The alien and invasive plant species that may be a future conservation threat to the Lesotho Afro-alpine Drakensberg area
In this study, we documented and compared similarities of the alien plant species richness between South Africa represented by three provinces: Free State (FS), Eastern Cape (EC), and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), and Lesotho—an important water source area for southern Africa. We tested the prediction that a…
Continental-scale empirical evidence for relationships between fire response strategies and fire frequency
• Theory suggests that the dominance of resprouting and seeding, two key mechanisms through which plants persist with recurrent fire, both depend on other traits and vary with fire regime. However, these patterns remain largely untested over broad scales. • We analysed the relationships between aver…
Projecting Untruncated Climate Change Effects on Species' Climate Suitability: Insights From an Alpine Country
Climate projections for continental Europe indicate drier summers, increased annual precipitation, and less snowy winters, which are expected to cause shifts in species' distributions. Yet, most regions/countries currently lack comprehensive climate‐driven biodiversity projections across taxonomic g…
Climate change alters the future of natural floristic regions of deep evolutionary origins
Biogeographic regions reflect the organization of biotas over long evolutionary timescales but face alterations from recent anthropogenic climate change. Here, we model species distributions for 189,269 vascular plant species of the world under present and future climates and use this data to genera…
Hymenochaete ametzii sp. nov. (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota), an endangered bark-dwelling species inhabiting old Quercus pyrenaica trees from the Ib…
Bark-dwelling fungi represent a group of ecologically highly specialized organisms. This study deals with an undescribed species of Hymenochaete characterized by specifically inhabiting the bark of Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica), and producing effuse-reflexed basidiomata and mainly globose to subg…
Evaluation of climate conditions and ecological traits that limit the distribution expansion of alien Lolium rigidum in Japan
AbstractInvasive alien plants cause severe global problems; therefore, determining the factors that lead to the success or failure of invasion is a critical question in the field of invasion ecology. In this study, we aimed to determine the factors underlying differences in the distribution range of…
Newly found and rediscovered hornworts (Anthocerotophyta) in Poland: Indicators of climate change impact in Central Europe
AbstractIn 2023, field research in south-western Poland led to the noteworthy discovery of two hornworts: Notothylasorbicularis, a species previously unrecorded in this country, and the rediscovery of Anthocerosneesii for the Polish bryoflora. These findings are significant as they suggest a respons…
Venturing Into the Unknown: The Importance of Variable Selection When Modelling Alien Species Under Non‐Analogue Climatic Conditions
Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to address species' responses to bioclimatic conditions in the fields of ecology, biogeography and conservation. Among studies that have addressed reasons for model prediction variability, the impact of climatic variable selection has received limit…
Keep Calm and Digitize Everything
Abstract Accessibility and interoperability of biodiversity data are pivotal for research. Thus, the mobilization of natural history specimens data should be a priority task, which could be addressed by mean of digitization. Digital specimen are for a wealth of different uses, ranging from taxon…
Unlocking nature’s drought resilience: a focus on the parsimonious root phenotype and specialised root metabolism in wild Medicago populations
Abstract Background and aims Crop wild relatives, exposed to strong natural selection, exhibit effective tolerance traits against stresses. While an aggressive root proliferation phenotype has long been considered advantageous for a range of stresses, it appears to be co…
The effects of different densities of Asparagopsis armata (Harvey, 1855) seaweed on the clam Ruditapes philippinarum (A. Adams and Reeve, 1850): Insig…
Several invasive species can occupy the same geographic area. Interaction between species depends on several factors, and the results of such interactions can be highly diverse. Asparagopsis armata is a invasive red seaweed whose exudates contain a cocktail of toxic halogenated compounds. In this st…
Maastrichtian palaeoenvironments and palaeoclimate reconstruction in southern South America (Patagonia, Argentina) based on fossil fungi and algae usi…
The use of non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP), particularly fossil fungi and algae, as palaeobiological proxies for Late Cretaceous palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstructions of warm-to-hot greenhouse conditions, can enhance our understanding of climate change impacts on modern Patagonian env…
Where did they come from, where did they go? Niche conservatism in woody and herbaceous plants and implications for plant‐based paleoclimatic reconstr…
