on plant growth. Stover removal from corn fields can help mitigate the effects on seedling emergence early in the growing season.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Alireza Taab, Aritz Royo-Esnal
Summary: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of seed burial depths on the seedling emergence pattern of Amaranthus retroflexus in the Ilam region of Iran. The study found that factors such as burial depth, dormancy level, and soil light and temperature fluctuations can all influence the emergence of A. retroflexus seedlings. These findings can be used to optimize timing for weed management activities.
SPANISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Hang Chen, Lei Wang, Si Guo, Mengqi Li, Zhifang Tian, Biao Han, Xinghao Tang, Bo Liu
Summary: Liquidambar formosana Hance is a common deciduous broad-leaved tree known for its fast growth rate and adaptability. However, excessive logging has substantially reduced the area of natural forest patches of L. formosana, impacting seedling regeneration and long-term population continuation. An experiment studying the effects of light intensity on seedlings revealed that low light intensity negatively influenced survival and growth, highlighting the importance of a suitable light environment for L. formosana seedlings.
Article
Forestry
Beda Innocent Adji, Doffou Selastique Akaffou, Philippe De Reffye, Sylvie Sabatier
Summary: Seed size and growth environment significantly influence seed germination and seedling development in Pterocarpus erinaceus. Larger seeds have higher germination rates, produce more vigorous plants, and better adapt to climate change. Maternal environment and seed size are key factors that impact successful conservation strategies and silviculture for this species.
JOURNAL OF FORESTRY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Zhenxi Cao, Xingpeng Wang, Yang Gao
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the effects of different concentrations of growth regulators on cotton root morphological parameters and enzyme activities, and to find suitable plant growth regulators and their optimal concentrations to improve cotton seedling growth. The results showed that different concentrations of growth regulators had different effects on the root growth and enzyme activities of different cotton varieties. Principal component analysis revealed that 0.10 mmol/L SA was the optimal treatment for promoting the development of Z619 roots, while 0.050 mmol/L SA was the optimal treatment for promoting the development of Z27 and Z39 roots.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Bo Zhang, Dehao Zhao
Summary: This study aimed to build a model to evaluate soybean seedling emergence information by integrating multiple deep learning and image processing methods, providing an effective tool for field management decisions. Through the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle and various modules, the model achieved accurate identification of the number of emerged seedlings and demonstrated good predictive accuracy in field validation.
Article
Plant Sciences
Johanna Krahmer, Ammad Abbas, Virginie Mengin, Hirofumi Ishihara, Andres Romanowski, James J. Furniss, Thiago Alexandre Moraes, Nicole Krohn, Maria Grazia Annunziata, Regina Feil, Saleh Alseekh, Toshihiro Obata, Alisdair R. Fernie, Mark Stitt, Karen J. Halliday
Summary: Phytochrome photoreceptors play a crucial role in regulating plant growth responses to shade, as well as in carbon resource management, metabolism, and growth. Studies show that phytochrome influences metabolic fluxes, stress metabolite synthesis, sugar accumulation, and vacuolar sugar transport, ultimately impacting biomass production. Despite modified metabolism and altered architecture, growth rates in adult phy mutants resemble those of wild-type plants, with delayed seedling growth and smaller cotyledon size identified as the cause of the biomass defect in adult-stage mutants.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Mohammad H. H. Zamani, Eshagh Keshtkar, Hamidreza Sasanfar, Eskandar Zand
Summary: Lolium rigidum is a globally important herbicide-resistant weed species. The study found that the germination and seedling emergence traits of susceptible (S) populations were generally higher and faster than resistant (R) populations at high temperatures, but the differences were less pronounced at low temperatures. The principal component analysis separated the S and R populations into distinct groups, indicating the potential for S populations to overcome R populations if the application of the herbicide is ceased.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Chadlia Hachani, Mohammed S. Lamhamedi, Mejda Abassi, Noomene Sleimi, Zoubeir Bejaoui
Summary: This study aims to identify the most suitable Fabaceae species for phytoremediation of abandoned mining sites. Results showed that V. faba was the most tolerant species with low bioaccumulation and high phytostabilization potential.
