Plant Assemblages Research Articles

Plant virus community structuring is shaped by habitat heterogeneity and traits for host plant resource utilisation.

Host plants provide resources critical to viruses and the spatial structuring of plant communities affects the niches available for colonisation and disease emergence. However, large gaps remain in the understanding of mechanisms that govern plant-virus disease ecology across heterogeneous plant assemblages. We combine high-throughput sequencing, network, and metacommunity approaches to test whether habitat heterogeneity in plant community composition corresponded with virus resource utilisation traits of transmission mode and host range. A majority of viruses exhibited habitat specificity, with communities connected by key generalist viruses and potential host reservoirs. There was an association between habitat heterogeneity and virus community structuring, and between virus community structuring and resource utilisation traits of host range and transmission. The relationship between virus species distributions and virus trait responses to habitat heterogeneity was scale-dependent, being stronger at finer (site) than larger (habitat) spatial scales. Results indicate that habitat heterogeneity has a part in plant virus community assembly, and virus community structuring corresponds to virus trait responses that vary with the scale of observation. Distinctions in virus communities caused by plant resource compartmentalisation can be used to track trait responses of viruses to hosts important in forecasting disease emergence.

Spatial analyses of archaeobotanical record reveal site uses and activities at Early to Middle Holocene Takarkori (Libya, Central Sahara).

This study investigates botanical remains from the Takarkori site in the Tadrart Acacus region (SW Libya) to reconstruct socio-economic and cultural characteristics of human groups during the Holocene. By analyzing micro- and macrofossils of plant origin, we aim to understand the availability and management of environmental resources and how plant taxa were used by humans. The exceptional preservation of archaeobotanical material across all occupation levels, facilitated by the region's geomorphological and environmental conditions, provides a unique opportunity to study pre-Pastoral and Pastoral Neolithic activities within a comprehensive diachronic framework. Our research extends previous investigations by examining the spatial distribution of archaeobotanical remains in association with site furniture and material correlates, offering insights into the functional use of space within the site. Also, the features of plant assemblages and their distribution patterns indicate the planning in the use of plant resources and the diverse uses beyond subsistence, including ritual and cultural practices. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of Holocene environmental and cultural dynamics, highlighting the importance of archaeobotanical data in archaeological research.

Food and Environment During the Late Roman Age at the Site of Alba Fucens (Abruzzi, Italy)

Archaeobotanical analyses in Italy are uneven in terms of geographical and chronological distribution. Amongst the different regions, Abruzzi is poorly represented, with only one study covering the Roman Age. In this framework, the analyses carried out on carpological remains collected from the Late Roman (late 5th–early 6th century AD) filling of a well in the Sanctuary of Hercules in Alba Fucens represents an important addition to the state of the art. The plant assemblage consists of over 1500 remains attributed to 68 different taxa. These are partly represented by gathered fruit plants, such as Corylus avellana, Juglans regia and Sambucus nigra, while cereals and pulses are missing. An interesting aspect is represented by evergreen plants (Pinus pinea and Cupressus sempervirens) that are likely to have been used for ritual purposes rather than for human consumption. Finally, the impressive amount of ruderal and spontaneous plants represents a unicum for this type of study, allowing us to describe the past environment surrounding Alba Fucens, characterized by substantial water availability, Apennine grasslands and influenced by human presence.

MpPUB9, a U-box E3 ubiquitin ligase, acts as a positive regulator by promoting the turnover of MpEXO70.1 under high salinity in Marchantia polymorpha.

