Impacts of road networks on the geography of floristic collections in China
May 2025
Biological collections are critical for the understanding of species distributions and for formulating biodiversity conservation strategies. However, biological collections are susceptible to various...
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Seed size distributions of fleshy-fruited species are more right-skewed compared to that of dry-fruited species
May 2025
•We compiled the first dataset on skewness of seed size distribution.•The dataset encompasses 103 species, belonging to 72 genus and 33 families.•Skewness varied among species, ranging from −1.4 to...
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Increased dependence on mycorrhizal fungi for nutrient acquisition under carbon limitation by tree girdling
May 2025
Nutrient acquisition through symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi is carbon (C) costly but fundamental for plant growth, community, and ecosystem functioning. Here, we examined the functions of roots and...
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Plant use of water across soil depths regulates species dominance under nitrogen addition
May 2025
The primary mechanism driving plant species loss after nitrogen (N) addition has been often hypothesized to be asymmetric competition for light, resulting from increased aboveground biomass. However,...
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Pollination niche shifts in sympatric globular cacti Eriosyce: Consequences on reproductive isolation and species formation
May 2025
Pollination niches, which encompass the factors influencing pollen exchange among angiosperms, are fundamental to understanding reproductive success and the intricate eco-evolutionary dynamics of plants....
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Reassessing the phylogenetic relationships of Pseudosorghum and Saccharinae (Poaceae) using plastome and nuclear ribosomal sequences
May 2025
The sugarcane subtribe Saccharinae (Andropogoneae, Poaceae) was established in 1846, but its delimitation has long been debated. Moreover, the relationships among the genera of Saccharinae remain unclear,...
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Jasmonic acid and salicylic acid transcriptionally regulate CuRe1 in cultivated tomato to activate resistance to parasitization by dodder Cuscuta australis
May 2025
The parasitic dodder (Cuscuta, Convolvulaceae) species have wide ranges of hosts. However, some plants, including the cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), have different degrees of resistance to...
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Parallel loss of anthocyanins triggers the incipient sympatric speciation in an alpine ginger
May 2025
Change of flower color can readily lead to a shift in pollinators, potentially causing pollinator mediated reproductive isolation or even speciation. Here, we examined the ecological and evolutionary...
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Genomic introgression underlies environmental adaptation in three species of Chinese wingnuts, Pterocarya
May 2025
Intraspecific genetic variance and gene flow can support the adaptive evolution of species challenged by climate shifts or novel environmental conditions. Less well understood is how genome organization...
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Global advances in phylogeny, taxonomy and biogeography of Lauraceae
May 2025
Over the past two decades, our understanding of Lauraceae, a large family of woody plants, has undergone significant advances in phylogeny, taxonomy, and biogeography. Molecular systematic studies have...
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Consistent spatial–temporal variations of stigmatic pollen load among co-flowering species across six sub-alpine meadows
May 2025
Co-flowering species may have evolved strategies to avoid or tolerate the adverse effects of heterospecific pollen deposition. However, the precondition for this evolutionary response is spatial–temporal...
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Causes of heterozygosity excess: The case of Mexican populations of Populus tremuloides
May 2025
The presence of heterozygous individuals in a population is crucial for maintaining genetic diversity, which can positively affect fitness and adaptability to environmental changes. While inbreeding...
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Morphological adaptation strategy of invasive plant Ambrosia trifida seed distributed along rivers is closely related to soil nutrients
May 2025
Rivers are crucial in the spread of invasive plants. Invasive plants alter their seed traits to adapt to environmental changes and promote invasion. Studying the trait changes in invasive plant seeds...
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Resistance of plant diversity to road disturbance: Evidence from the Tibetan Plateau
May 2025
The expansion of road networks in recent decades has drawn considerable attention due to its impact on biodiversity in high-altitude ecosystems. Here, we conducted a comprehensive field survey to investigate...
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Drought tolerance traits explain differential stem growth rates of evergreen and deciduous trees in a tropical karst forest
May 2025
The karst forest in southwestern China is characterized by thin soil layers, numerous fissures and holes, resulting in low soil water availability and poor water retention, making it challenging for...
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Assessing the contributions of site and species to plant beta diversity in alpine grassland ecosystems
Available online 16 May 2025
Understanding plant diversity within geographical ranges and identifying key species that drive community variation can provide crucial insights for the management of grasslands. However, the contribution...
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New insights into the molecular phylogeny and biogeographical history of Allium subgenus Melanocrommyum (Amaryllidaceae) based on plastome and nuclear sequences
Available online 16 May 2025
Subgenus Melanocrommyum is the second largest subgenus of Allium, with a wide distribution ranging from the Canary Islands to northwestern India. This study investigates the phylogeny, biogeographic...
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Environmental drivers and future distribution of invasive alien plant species in the Gaoligong Mountains, southwestern China
Available online 15 May 2025
Invasive alien plant species (IAPS) pose severe threats to global biodiversity conservation. Effective management of IAPS requires mapping their distribution and identifying the environmental factors...
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Climatic niche divergence and long-distance dispersal contributed to the pantropical intercontinental disjunctions of a liana lineage (Uncaria, Rubiaceae)
Available online 9 May 2025
The formation of pantropical intercontinental disjunction (PID) in plants has generally been attributed to vicariance, boreotropical migration, and long-distance dispersal. However, this pattern has...
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A complex interplay of genetic introgression and local adaptation during the evolutionary history of three closely related spruce species
Available online 6 May 2025
As climate change triggers unprecedented ecological shifts, it becomes imperative to understand the genetic underpinnings of species’ adaptability. Adaptive introgression significantly contributes to...
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Tree-based attributes of large trees more effectively regulate aboveground carbon stock than trait-based ones in temperate deciduous forests
Available online 5 May 2025
In forests, a few large trees (L-trees) versus small–medium trees (S-trees) are often considered the major reservoir of aboveground carbon stock (AGCS). Here, we hypothesize that tree species’ functional...
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Evaluating the utility of deep genome skimming for phylogenomic analyses: A case study in the species-rich genus Rhododendron
Available online 2 May 2025
Deep genome skimming (DGS) has emerged as a promising approach to recover orthologous nuclear genes for large-scale phylogenomic analyses. However, its reliability with low DNA quality and quantity...
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Comparative analysis of multiple hybrid zones of Rhododendron × duclouxii uncovered different potential evolutionary outcomes
Available online 23 April 2025
The study of natural hybridization facilitates our understanding of potential adaptive mechanisms in evolution and the process involved in speciation. In this study, we used multiple data types, including...
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Climate drives patterns of response of recalcitrant embryonic axes of Quercus species to cryopreservation
Available online 16 April 2025
Cryopreservation of partially dried embryonic axes represents the primary approach for long-term preservation of recalcitrant seeds. However, while many seed traits and responses relate to either pre-...
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Multifaceted plant diversity patterns across the Himalaya: Status and outlook
Available online 12 April 2025
Mountains serve as exceptional natural laboratories for studying biodiversity due to their heterogeneous landforms and climatic zones. The Himalaya, a global biodiversity hotspot, hosts rich endemic...
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