WATER AIR AND SOIL POLLUTION
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Zhenhua Sun, Nujaree Prachanun, Arunkamon Sonsuthi, Wirong Chanthorn, Warren Y. Brockelman, Anuttara Nathalang, Luxiang Lin, Frans Bongers
Summary: Lianas are predicted to outperform trees during seasonal drought in tropical forests. We compared the traits of lianas and trees in a tropical forest in Thailand and classified them based on their trait similarities. Lianas had higher specific leaf areas and specific stem lengths, indicating a more resource-acquisitive strategy. Lianas and trees showed a high overlap on the resource acquisition continuum.
Article
Plant Sciences
Nabodita Sinha, Talat Zahra, Avinash Yashwant Gahane, Bandita Rout, Arnav Bhattacharya, Sangramjit Basu, Arunabha Chakrabarti, Ashwani Kumar Thakur
Summary: Seed storage protein bodies (SSPB) in wheat, mungbean, barley, and chickpea exhibit a composite structure with amyloid-like proteins interspersed in an amyloid-like matrix. These amyloid composites undergo degradation during germination and seedling growth, regulated by plant hormones and proteases. Understanding the amyloid composite structure in SSPB biogenesis has implications in both basic and applied plant biology.
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria Victoria Bravo-Navas, Carolina Sanchez-Romero
Summary: This study investigated the effect of temperature and light on the germination behavior and early seedling growth of Abies pinsapo seeds from different populations. The results showed that seed origin had a significant influence on germination percentage, while temperature and light had different effects on seeds from different regions.
Article
Plant Sciences
Santosh Kumar Jana, Md Majharul Islam, Samrat Hore, Sukhendu Mandal
Summary: Research on seed microbiota is important for plant growth and productivity. This study identified and characterized unique culturable seed endophytes in rice and demonstrated their roles in promoting plant growth and biocontrol.
PLANT GROWTH REGULATION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Zeping Liu, Xiaolong Zhang, Leibing Li, Ning Xu, Yong Hu, Chao Wang, Yong Shi, Dongsheng Li
Summary: Biofertilizers are considered as the alternative to chemical fertilizers to reduce environmental impact and improve crop yield. Three rice rhizosphere bacteria were isolated and shown to have plant growth promoting capabilities. Further evaluation is needed before recommending them as biofertilizers.
JOURNAL OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Lisieux Fuzessy, Fernando A. O. Silveira, Laurence Culot, Pedro Jordano, Miguel Verdu
Summary: Seed dispersal benefits plants and frugivores, potentially driving co-evolution; phylogenetic congruences suggest shared evolutionary history between primates and plants; consistent eco-evolutionary dynamics with co-phylogenetic signals emerging independently across different regions.
Article
Ecology
Johannes Hirn, Jose Enrique Garcia, Alicia Montesinos-Navarro, Ricardo Sanchez-Martin, Veronica Sanz, Miguel Verdu
Summary: In this study, the authors used Generative Artificial Intelligence to predict species coexistence patterns in vegetation patches and explore the mechanisms behind community assemblage. The results showed that high-order interactions tend to suppress the positive effects of low-order interactions. Additionally, by reconstructing successional trajectories, the researchers identified pioneer species with the potential to generate diverse patches in terms of species composition.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Antonio Gazol, J. Julio Camarero, Raul Sanchez-Salguero, Miguel A. Zavala, Xavier Serra-Maluquer, Emilia Gutierrez, Martin de Luis, Gabriel Sanguesa-Barreda, Klemen Novak, Vicente Rozas, Pedro A. Tiscar, Juan C. Linares, Edurne Martinez del Castillo, Montse Ribas, Ignacio Garcia-Gonzalez, Fernando Silla, Alvaro Camison, Mar Genova, Jose M. Olano, Ana-Maria Heres, Jorge Curiel Yuste, Luis A. Longares, Andrea Hevia, J. Diego Galvan, Paloma Ruiz-Benito
Summary: Tree-ring data has been used to study individual tree growth responses to drought, but less is known about how it affects forest dynamics. In this study, tree-ring growth chronologies and stand-level forest changes were compared to test if tree-ring responses to drought match stand forest dynamics. The results show that forest with greater drought impacts on tree growth exhibited reduced stand basal area growth and increased mortality. Gymnosperm forests were more sensitive to drought compared to angiosperm forests. This study suggests that tree growth sensitivity to drought can be used as a predictor of forest vulnerability at a regional scale.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Xuejun Yang, Lorena Gomez-Aparicio, Christopher J. Lortie, Miguel Verdu, Lohengrin A. Cavieres, Zhenying Huang, Ruiru Gao, Rong Liu, Yonglan Zhao, Johannes H. C. Cornelissen
Summary: This study uses a global database to examine the patterns of plant interactions and their effects on climate. It finds that competition occurs more frequently than facilitation in plant communities worldwide and that plant interactions show weak relationships with latitude and climate. The study highlights competition as a fundamental mechanism structuring plant communities globally.