AbstractPremiseThe ecological conditions that constrain plants to an environmental niche are assumed to be constant through time. While the fossil record has been used previously to test for niche conservatism of woody flowering plants, additional studies are needed in other plant groups especially …
Transmission pathways for the stem rust pathogen into Central and East Asia and the role of the alternate host, barberry
Abstract After many decades of effective control of stem rust caused by the Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici, (hereafter Pgt) the reported emergence of race TTKSK/Ug99 of Pgt in Uganda reignited concerns about epidemics worldwide because ∼90% of world wheat cultivars had no resistance …
Repeated shifts out of tropical climates preceded by whole genome duplication
While flowering plants have diversified in virtually every terrestrial clime, climate constrains the distribution of individual lineages. Overcoming climatic constraints may be associated with diverse evolutionary phenomena including whole genome duplication (WGD), gene‐tree conflict, and life‐histo…
Prioritization of important plant areas for conservation of frailejones (Espeletiinae, Asteraceae) in the Northern Andes
The tropical Andes region harbors areas that are highly significant for biodiversity at both global and local scales. However, despite the severe conservation threats that this region has to confront, conservation initiatives are limited, by funding and because of the need for more information to de…
Most Pinyon–Juniper Woodland Species Distributions Are Projected to Shrink Rather Than Shift Under Climate Change
Pinyon–juniper (PJ) woodlands are among the most widespread ecosystems in rangelands of western North America, supporting diverse wildlife habitat, recreation, grazing, and cultural/spiritual enrichment. Anticipating future distribution shifts under changing climate will be critical to climate adapt…
An integrated mapping approach highlights extended distribution and high environmental status of Irish seagrass meadows
To address the remaining knowledge gap regarding the distribution of seagrasses in Ireland, this study aimed a) to create an updated seagrass (Zostera spp.) distribution map, and b) to evaluate the environmental quality to which seagrass meadows are exposed. To achieve the first objective, we (i) co…
Prioritizing weeds for biological control development in the western USA: Results from the adaptation of the biological control target selection syste…
Nonnative invasive plants (weeds) negatively impact native ecosystems, and their effects are likely to increase with continuing global trade. Biological weed control has been employed as a cost-effective and sustainable management option for weeds in the USA since 1902. Biological control programs r…
Applications of Environmnental DNA Metabarcoding in Stream Biomonitoring
Advancements in genetic technology and processing allows for the presence of loose genetic material in the environment to become a resource, capable of assisting habitat and wildlife management efforts by providing information about organisms in a region without having to disturb or disrupt the orga…
Drivers of phenotypic variation and plasticity to drought in populations of a Mediterranean shrub along an environmental gradient
Assessing the factors driving intraspecific phenotypic variation is crucial to understand the evolutionary trajectories of plant populations and predict their vulnerability to climate change. Environmental gradients often lead to phenotypic divergence in functional traits and their plasticity across…
New insights into the phylogeny and infrageneric taxonomy of Saussurea based on hybrid capture phylogenomics (Hyb-Seq)
Saussurea is one of the largest and most rapidly evolving genera within the Asteraceae, comprising approximately 520 species from the Northern Hemisphere. A comprehensive infrageneric classification, supported by robust phylogenetic trees and corroborated by morphological and other data, has not yet…
Phylogenomics and phylogeographic model testing using convolutional neural networks reveal a history of recent admixture in the Canarian Kleinia nerii…
Multiple‐island endemics (MIE) are considered ideal natural subjects to study patterns of island colonization that involve recent population‐level genetic processes. Kleinia neriifolia is a Canarian MIE widespread across the archipelago, which exhibits a close phylogenetic relationship with species …
The Invisible Species: Big Data Unveil Coverage Gaps in the Atlantic Forest Hotspot
Aim Rapid technological advancements and the biodiversity crisis have motivated efforts to document species before their extinction. However, taxonomic coverage gaps, where certain species are underrepresented in biodiversity databases, can distort our understanding of ecosystems. Here, we quantifie…
Calycosiphonia or Kupeantha (Coffeeae, Rubiaceae)? A morphological and molecular study of a new species from the Albertine Rift
Field work in the Kibira National Park (Burundi), located in the Kivu-Ruwenzori system of the Afromontane Region, revealed the existence of a new species clearly belonging to the Argocoffeopsis-Calycosiphonia clade (Coffeeae, Rubiaceae). The species shows striking heterophylly: the plagiotropous bra…