Marchantia polymorpha, occupying a basal position in the monophyletic assemblage of land plants, displays a notable expansion of plant U-box (PUB) proteins compared with those in animals. We elucidated the roles of MpPUB9 in regulating salt stress tolerance in M. polymorpha. MpPUB9 expression was rapidly induced by high salinity and dehydration. MpPUB9 possessed an intact U-box domain in the N-terminus. MpPUB9-Citrine localized to punctate structures and was peripherally associated with microsomal membranes. Phenotypic analyses demonstrate that the hyponastic and epinastic thallus growth phenotypes, which were induced by the overexpression and suppression of MpPUB9, may provoke salt stress-resistant and -susceptible phenotypes, respectively. MpPUB9 was also found to directly interact with the exocyst protein MpEXO70.1, leading to its ubiquitination. Under high-salinity conditions, though the stability of MpPUB9 was dramatically increased, MpEXO70.1 showed slightly faster turnover rates. Transcriptome analyses showed that salt treatment and the overexpression of MpPUB9 co-upregulated the genes related to the modulation of H2O2 and cell wall organization. Overall, our results suggest that MpPUB9 plays a crucial role in the positive regulation of salt stress tolerance, resulting from its interaction with MpEXO70.1 and modulating turnover of the protein under high-salt conditions via the coordination of UPS with autophagy.

Herbivore regulation of savanna vegetation: Structural complexity, diversity, and the complexity–diversity relationship

AbstractLarge mammalian herbivores exert strong top‐down control on plants, which in turn influence most ecological processes. Accordingly, the decline, displacement, or extinction of wild large herbivores in African savannas is expected to alter the physical structure of vegetation, the diversity of plant communities, and downstream ecosystem functions. However, herbivore impacts on vegetation comprise both direct and indirect effects and often depend on herbivore body size and plant type. Understanding how herbivores affect savanna vegetation requires disaggregating the effects of different herbivores and the responses of different plants, as well as accounting for both the structural complexity and composition of plant assemblages. We combined high‐resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) with field measurements from size‐selective herbivore exclosures in Kenya to determine how herbivores affect the diversity and physical structure of vegetation, how these impacts vary with body size and plant type, and whether there are predictable associations between plant diversity and structural complexity. Herbivores generally reduced the diversity and abundance of both overstory and understory plants, though the magnitude of these impacts varied substantially as a function of body size and plant type: only megaherbivores (elephants and giraffes) affected tree cover, whereas medium‐ and small‐bodied herbivores had stronger effects on herbaceous diversity and abundance. We also found evidence that herbivores altered the strength and direction of interactions between trees and herbaceous plants, with signatures of facilitation in the presence of herbivores and of competition in their absence. While megaherbivores uniquely affected tree structure, medium‐ and small‐bodied species had stronger (and complementary) effects on metrics of herbaceous vegetation structure. Plant structural responses to herbivore exclusion were species‐specific: of five dominant tree species, just three exhibited significant individual morphological variation across exclosure treatments, and the size class of herbivores responsible for these effects varied across species. Irrespective of exclosure treatment, more species‐rich plant communities were more structurally complex. We conclude that the diversity and architecture of savanna vegetation depend on consumptive and nonconsumptive plant–herbivore interactions; the roles of herbivore diversity, body size, and plant traits in mediating those interactions; and a positive feedback between plant diversity and structural complexity.

Drivers of Pinus halepensis Plant Community Structure across a Post-Fire Chronosequence

The Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine) forests prevailing in the western part of the Mediterranean Basin are amongst the most severely affected by fire due to their inherent flammability. Our understanding of the environmental factors driving post-fire community dynamics is currently limited by the lack of time-series data at temporal scales. In this present study, we analyzed a chronosequence of Greek Aleppo pine forests spanning a post-fire period of 65 years. Our goal is to explore the role of post-fire age, altitude, exposure, slope level, parent-rock material, rock cover, and cover of evergreen sclerophyllous shrubs (maquis) on plant assemblage diversity (species richness and Menhinick’s diversity index) and composition. Post-fire age had a significant effect on taxonomic distinctness and community turnover but not on species richness. Taxonomic distinctness increased with post-fire age due to a higher prevalence of the families Fabaceae, Asteraceae, and Poaceae during the early post-fire period. Maquis cover was significantly associated with Menhinick’s diversity index, taxonomic distinctness, and community turnover. Exposure and slope influenced only Menhinick’s diversity index. The turnover in species composition was primarily driven by the geographical proximity of the forests and secondarily by post-fire age and the maquis cover. This highlights the importance of the initial floristic composition in the process of autosuccession after a fire in Mediterranean-climate ecosystems.