Article
Forestry
Maria Royo-Navascues, Edurne Martinez del Castillo, Ernesto Tejedor, Roberto Serrano-Notivoli, Luis Alberto Longares, Miguel Angel Saz, Klemen Novak, Martin de Luis
Summary: This study analyzed the effects of drought on tree growth in the Mediterranean Basin. The results showed that different pine species had varying responses to drought intensity, duration, and seasonality. Understanding these responses is crucial, especially as droughts are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change.
Article
Plant Sciences
Nina Skrk, Roberto Serrano-Notivoli, Martin de Luis, Katarina Cufar
Summary: Climate change is expected to affect the spatial distribution of tree species in Europe, including the drought-sensitive European beech. This study utilized forest inventory data and modeled climate data to explore the relationship between climate variables and the dominance of beech trees in forest stands.
Article
Ecology
Miguel Verdu, Jose L. Garrido, Julio M. Alcantara, Alicia Montesinos-Navarro, Salomon Aguilar, Marcelo A. Aizen, Ali A. Al-Namazi, Mohamed Alifriqui, David Allen, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Cristina Armas, Jesus M. Bastida, Tono Bellido, Giuliano Bonanomi, Gustavo B. Paterno, Herbert Briceno, Ricardo A. C. de Oliveira, Josefina G. Campoy, Ghassen Chaieb, Chengjin Chu, Sarah E. Collins, Richard Condit, Elena Constantinou, Cihan U. Degirmenci, Leo Delalandre, Milen Duarte, Michel Faife, Fatih Fazlioglu, Edwino S. Fernando, Joel Flores, Hilda Flores-Olvera, Ecaterina Fodor, Gislene Ganade, Maria Begona Garcia, Patricio Garcia-Fayos, Sabrina S. Gavini, Marta Goberna, Lorena Gomez-Aparicio, Enrique Gonzalez-Pendas, Ana Gonzalez-Robles, Stephen P. Hubbell, Kahraman Ipekdal, Maria J. Jorquera, Zaal Kikvidze, Pinar Kutkut, Alicia Ledo, Sandra Lendinez, Buhang Li, Hanlun Liu, Francisco Lloret, Ramiro P. Lopez, Alvaro Lopez-Garcia, Christopher J. Lortie, Gianalberto Losapio, James A. Lutz, Arantzazu L. Luzuriaga, Frantisek Malis, Esteban Manrique, Antonio J. Manzaneda, Vinicius Marcilio-Silva, Richard Michalet, Rafael Molina-Venegas, Jose Antonio Navarro-Cano, Vojtech Novotny, Jens M. Olesen, Juan P. Ortiz-Brunel, Maria Pajares-Murgo, Nikolas Parissis, Geoffrey Parker, Antonio J. Perea, Vidal Perez-Hernandez, Maria Angeles Perez-Navarro, Nuria Piston, Elisa Pizarro-Carbonell, Ivan Prieto, Jorge Prieto-Rubio, Francisco Pugnaire, Nelson Ramirez, Ruben Retuerto, Pedro J. Rey, Daniel A. Rodriguez Ginart, Mariana Rodriguez-Sanchez, Ricardo Sanchez-Martin, Christian Schob, Cagatay Tavsanoglu, Giorgi Tedoradze, Amanda Tercero-Araque, Katja Tielboerger, Blaise Touzard, Irem Tufekcioglu, Sevda Turkis, Francisco M. Usero, Nurbahar Usta, Alfonso Valiente-Banuet, Alexia Vargas-Colin, Ioannis Vogiatzakis, Regino Zamora
Summary: Plant recruitment interactions shape plant community composition, diversity, and structure. Modeling and analyzing the community-level structure of plant recruitment interactions as a complex network can provide relevant information on ecological and evolutionary processes. This data set includes 143 plant recruitment networks across five continents, providing valuable information for testing ecological, biogeographical, and evolutionary hypotheses related to plant recruitment interactions.
