Pampas grass, a feathery ornamental plant native to South America, has been spreading far beyond gardens, invading ecosystems across the globe. In Portugal, this tenacious grass has steadily expanded its range, displacing native plants and disrupting habitats. Keeping tabs on the relentless march of invasive plants like pampas grass is critical for protecting biodiversity, but it’s easier said than done. Traditional monitoring methods, which rely on boots-on-the-ground surveys and experts painstakingly identifying plants, are costly and time-consuming. But what if we could crowdsource this Her ..read more

You can listen to this page as an audio file (English only) It is possible to engineer increased mesophyll conductance in plants according to research from the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project. Mesophyll conductance refers to the ease with which CO2 can move through a leaf’s cells before being turned into sugar (plant food). CO2 faces barriers as it moves through the leaf, including its own cell walls. Researchers recently found that by increasing porosity and reducing cell wall thickness, they could increase CO2 diffusion and uptake in a model crop. “This is one of ..read more

Scientists have long sought new ways to continuously monitor how changing water availability affects plants. Traditional methods of measuring water potential, a key indicator of plant water stress, require invasive sampling that damages tissue. Now researchers have developed entirely open-source instruments capable of tracking plant water status with unprecedented high frequency and non-destructive precision. The development, carried out in the USDA, was published in AoB PLANTS. Dendrometers are sensors that measure radial stem changes driven by plant water dynamics. Most existing designs have ..read more

Sexual reproduction in plants and animals presents an evolutionary enigma. It is genetically risky, time-consuming, and error-prone – possibly leading to reduced fitness. And yet, at least 99% of all plants and animals reproduce sexually. This commonality raises the question of whether universal evolutionary pressures exist to select for and maintain sexual reproduction.  Elvira Hörandl argues in a review paper in Annals of Botany that the need for DNA repair may be the basis for the near universally of sex in the plant and animal kingdoms. And she uses land plants as a tool to make her c ..read more

In forests as far north as Mexico and as far south as Argentina Orchid Bees fly. These insects play an important role in pollination in the tropics. Male orchid bees are known for their elaborate perfume-collecting behaviours, while females are considered generalists when it comes to gathering pollen to feed their offspring. However, a new study by Samuel Boff and colleagues, published in the Journal of Insect Conservation suggests that the pollen diets of these bees may not be as diverse as once thought, with deforestation leading to a narrowing of the floral resources available to them. The ..read more

You can listen to this page as an audio file (English only) In the realm of scientific research and exploration, the presentation and interpretation of complex data has traditionally relied heavily on visual representations. However, with the advent of innovative techniques, the use of sound and music to depict scientific data and biological processes has emerged as a powerful tool. By leveraging the pivotal roles that sight and hearing play in human communication and our understanding of the world around us, the utilization of sound and music not only offers a fresh perspective to scientists ..read more

When you think of conservation, a city might seem like an unlikely helper. Across the world, urbanisation is leading to habitat loss, pushing species to extinction. Yet a new study by Leonardo Ancillotto and colleagues in the journal Urban Ecosystems shows how urban parks and gardens are providing a lifeline for threatened species like the Italian Festoon butterfly, Zerynthia cassandra. The study of the Italian cities of Rome and Bari found that the butterfly occupied between a quarter and a third of the potential usable habitat available. Ancillotto and colleagues argue that a little more tho ..read more

All leaves are green. Or are they? Lundquist et al recently surveyed a diversity of plant species and found at least 130 have iridescent blue leaves, making them more common than you might think. These ‘living jewels’, widely distributed in the dark understories of tropical rainforests, have photonic crystals in their leaves that produce intense, vivid metallic blue hues.  Most of the visual world is coloured by pigments – reds, yellows, blues and greens — that are produced by molecules reflecting back colour. For example, chlorophyll is the pigment that makes leaves appear green. But, no ..read more

You can listen to this page as an audio file (English only). Deep learning models have revolutionized plant modeling by automating the extraction of plant features and characteristics from images. This high-throughput data enables researchers to analyze complex plant traits, such as growth patterns and disease susceptibility, more efficiently. Deep learning models must be trained using diverse images to develop robust and generalized representations. However, obtaining this type of data is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. Apart from conducting experiments, it involves the metic ..read more

You can listen to this page as an audio file (English only) Model-assisted decision-making can minimize farmers’ vulnerability to climate change by predicting crop yield and the variables that influence it. With this information farmers can anticipate changes in crop yields, adjust their farming practices, explore crop diversification options, and plan for adaptation strategies to reduce vulnerability to climate-related risks. A new study published in in silico Plants compares the yield predictive capacity of multiple modeling approaches. Achraf Mamassi, a former PhD student at University of L ..read more