FRUGIVORY CAMTRAP: A dataset of plant-animal interactions recorded with camera traps.

Ecological interactions are a key component of biodiversity, essential for understanding ecosystem services and functioning. Recording and quantifying ecological interactions is challenging, frequently requiring complex logistics and substantial effort in the field. Camera traps are routinely used in ecology for various applications, and have proven to be an excellent method for passive and non-invasive sampling of plant-animal interactions. We implemented a standardized camera trap protocol to document vertebrate frugivores-fleshy fruitedplants interactions in Doñana National Park, SW Spain, with the central objective of inventorying the diversity of plant-animal ecological interactions providing seed dispersal services. From 2018 to 2023 we recorded pairwise interactions from which we obtained qualitative (presence-absence) and quantitative (frequency of visits) information. Each record in the dataset contains information of a visit by an individual animal to an individual plant, resulting in any form of fleshy-fruit use and provides information on visitation phenology, visit length, and feeding behavior. The dataset presented here includes 10,659 frugivory interaction events for 59 vertebrate species (46 birds, 13 mammals) recorded on 339 plant individuals from 13 different plant species which dominate the fleshy-fruited plant assemblage in the Doñana National Park. The most recorded animal species consuming fruits and playing a legitimate seed dispersal role was Curruca melanocephala (1678 records) among birds and Vulpes vulpes among mammals (751 records). Cervus elaphus, a fruit consumer with a marginal role as legitimate seed disperser, was the most recorded mammal species (1508 records). Avian frugivores, particularly those from the Sylviidae and Turdidae families, are widespread in the region and play a crucial role in maintaining the dispersal service for the fleshy-fruited plant populations in the area. The dataset offers highly versatile quantitative information that can be used to investigate frugivory from the highest resolution scale, the interaction event between pairs of individuals. In addition, other information that can be extracted includes the timing of interactions of animals and plants (their phenological couplings), activity periods of the animals, behavior during the events and preferences for individual plants within populations. There are no copyright restrictions on the data. When using the data from this data paper in publications, we kindly request that you cite the paper accordingly. Additionally, we encourage researchers and educators to inform us about how they are using this data, as we value feedback and would like to be aware of its various applications.

Post-fire temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator communities in a tropical savanna.

Fire is a major ecological and evolutionary factor promoting biodiversity and maintaining functioning of naturally fire-prone ecosystems. In tropical savannas, plant communities show a set of fire-adapted traits and both flowering and pollination services have the potential to rapidly regenerate after fire, but fire-suppression policies may disrupt this adaptability following potential woody encroachment. Understanding the effects of fire on plant-pollinator interactions are required to advance conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We evaluated the dynamics of plant community assemblage, flower availability, composition of flower functional traits associated with attractiveness to pollinators, and activity and diversity of insect pollinator guilds over ten post-fire stand ages along a 14-year chronosequence in a naturally burned region in the Cerrado, a megadiverse savanna in Brazil. We expect to find a high resilience of plant-pollinator communities and a steady decline in the successional recovery as time-since-fire proceeds. Along the post-fire chronosequence, vegetation was dominated by subshrubs with tubular, white, and nectar flowers arranged in inflorescences, while bees were the predominant pollinators. Plant assemblage and flower number showed an initial significant increase but monotonically declined after 7-9years after fire. Accordingly, pollinator richness and abundance significantly reached highest peaks in interim periods and a steady decline over time. In contrast, the frequency of community-wide plant-life form, flower functional traits, and pollinator diversity remained unaltered over the post-fire chronosequence. We added compelling evidence of a high post-fire resilience of plant-pollinator communities and further understanding of how fire-suppression policies may affect pollination in the Cerrado.

