Divergence in plant water relations mediates the clear niche differentiation of two congeneric desert shrub species
Available online 12 March 2026
Desert plants, despite overall well adapted to drought, exhibit considerable inter-specific differentiation of micro-habitats and variation in adaptive characteristics in the generally much water-limited...
Scaling and stoichiometry of seed nitrogen and phosphorus across Chinese grasslands
Available online 12 March 2026
Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) play crucial roles in early seedling establishment, influencing germination, survival, and overall performance. However, large-scale multispecies seed element survey...
The Tianshan Mountains as a biogeographic barrier driving North-South divergence and local adaptation in Typha laxmannii
Available online 11 March 2026
The Tianshan Mountains constitute a major biogeographic barrier in Arid Central Asia, yet their impact on plant genomic divergence and adaptation remains poorly understood. Using Typha laxmannii, a...
Is beta diversity higher in seed plants with larger body sizes?
Available online 11 March 2026
Beta diversity is a scalar linking local (alpha) with regional (gamma) species diversity. Understanding patterns of beta diversity is central to ecology and biogeography. It is suggested that beta diversity...
Invasive plant richness and abundance synergistically amplify co-invasion success: Experimental evidence for invasional meltdown
Available online 11 March 2026
Co-invasion by multiple invasive species is becoming increasingly prevalent, yet the role of interactions among invasive species in shaping invasion success remains poorly understood. While invader...
Herbivore defense syndromes differ between native and invasive plant species
Available online 11 March 2026
In their non-native ranges, invasive plant species may escape specialist herbivores and thus experience exclusive pressure from generalists. This is predicted to shape the defense strategies of successful...
Class I TCP transcription factor OsTCP4 suppresses plant height via negatively regulating the green revolution gene SD1 (OsGA20ox2) in rice (Oryza sativa)
Available online 9 March 2026
Plant height is critical for crops in agricultural research and practice. Optimizing plant height helps to increase yield and lodging resistance. The green revolution gene semi-dwarf 1 (SD1) encoding...
Chromosome-level genome and population resequencing reveal genetic diversity, demographic history, and climate risk in the East Asian relict tree Perkinsiodendron macgregorii
Available online 9 March 2026
Relict trees are key to understanding macroevolution, biogeography, and extinction risk under environmental change, yet genome-wide data on diversity and demography remain scarce. Perkinsiodendron macgregorii,...
High invader density alone drives invasive plant dominance, but its impacts on native community biomass and diversity depend on nutrients and microplastics
Available online 3 March 2026
Freshwater ecosystems are increasingly exposed to multiple global change drivers such as nutrient enrichment and emerging pollutants, which significantly influence biological invasions. Although high...
Heterogeneity in leaf tannin inducibility across woody and non-woody plants: A meta-analysis
Available online 24 February 2026
Tannins are widespread secondary metabolites that can be induced by herbivory or mechanical damage and contribute to defense against herbivores. Reported tannin inducibility varies across taxa and study...
Phylogenomic conflict in Lycium (Solanaceae): Revealing the roles of hybridization, incomplete lineage sorting, and biogeographic history using nuclear and mitochondrial genomes
Available online 16 February 2026
The genus Lycium is of considerable medicinal and economic importance and has a discontinuous intercontinental distribution. However, its evolutionary history remains obscured by morphological convergence,...
Vegetation sensitivity to drought depends on bedrock type in a subtropical karst landscape in Southwest China
Available online 10 February 2026
Droughts pose a significant global threat to ecosystem stability and plant diversity. The sensitivity of vegetation to drought is highly variable, influenced by both vegetation types and landscape properties....
Timing, origins, and drivers of floristic diversity within a global biodiversity hotspot in eastern Asia
Available online 10 February 2026
The Gaoligong Mountains (GLGM), forming the westernmost part of the Hengduan Mountains, is renowned for the high levels of plant species richness and endemism. However, the timing, biogeographic origins...
Crown architecture traits mediate shade tolerance-dependent trade-offs and neighborhood interactions in a subtropical forest
Available online 9 February 2026
Crown architectural traits are critical adaptations that balance light capture with mechanical stability. Given that light availability plays a fundamental role in shaping forest community structure,...
Insights into the phylogenetic, structural and functional evolution of LHC superfamily in photosynthetic organisms
Available online 4 February 2026
Photosynthesis is the fundamental process for the survival of photosynthetic organisms. The light-harvesting complexes (LHCs) play a crucial role in light energy capture and transfer. Despite their...
Conserving threatened plant species with widespread distribution: A case study of lethal utilization of anticancer Nothapodytes trees in Asia
January 2026
The global burden of cancer, with over 19 million new cases annually, underscores the urgent need for effective therapies. Among the most promising anticancer compounds is camptothecin (CPT), a monoterpene...
Hangzhou strategic action plan charts a decade for biosphere reserves
January 2026
•The Hangzhou action plan aligns the MAB with global agendas.•The Hangzhou action plan emphasizes people-centered, equity-based implementation.•The plan moves forward by tabling 34 action targets....
Complex plastome structural variation caused by intermolecular and intramolecular recombination accounts for leaf variegation in Heptapleurum ellipticum
January 2026
Plastome variation, including single spontaneous nucleotide substitutions and single insertions/deletions, is the major source of leaf variegation in plants. Additionally, one recent study has showed...
Boechera or not? Genomic insights and taxonomic reassessment of the misclassified Asian species B. calcarea (Brassicaceae)
January 2026
The genus Boechera (Brassicaceae) serves as a model system for studying apomictic reproduction and ecological adaptations, with most species occurring in North America. The rare occurrence of Boechera...
Climatic adaptation and phylogenetic history shape the intra-specific variation of CSR strategies in a widespread grass
January 2026
The competitor, stress tolerator, and ruderal strategy (CSR) framework has been widely applied to explain ecological processes across species. However, its utility in revealing intra-specific trade-offs...
The advantage of low leafing intensity under water limitation: An illustrative study of Populus euphratica in hyper-arid climates
January 2026
The trade-off between leaf size and leafing intensity (i.e., the number of leaves per unit stem size) is a key axis of trait covariation across the diversity of plant foliage deployment. However, the...
Co-invasion of three invasive alien plants increases plant taxonomic diversity and community invasibility
January 2026
Alien species from the Asteraceae family frequently invade native plant communities. This study aims to determine how the number of Asteraceae species (i.e., Erigeron canadensis, E. annuus, and Solidago...
Mycorrhizal communities in Orchidaceae are likely shaped by plant trophic mode and biogeography but not phylogeny
January 2026
Mycorrhizal symbioses are prevalent in terrestrial ecosystems and play essential roles in plant nutrition and health. However, the relative importance of plant evolutionary history, physiology, and...
Unraveling the invasion patterns of Galinsoga quadriradiata in mountain ranges: Insights from human activities, phenotypic and genetic variations
January 2026
Prevention of biological invasion requires understanding how alien species invade native communities. Although studies have identified mechanisms that underlie plant invasion in some habitats, limited...
Spatially biased collections and the failure to cover all wild genetic clusters in plant populations under ex situ conservation
January 2026
Successful ex situ conservation of plant populations requires a high degree of genetic representativeness. However, spatially biased sampling in ex situ conservation efforts may fail to capture all...