Category: plant physiological ecology

plant physiological ecology

Getting better with age: How old Siberian alder grows better in the warmer Alaskan Arctic

Jackson W. Drew, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Agata Buchwal, Calvin Heslop This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. The Arctic is rapidly warming, and in response shrubs are getting taller, greener, and more competitive relative to shorter plants across much of the Arctic. This response to warming may provide an important counterbalance to climate change by … Continue reading Getting better with age: How old Siberian alder grows better in the warmer Alaskan Arctic

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plant physiological ecology

Growth and water-use traits of grasses in Australia are coordinated

Robert J. Griffin-Nolan, Jeff Chieppa, Alan K. Knapp, Uffe N. Nielsen, and David T. Tissue This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Grasses are an ecologically, economically, and culturally important group of plants. They provide us with food and building materials, store carbon belowground, and are the dominant plant growth form of grassland ecosystems. As … Continue reading Growth and water-use traits of grasses in Australia are coordinated

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plant physiological ecology

Biochemical plant traits respond differentially to climate than structural traits

Dinesh Thakur, Věroslava Hadincová, Renáta Schnablová, Helena Synková, Daniel Haisel, Nada Wilhelmová, Tomáš Dostálek, Zuzana Münzbergová This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Understanding the effects of climate change on plants has been a major goal for many scientists in recent decades. To do so, researchers are identifying and using traits that may capture the … Continue reading Biochemical plant traits respond differentially to climate than structural traits

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plant physiological ecology

Mediterranean species near their geographical dry edge operate close to their hydraulic limits

Asaf Alon, Shabtai Cohen, Regis Burlett, Uri Hochberg, Victor Lukyanov, Ido Rog, Tamir Klein, Herve Cochard, Sylvain Delzon, Rakefet David-Schwartz This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. We are all familiar with concepts of different native flora in different climates. Many of these differences are driven by temperatures and aridity. When aridity increases species in … Continue reading Mediterranean species near their geographical dry edge operate close to their hydraulic limits

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plant physiological ecology

Intraspecific variation in trait-size relationships

François Vasseur, Cyrille Violle, Brian J. Enquist, Denis Vile This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. A main consequence of a change in organism size is the modification of the proportional ratio between surface and volume. This modification can be modelled with trait-size relationships, called allometric relationships, which have been shown to exhibit quasi-universal coefficients … Continue reading Intraspecific variation in trait-size relationships

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plant physiological ecology

Plant responses to environmental conditions control the moisture content of living fine fuels

Anne Griebel, Matthias M. Boer, Chris Blackman, Brendan Choat, David S. Ellsworth, Paul Madden, Belinda Medlyn, V´ıctor Resco de Dios, Agnieszka Wujeska-Klause, Marta Yebra, Nicolas Younes Cardenas, Rachael H. Nolan This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. The moisture content of living tissues is an important predictor of the occurrence of wildfires as it affects … Continue reading Plant responses to environmental conditions control the moisture content of living fine fuels

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plant physiological ecology, Reviews

A fresh look at seed dormancy reveals three pathways enable seeds to germinate

Byron B. Lamont and Juli G. Pausas This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology review article which can be found here. Seeds are fine-tuned to accept only certain environmental stimuli to break dormancy and cause them to germinate at once or allow them to germinate later. Some seeds germinate as soon as the soil is moist, warm, and aerated. Their dormancy had … Continue reading A fresh look at seed dormancy reveals three pathways enable seeds to germinate

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plant physiological ecology

Roots emerging from different shoot parts have different functions: Evidence from a running bamboo, Phyllostachys glauca

Guangru Wang, Fen Yu, Hongyan Wu, Shuzhen Hu, Shujin Wu, Nancai Pei, Jianmin Shi, Hans Lambers This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Anchorage and resource acquisition are two major functions of plant roots. Generally, plants have a single root system belowground. In response to various environments, plants adjust the traits of different roots and … Continue reading Roots emerging from different shoot parts have different functions: Evidence from a running bamboo, Phyllostachys glauca

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plant physiological ecology

Tree plumbing system characteristics were not linked to their growth during drought

Chris M. Smith-Martin, Robert Muscarella, Roi Ankori-Karlinsky, Sylvain Delzon, Samuel L. Farrar, Melissa Salva-Sauri, Jill Thompson, Jess K. Zimmerman, María Uriarte This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Droughts are causing trees to grow less and die more in many forests worldwide. Some tree species are more affected by drought than others, but we do … Continue reading Tree plumbing system characteristics were not linked to their growth during drought

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plant physiological ecology

The silicon and nitrogen concentrations in wildflowers and grasses vary under different water conditions

Marius Klotz, Jörg Schaller, Heike Feldhaar, Jürgen Dengler, Gerhard Gebauer, Gregor Aas, Anita Weissflog, Bettina M. J. Engelbrecht This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Wildflower and grass species have to cope with unfavourable conditions, such as drought and flooding. This causes stress to which plants respond by adjusting their growth and nutrient content. Understanding … Continue reading The silicon and nitrogen concentrations in wildflowers and grasses vary under different water conditions

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