Plant cultivation and diversity at the Early Neolithic settlement in Biskupice in Poland

The emergence of the Linear Pottery Culture (LBK) during the Neolithic period within Polish territory 5400–4900 BC, introduced plant cultivation, yet the definitive list of cultivated species remains debated. This study examines plant assemblages (fruits, seeds, pollen, and spores) from the LBK settlement in Biskupice, southern Poland, aiming to identify cultivated and wild species used during the development of the first stable settlements in the Carpathian Foothills. Due to extensive sampling, Biskupice yielded over 11,000 macroscopic plant specimens, enabling detailed analysis of plant diversity, distribution, and implications for agrarian and dietary practices. The analysis revealed a focus on emmer and einkorn wheat cultivation, with barley playing a minor role, alongside evidence of flax and pulses. Radiocarbon dating supported the settlement’s existence in the 6th millennium BCE, and confirmed the use of barley. However, a younger date excluded bread wheat cultivation at this site. The plant assemblage included a diverse array of herbaceous wild plants like black bindweed, fat hen and brome species, suggesting their economic use. Additionally, the presence of cockspur grass, linked with Southeast Asia, indicates alternative migration routes of weeds in Europe, as supported by radiocarbon dating. Palynological analysis suggests existence of nearby cereal plots or the processing of cereals at the settlement, supporting archaeological evidence.

Soil seed banks reveal the legacy of shifting plant assemblages in late-lying alpine snowpatch communities

Soil seed banks reveal the legacy of shifting plant assemblages in late-lying alpine snowpatch communities

Consistent generalization of plant-hummingbird networks despite increasing vegetation cover across a tropical urban landscape

Human activities, particularly urbanization, profoundly impact ecosystems often resulting in biotic homogenization. Whether or not urban landscapes can sustain diverse pollinator and plant communities is an important question to be addressed. Here, we investigated the influence of urbanization on plant-hummingbird interaction networks in a large tropical city, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. We recorded 13198 legitimate interactions between seven hummingbirds and 57 plant species across 12 local networks. Urban landscapes exhibited predominantly generalized networks, maintaining this pattern across varying vegetation cover and floral resource abundance. Although some functionally specialized hummingbirds with long bills were recorded performing more specialized interactions, urban environments did not generally support specialized networks. Nevertheless, network specialization did increase with the proportion of native nectar plants, emphasizing their importance for maintaining some specialized interactions. Furthermore, we observed a positive effect of plant richness, but not of flower abundance, on hummingbird abundance, indicating that it is not only the amount of flowers, but the diversity of floral resources that may be a key factor in maintaining hummingbirds. Therefore, promoting a diverse assemblage of native plants in urban green areas is crucial for sustainable pollinator communities. Our study highlights that while a biodiverse urban landscape will require careful urban vegetation planning considering both floral resource diversity and availability, vegetation cover per se may not be sufficient to mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization. Maintaining a diverse vegetation with different life forms, flowering phenology, and especially of native plants across the urban landscape is needed to create welcoming spaces for pollinators.

The non-flowering plants of a near-polar forest in East Gondwana, Tasmania, Australia, during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum.

The Cenozoic Macquarie Harbour Formation (MHF) hosts one of the oldest and southernmost post-Cretaceous fossil plant assemblages in Australia. Coinciding with the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) and predating the breakup of Australia from Antarctica, it offers critical data to study the diversity and extent of the Austral Polar Forest Biome, and the floristic divergence between Australasia and South America resulting from the Gondwana breakup. The micromorphology and macromorphology of new fossil plant compressions from the MHF were described and systematically analyzed. Previously published non-flowering plant records were reviewed and revised. Macrofossil abundance data were provided. The flora was compared with other early Paleogene assemblages from across the Southern Hemisphere. Twelve species of non-flowering plants were identified from the macrofossil record. Conifers include Araucariaceae (Araucaria macrophylla, A. readiae, A. timkarikensis sp. nov., and Araucarioides linearis), Podocarpaceae (Acmopyle glabra, Dacrycarpus mucronatus, Podocarpus paralungatikensis sp. nov., and Retrophyllum sp.), and Cupressaceae (Libocedrus microformis). Dacrycarpus linifolius was designated a junior synonym of D. mucronatus. Further components include a cycad (Bowenia johnsonii, Zamiaceae), a pteridosperm (Komlopteris cenozoicus, Umkomasiaceae), and a fern (Lygodium dinmorphyllum, Schizaeaceae). The fossil assemblage represents a mixed near-polar forest with a high diversity of conifers. The morphology and preservation of several species indicate adaptations to life at high latitudes. The coexistence of large- and small-leaved conifers implies complex, possibly open forest structures. Comparisons with contemporaneous assemblages from Argentina support a circumpolar biome during the EECO, reaching from southern Australia across Antarctica to southern South America.