Article
Ecology
Ricardo Sanchez-Martin, Miguel Verdu, Alicia Montesinos-Navarro
Summary: Facilitative interactions in ecological networks can fluctuate, and analyzing the patterns that cause those shifts can reveal the principles governing pairwise interactions. This study investigates how abiotic stress and phylogenetic and functional affinities constrain the rewiring of facilitative interactions. The results show that rewiring is more limited in highly stressful environments and more flexible in mild environments, with constraints based on the traits and relatedness of the nurse species.
Article
Plant Sciences
Ricardo Sanchez-Martin, Miguel Verdu, Alicia Montesinos-Navarro
Summary: This study examined how interspecific facilitation can sustain diversity throughout the life cycle of plants by avoiding the extinction of locally rare species and reducing performance disparities between neighboring species. The researchers found that facilitation favors rare species, especially those with low affinity to stressful environments, and reduces performance differences among plants growing in multispecific vegetation patches. These findings suggest that facilitation plays a more critical role in preserving biodiversity than previously believed.
JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Sergio Perez-Ortega, Miguel Verdu, Isaac Garrido-Benavent, Sonia Rabasa, T. G. Allan Green, Leopoldo G. Sancho, Asuncion de los Rios
Summary: Networks of interactions between lichen-forming fungi and their photosynthetic partners in lichen communities in continental Antarctica along a latitudinal transect show high specialization and modularity, with no significant changes along the latitudinal gradient. Future research should investigate whether these patterns are widespread in lichen communities in regions with milder climates and on different substrates.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Miguel Verdu, Julio M. Alcantara, Jose A. Navarro-Cano, Marta Goberna
Summary: This article discusses how both transitive and intransitive interactions determine the structure of soil microbial communities. The study finds that pairwise interactions cannot accurately depict competition in complex communities, and proposes an alternative method to analyze competition through the detection of strongly connected components in microbial networks.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jose Gomez, A. Gonzalez-Megias, M. Verdu
Summary: Studies suggest that same-sex sexual behavior in mammals is not randomly distributed, but rather more prevalent in certain clades, particularly primates. Same-sex sexual behavior may have evolved multiple times and may play an adaptive role in maintaining social relationships and mitigating conflict.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Angel Gonzalez-Zamora, Laura Almendra-Martin, Martin de Luis, Jaime Gaona, Jose Martinez-Fernandez
Summary: This study examines the relationship between soil moisture and the growth of four main pine species in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as their response to soil drought. The study also evaluates the role of climatic and geographic factors in the resilience of these species to drought events. The results show that species with lower dependence on soil moisture perform better during droughts, while those with higher dependence show greater adaptability. Climatic and geographic factors have a stronger influence on species' resilience to soil drought at higher altitudes.
Article
Plant Sciences
Katharina B. Budde, Christian Rellstab, Myriam Heuertz, Felix Gugerli, Tom Hanika, Miguel Verdu, Juli G. Pausas, Santiago C. Gonzalez-Martinez
Summary: The effects of microenvironment variability on the genomes of long-lived forest tree species have been investigated in this study. Five putatively adaptive loci, including two non-synonymous substitutions in candidate genes, were identified, indicating divergent selection between south- and north-facing slopes within continuous forest stands. This research highlights the importance of adaptive genetic divergence in plant population responses to future climate change.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Alejandro Berlinches de Gea, Miguel Verdu, Mar Villar-dePablo, Sergio Perez-Ortega
Summary: The study of mycobiont specialisation towards their photobionts in epiphytic lichen communities in a fragmented Mediterranean forest revealed a complex interaction between species' life history traits and habitat fragmentation. In particular, this interplay had a significant impact on the specialisation of mycobionts. The results show the ability of some species to modulate their specialisation according to habitat conditions, suggesting that some species may be more resilient to abiotic changes than expected.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)