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plants

Photo showing the glow of a forest fire and bush fire in the Blue Mountains of Australia.
biodiversity

Wildfires of Varying Intensity Can Be Good for Biodiversity

By Carrie Arnold
November 29, 2021
Read Later

The spate of furious wildfires around the world during the past decade has revealed to ecologists how much biodiversity and “pyrodiversity” go hand in hand.

Photo of Rafflesia arnoldii growing on vines in Indonesian forest.
genomics

DNA of Giant ‘Corpse Flower’ Parasite Surprises Biologists

By Christie Wilcox
April 21, 2021
Read Later

The bizarre genome of the world’s most mysterious flowering plants shows how far parasites will go in stealing, deleting and duplicating DNA.

Looping video of chloroplasts moving within the walled cells of the pond plant Elodea.
Abstractions blog

Plant Cells of Different Species Can Swap Organelles

By Viviane Callier
January 20, 2021
Read Later

In grafted plants, shrunken chloroplasts can jump between species by slipping through unexpected gateways in cell walls.

Abstractions blog

The Mystery of Mistletoe’s Missing Genes

By Christie Wilcox
December 21, 2020
Read Later

Mistletoes have all but shut down the powerhouses of their cells. Scientists are still trying to understand the plants’ unorthodox survival strategy.

Photo of green leafy plants in close-up.
Abstractions blog

Why Are Plants Green? To Reduce the Noise in Photosynthesis.

By Rodrigo Pérez Ortega
July 30, 2020
Read Later

Plants ignore the most energy-rich part of sunlight because stability matters more than efficiency, according to a new model of photosynthesis.

A split level photo shows algae growing on rocks both above and below the surface of the water at a margin of a Welsh glacial lake.
Abstractions blog

Billion-Year-Old Algae and Newer Genes Hint at Land Plants’ Origin

By Dana Najjar
March 26, 2020
Read Later

A recently unearthed fossil and new genomic discoveries are filling important gaps in scientists’ understanding of how primitive green algae eventually evolved into land vegetation.

Root glowing green against black background. Small spheres and threadlike filaments surround it.
ecology

Soil’s Microbial Market Shows the Ruthless Side of Forests

By Gabriel Popkin
August 27, 2019
Read Later

In the “underground economy” for soil nutrients, fungi strike hard bargains and punish plants that won’t meet their price.

VIDEO OPENER: TIME-LAPSE OF FLOWER OPENING.
botany

Unexpected ‘Germline’ Plant Cells May Shield New Generations

By Charlie Wood
August 5, 2019
Read Later

To avoid passing on new mutations to offspring, plants may minimize the number of divisions by the stem cells that make flowers and seeds.

Q&A

She Finds Clues to Future Sustainability in Old Food Webs

By Elizabeth Preston
March 21, 2019
Read Later

By reconstructing prehistoric food webs and analyzing the diverse interactions of humans with other species, the ecologist Jennifer Dunne is developing a new understanding of sustainability through network science.


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