Plant phylogenetic diversity along the urban–rural gradient and its association with urbanization degree in Shanghai, China

ContextThe spatial distribution of plant diversity in urban areas is fundamental to understanding the relationship between urbanization and biodiversity. Previous research has primarily focused on taxonomic levels to assess species richness. In contrast, investigations into the spatial patterns of phylogenetic diversity in urban plants remain limited.ObjectivesThis study aims to investigate the spatial patterns of plant phylogenetic diversity along an urban–rural gradient and quantify how phylogenetic diversity and the degree of urbanization are related.MethodsA survey of vascular plants was conducted at 134 randomly selected sample plots along four urban–rural transects in Shanghai, China. Three phylogenetic diversity metrics were calculated: Faith’s phylogenetic diversity (PD), net relatedness index (NRI), and net nearest taxon index (NTI), along with the urbanization degree index (UDI). Regression analysis was employed to quantify the spatial patterns of plant phylogenetic diversity across different taxa along the urban–rural gradients and their relationships with UDI.ResultsThe study observed seven distinct patterns of plant phylogenetic diversity along the urban–rural gradients in different taxa, which support the previous hypotheses that biological distribution patterns at the species level also hold true at the phylogenetic level. Faith’s phylogenetic diversity (PD) showed a linear increase with increasing UDI for total, woody, perennial, and cultivated plant assemblages. The UDI explained 3–36% of the variation in PD for these taxa. In contrast, PD for annual and spontaneous plants exhibited a linear decrease with increasing UDI, which explained 25% and 3% variation in PD for annual and spontaneous plants, respectively. The net relatedness index (NRI) for woody, perennial, and cultivated plants, as well as the net nearest taxon index (NTI) for perennial and cultivated plants, linearly increases with UDI, whereas the NRI for total, annual, and spontaneous plants, as well as NTI for total, woody, annual, and spontaneous plants linearly decrease with UDI. However, some of these trends were only marginally significant.ConclusionsThe spatial patterns of plant phylogenetic diversity varied along the urban-to-rural gradients, indicating that urban environmental filtering has an impact on plant phylogenetic diversity. Urbanization increased the phylogenetic richness of different plant taxa in Shanghai but resulted in more clustering and relatedness of species within plant assemblages. Phylogenetic richness exhibited a linear increase with UDI, while the phylogenetic divergence decreased with UDI. The UDI is a useful predictor for examining variations in plant phylogeny due to urbanization. Our findings provide insights into how urbanization impacts plant phylogenetic diversity, helping urban plant diversity conservation.

Resource limitation of compensatory responses in ecosystem processes after biodiversity loss

Abstract Biodiversity loss may result in the decline in important ecosystem processes. The effect of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning is determined by the functional contribution of the species lost and the compensatory responses of the remaining species. It is unknown to what extent the strength of the compensatory response of the remaining species depends on resources availability. Here we evaluate how the primary production of an assemblage of salt marsh plants responds to a realistic sequence of species loss in an 7‐year experiment, with and without the addition of fertiliser. We found near‐full compensation of progressive species loss in gross community primary production by the extinction‐resistant species with fertiliser as long as one species (Triglochin maritima) remained. Without fertiliser, at least four species, including the particularly abundant species Plantago maritima, were needed to maintain gross community primary production. These results suggest that the magnitude of the compensation by extirpation‐resistant species for the decline in ecosystem processes associated with progressive biodiversity loss depends on the resource context, and that compensation after the loss of plant species can be accelerated by increasing resource availability. Ultimately, full compensation appears to be limited by the presence and abundance of species in the remaining community that possess traits that allow them to compensate for the species lost. Synthesis and applications: These findings suggests that the conclusions of a large body of biodiversity‐ecosystem experiments cannot be used for informing the management of natural systems because they do not simulate realistic extinction sequences and therefore cannot quantify the potential for compensation of ecosystem services in the real world.

