Fire-embracers possess higher shoot flammability, lower litter flammability and a more acquisitive strategy than fire-tolerators in Pinus yunnanensis
September 2026
Plants in fire-prone environments have evolved traits to survive recurrent fires. Some traits enable plants to survive under crown fires (fire-embracer strategy), while others support persistence under...
Divergence in plant water relations mediates the clear niche differentiation of two congeneric desert shrub species
September 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...
Community stability of woody plants among six natural forests under contrasting environmental conditions
Available online 30 September 2026
Community stability of woody plants reveals how forest ecosystems respond to global change over time. However, its macroecological patterns and underlying mechanisms across contrasting environments...
Rare species shape contrasting elevational diversity patterns between adults and saplings in subtropical forests
Available online 29 September 2026
Understanding variation in species diversity and composition between adults and saplings along elevation is crucial for predicting forest regeneration under climate change. However, few studies have...
Diversification driven by paleoenvironment and non-adaptive radiation of plants in karsts: Insights from Hemiboea (Gesneriaceae)
Available online 26 September 2026
The dynamic of organism adapting to unique environments is one of the greatest challenges in ecology and evolution. However, little attention has been paid to the role of phenotypic traits on high species...
Regional heterogeneity and functional transitions of Holocene vegetation diversity in China
Available online 24 September 2026
Understanding Holocene regional vegetation diversity and plant functional types is fundamental to predicting future ecological trajectories, yet such studies remain scarce. Here, we synthesized 255...
An evidence-chain framework for classification under reticulate evolution: Formalizing subtribal and generic delimitation in Campanuleae (Campanulaceae)
Available online 19 September 2026
Phylogenomic studies have greatly improved our understanding of relationships in reticulate plant groups, but they have also made classificatory decisions more difficult, especially where cytonuclear...
Plant evolutionary history and environmental filtering shape Russulaceae associations in the fully mycoheterotrophic plant Monotropastrum humile
Available online 17 September 2026
Fungal associations can promote ecological specialization and lineage divergence in mycoheterotrophic plants, yet the relative contributions of plant evolutionary history and environmental variation...
Population genomics of the rice landrace Acuce reveals exceptional dynamics of immune receptors
Available online 12 September 2026
In cultivated plants such as Oryza sativa, landraces harbour high levels of diversity, in sharp contrast with genetically uniform modern varieties. The Yuanyang terraces (China) are renowned for traditional...
Genome sequencing of rice landraces from the Yuanyang terraces uncovers ancient and diverse lineages of indica rice
Available online 12 September 2026
High-yielding elite rice cultivars exhibit limited genetic variability, raising concerns about our capacity to sustain productivity amid changing biotic and abiotic threats. Meeting the challenges that...
Habitat loss of the Tsuga-dominated coniferous forest in southwestern China under global warming: Evidence from a Holocene peat record in the Wuliang Mountains
Available online 11 September 2026
High-altitude vegetation faces severe risk of habitat loss under global warming. Long-term peat sediment records are essential to understand these dynamics. Here, we present a multi-proxy reconstruction...
Chromosome-level genome assembly of Clerodendrum trichotomum sheds light on its complex whole genome duplication history
Available online 5 September 2026
•The first chromosome-level assembly for the genus Clerodendrum.•Recent autotetraploidization shaped the Clerodendrum trichotomum genome.•Balanced subgenome evolution supports an autotetraploid ori...
A chromosome-scale genome assembly of the aquatic plant Scheuchzeria palustris in the Boreal-Arctic region: Insights into genome evolution and cold adaptation
Available online 5 September 2026
•Chromosome-level genome of Scheuchzeria palustris assembled with high completeness and accuracy.•Detected ancient whole-genome triplication in core Alismatales with exceptionally high synteny retention...
From light to pharmacy: HY5 coordinately regulates the accumulation of eupatilin, a characteristic O-methylated flavonoid, in Artemisia argyi
Available online 31 August 2026
Artemisia argyi is a medicinal plant enriched with the rare bioactive O-methylated flavonoid eupatilin (5,7-dihydroxy-3′, 4′, 6-trimethoxyflavone) and its pathway intermediates at levels far exceeding...
Petiole plasticity of water hyacinth across contrasting shoreline habitats is associated with candidate light-responsive transcriptional and hormonal pathways
Available online 31 August 2026
Phenotypic plasticity can facilitate plant invasion by allowing species to maintain performance across heterogeneous habitats, yet the ecological drivers and molecular correlates of invasion-relevant...
Geographic isolation and ecological adaptation synergistically drive lineage divergence within Juniperus coxii across the Eastern Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains
Available online 29 August 2026
Elucidating how geographic isolation and ecological adaptation interact to drive lineage divergence remains a central challenge in evolutionary biology. Mountain systems are particularly informative...
Small and spherical seeds are linked to high base temperatures and great drought tolerance during germination
Available online 29 August 2026
Seed germination responses to temperature and moisture fundamentally govern germination timing and plant regeneration, yet the intrinsic traits driving these environmental requirements remain poorly...
Phylogenomics of Strobilanthes (Acanthaceae): Updates infrageneric relationships and highlights widespread gene flow and climatic change in diversification
Available online 28 August 2026
Phylogenomics provides a powerful framework for exploring the impact of biological processes and environmental oscillations on the evolutionary dynamics of biomes. The genus Strobilanthes, which has...
Mitogenome structural diversification accompanied by rapid repeat-family turnover: A comparative organellar perspective from Salvia
Available online 25 August 2026
Plant mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) are structurally diverse, yet their evolutionary dynamics remain insufficiently understood in recently diversified angiosperm lineages. Salvia, the largest...
Bamboo: A key lineage to our understanding of phylogenetics and evolution of the grass family
Available online 21 August 2026
Bamboo is a unique group of plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Forty years ago, Genera Graminum recognized an estimated 980 bamboo species across 67 genera, grouped into one woody and two herbaceous...
Contrasting patterns of phylogenetic structure in liverworts and mosses along elevational gradients in subtropical eastern China
Available online 19 August 2026
Under the framework of phylogenetic niche conservatism, patterns of phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic dispersion can provide insights into the environmental conditions under which major lineages...
Linking leaf traits to sex-specific assembly of phyllosphere and endosphere bacteria in heterophyllous Populus euphratica
Available online 19 August 2026
Leaf heteromorphy represents an important adaptive trait in drought-tolerant trees such as Populus euphratica, yet how sex-specific functional traits associated with leaf heteromorphy shape microbial...
Observer-expertise bias in multiscale forest vegetation surveys: effects on species detection, richness and composition across spatial grains and forest contexts
Available online 14 August 2026
Observer-related uncertainty can affect vegetation surveys, but its magnitude and ecological consequences remain poorly quantified in forest understories. We assessed observer-expertise-related variation...
A global synthesis of diversity, taxonomy, and phylogeny in Allium (Amaryllidaceae)
Available online 7 August 2026
The genus Allium (Amaryllidaceae) is one of the most taxonomically complex and mega-diverse genera in the Northern Hemisphere. Despite its ecological and economic importance, its global diversity, checklist,...