Latitudinal gradients in the phylogenetic assembly of angiosperms in Asia during the Holocene

Spatio-temporal assessment of phylogenetic diversity gradients during the Holocene (past 12,000 years) provides an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the dynamics of species co-occurrence patterns under environmental fluctuations. Using two robust metrics of phylogenetic dispersion (PD) and 99 fossil pollen sequences containing 6557 samples/assemblages, we analyse spatio-temporal variation in PD of angiosperms and its relationship with Holocene climate in central Asia. Overall, PD throughout the Holocene decreases linearly with increasing latitude, except for a rise in mean nearest taxon distance from ca. 25 to 35° N. This indicates that phylogenetically divergent taxa decrease progressively with increasing latitude, leaving more phylogenetically closely related taxa in the assemblages, thereby increasing phylogenetic relatedness among the co-occurring taxa. The latitudinal gradient of PD has not been consistent during the Holocene, and this temporal variation is concordant with the Holocene climate dynamics. In general, profound temporal changes in the latitudinal PD toward higher latitudes implies that the major environmental changes during the Holocene have driven considerable spatio-temporal changes in the phylogenetic assembly of high-latitude angiosperm assemblages. Our results suggest that environmental filtering and the tendency of taxa and lineages to retain ancestral ecological features and geographic distributions (phylogenetic niche conservatism) are the main mechanisms underlying the phylogenetic assembly of angiosperms along the climate-latitudinal gradient. Ongoing environmental changes may pose future profound phylogenetic changes in high-latitude plant assemblages, which are adapted to harsh environmental conditions, and therefore are phylogenetically less dispersed (more conservative or clustered).

Response of spontaneous plant communities to microhabitats in a riparian corridor in Beijing, China

With the increasing urban environmental problems, spontaneous vegetation has been gradually emphasized for high ecological value, whose distribution has been reported as strongly influenced by fine-scale environmental factors. As one of the major zones for urban spontaneous vegetation distribution, urban riparian corridors are well suited for research on the response of spontaneous plants to microhabitats. Taking the Wenyu River-North Canal in Beijing as the study site, we measured six microhabitat factors, including the level of maintenance and visitor activity, canopy density, litter thickness, and distance to water and road, to investigate their effects on spontaneous plant assemblages. The results showed that spontaneous plants respond significantly to fine-scale habitat variation, and were more responsive to human disturbance than other factors. Compared with diversity indicators, the functional trait compositions were more significantly correlated with microhabitat factors. Under lower maintenance of plants, the spontaneous communities had a higher invasion risk for plants. Thick litter can impede the occurrence of invasive species while favoring the growth of native ones. Our findings are important for furthering understanding of the spontaneous plant community establishment, and can serve as a good reference for the maintenance and management of spontaneous plants in urban riparian corridors.

Insect herbivory on ferns from a midland Atlantic Rainforest locality, southern Brazil: implications for interpreting fossil plant–insect interaction

ABSTRACT This work contains the results of fern–arthropod interactions from a midland Atlantic Rainforest locality and addresses the taphonomic, morphological and ecological implications of insect damage on ferns to interpret them on fossil plant assemblages. Six functional feeding groups – margin feeding, hole feeding, surface feeding, piercing and sucking, mining and galling – are present on the three fern species inhabiting the understory of an Araucaria Forest in the Atlantic Forest biome, southern Brazil. We recognised 19 damage types (DTs), including 14 arthropod-induced DTs, three of which are newly proposed herein. Five of the DTs found were first recorded on ferns. Of the DTs found, the proportion of guilds such as mining and galling shows a significant similarity with those of an upland locality. Products of arachnids and insect behaviour on ferns made up 25% of all fern–arthropod interactions in the midland locality, which included dead bodies and byproducts from processes of arthropod life cycle, which are unlikely to be preserved in the fossil record. This rate of arthropod products consists of significant evidence of interactions to unveil deep-time relationships between arthropods and plants. Lastly, leaf damage on living ferns is more frequent than those occurring in fossil plant assemblages.

Future climate doubles the risk of hydraulic failure in a wet tropical forest.

Future climate presents conflicting implications for forest biomass. We evaluate how plant hydraulic traits, elevated CO2 levels, warming, and changes in precipitation affect forest primary productivity, evapotranspiration, and the risk of hydraulic failure. We used a dynamic vegetation model with plant hydrodynamics (FATES-HYDRO) to simulate the stand-level responses to future climate changes in a wet tropical forest in Barro Colorado Island, Panama. We calibrated the model by selecting plant trait assemblages that performed well against observations. These assemblages were run with temperature and precipitation changes for two greenhouse gas emission scenarios (2086-2100: SSP2-45, SSP5-85) and two CO2 levels (contemporary, anticipated). The risk of hydraulic failure is projected to increase from a contemporary rate of 5.7% to 10.1-11.3% under future climate scenarios, and, crucially, elevated CO2 provided only slight amelioration. By contrast, elevated CO2 mitigated GPP reductions. We attribute a greater variation in hydraulic failure risk to trait assemblages than to either CO2 or climate. Our results project forests with both faster growth (through productivity increases) and higher mortality rates (through increasing rates of hydraulic failure) in the neo-tropics accompanied by certain trait plant assemblages becoming nonviable.

Listening to the Virtual Greenhouse: Musics, Sounding, and Online Plantcare

Abstract Plantcare is having a moment. Recent years have seen an outpouring of audiovisual content across several social media platforms, wherein humans film and photograph themselves taking care of houseplants. These self-proclaimed “plant moms” build community through their shared passion for caring for houseplants and showing this form of tree-hugging to a wider community. In this contribution, I theorize this plant-filled digital terrain as a virtual greenhouse, a space where humans can perform with and show off their collections of houseplants. This virtual greenhouse points to how plantcare becomes a space to play with expectations of humanness apart from human–animal boundaries. Furthermore, contrary to notions of plants as being silent or inaudible lifeforms, this virtual greenhouse is rich with music and sound. Following an exploration of the overarching features of plantcare content and other kinds of digital human–nonhuman representations, I describe how creators in the virtual greenhouse use ASMR-like techniques, acousmatic narration, and reinterpretations of popular music to make their intimate relationships with nonhuman life audible. This contribution demonstrates how these human–plant assemblages engage with a “back-to-nature” environmentalism and present opportunities to reframe human–nonhuman relationships through creative practice.

The euphyllophytes of a new Givetian plant assemblage from the eastern Anti-Atlas, Morocco

The Middle Devonian is a transitional period for the first vascular plants, which acquire modern vegetative and reproductive structures, diversify considerably and, within the euphyllophytes, evolve the first representatives of modern plant groups, the monilophytes and lignophytes. However, the dynamics of this diversification across the different paleocontinents remains obscure, particularly within Gondwana. The upper Givetian locality of Oum el Jerane, in southeastern Morocco, has yielded a new assemblage of anatomically preserved plant remains whose description contributes to a better understanding of the floras of the northern margin of Gondwana during the Middle Devonian. The euphyllophytes include one iridopterid, Arachnoxylon minor, two cladoxylopsids, one of which represents the new genus Jerana, and two aneurophytales affiliated with the genus Triloboxylon. The cladoxylopsid remains from Oum el Jerane correspond to relatively small plants compared to the well-known coeval cladoxylopsids of Laurussia. Compared to the taxonomic composition of the four phytochoria recently defined for the Middle Devonian, the Oum el Jerane plant assemblage corresponds to the ‘subtropical’ phytochorion, which is close to the ‘Laurussia’ phytochorion, but which would correspond to drier environmental conditions.