the "lost" species Monarda mexicana is still out there! Known from just 2 historical collections (most recent from the 1950s). Imagine my joy in stumbling on a picture of it on @inaturalist.bsky.social !!! We've now documented the first known modern populations and revived the species name:
Led by Roel Brienen, our paper in @natcomms.nature.com "Contrasting pathways to tree longevity in gymnosperms and angiosperms" is finally out and formatted.
Other bluesky folks contributing to the paper were @yellowbuckeye.bsky.social and @rmtrr.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below!
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
Such a fun project & massive team effort. We sampled tree cores my 1st yr of grad school then took a year to figure out how to grind woodβ¦ ! But we were amazed to find such a complex & unexpected ecosystem inside trees. And weβve just scratched the surface! We explored 150 treesβ 3 trillion to go!
Our paper mapping plant and mycorrhizal fungal diversity correlations is out! Relationships are weak at the global level, but both positive and negative at smaller scales. Plants are not always proxies for fungi β fungi need their own conservation focus @spun.earth @ethz.ch
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
5-25 mio years old fossil nuts - European forests of that time were rich in genera: butternuts (Juglans), hickories (Carya), storax trees (Styrax), hazelnuts (Corylus) and mastic seeds (Mastixia). Most of these species later went extinct in Europe during the ice ages.
Hygroscopic deformation of pine cones..!
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Convergent acquisition of disulfide-forming enzymes in malodorous flowers | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The dissertation! 150 pages of prairie, history, & more pawpaws than you'd expect.
I've sold over 850 copies of this baby, and the world being what it is, it's far too expensive to print another edition right now.
Check it out in pdf form:
drive.google.com/file/d/104cf...
If you're not already following Dr Liz Anna Kozik, do! She's a great artist, science communicator, restorationist, prairie ecologist, activist... her dissertation alone is worth the price of admission.
Even common plants with broad-scale distributions are going to feel the effects of climate change. We modeled plant responses using species distribution modeling and demographic surveys to find that B. stricta is at risk of decline. @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Did you ever wonder when to use "conifer", "gymnosperm", "needleleaf", "angiosperms" and "broadleaves"? Us too so we transformed the discussion into this viewpoint. I hope you enjoy the reading as much as we enjoyed the writing! @kateplantphys.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
πΏ Our new study in @natplants.nature.com: Most European temperate forest plants are associated with semi-open, herbivore-shaped habitatsβnot closed-canopy #forests ππ³ππΈ Highlights the need for trophic #rewilding in #conservation & need to avoid uniform dense #reforestationπΏ
π doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Visual abstract: βwe test hypotheses about floral diversity with community science data and an advanced computer vision model. Red/orange flowers have delayed flowering that matches hummingbird migratory patternsβ
Hot off the presses and so so thrilled. Thanks to @inaturalist.bsky.social + computer vision we found something beautifully simple: Red and orange flowers bloom later than all the other colors in the eastern United States. Paper here: authors.elsevier.com/a/1kwzh3QW8S...
New research by R. Muthukrishnan and colleagues explores how species adapt to climate change by altering phenology, behavior, and/or range. We worked together to create an illustration demonstrating ecological responses to a warming climate. Check it out: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Tall saguaro cactus
I have created a feed "plant insect ecology" for posts on the biology, ecology, evolution, & natural history of plants & insects... to post, simply include #plant-insect. Please post images, opportunities, academic articles w/ links, etc.
DM w/ suggestions, it will take some days to optimize
Shifting, expanding, or contracting? Range movement consequences for biodiversity πππ§ͺ www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...
Closeups of historical seaweed pressings from the University Herbarium in Berkeley for #PhycologyFriday
Excited to see this out!! In this thought-provoking review led by @davidperis.bsky.social and Ricardo PΓ©rez-de la Fuente we further demonstrate that insect #pollination was once widespread among #gymnosperms and existed long before the origin of #angiosperms
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
The importance of the plant mycorrhizal collaboration niche across scales
@natrevbiodiv.bsky.social by Mari Moora and colleagues
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Bison in Bialowieza Forest (c) R Broughton
Poland-Belarus border fence, wiki commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poland_Belarus_border_barrier_2023.jpg
Our new #OpenAccess paper
How can long-term #ecology studies survive & resist political & social change, authoritarianism, war, but also embrace positive change?
The BiaΕowieΕΌa Forest as an example of the resilience of long-term studies in a changing world:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 1/
A cross section through a fossil horse tail in a silt stone. It kind of looks like an eye with massive long eyelashes. The size is about half the size of a human thumb.
A cross section through a fossil horse tail stem in a silt stone. It's about the width of a human thumb.
Found some beautifully preserved horsetails from the Whitby plant beds!
Ravenscar group Middle Jurassic (aalenian stage) #FossilFriday #paleontology #paleobotany #geology
www.indefenseofplants.com/podcast/2025... awesome episode of @shellygaynor.bsky.social work on Galax!
Rewilding cannot ignore the massive ecological voids left by the human-driven Pleistocene extinctions of megafauna.
By focusing solely on species lost since the last Ice Age (eg: lynx, wolves), we're *totally* failing to see the full picture.
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Plant translocations and reintroductions for conservation purposes are often unsuccessful. Sandrine Godefroid and colleagues have summed up the outcome of over 3000 plant translocations across Europe, their outcome and reason for success or failure.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Photosynthetic suction cups⦠Hoya imbricata (Apocynaceae) ascending a brick wall in the Lyman Plant House at Smith College Botanic Garden.
"Global plant crisis as botanic gardens exhaust ability to save plants from extinction." cosmosmagazine.com/people/socie...
Calling grad students researching rare & endangered plants native to the U.S.! Apps close soon for the πΊ Catherine H. Beattie Graduate Fellowship in Plant Conservation πΊ
π due 1/31/25
πΈresearch grant <=$4.5k, compensation for work at a botanical garden by the student
saveplants.org/about-us/fel...
Monarch caterpillar feeding on crown flower, Calotropis procera
Monarch caterpillar feeding on crown flower, Calotropis procera
First instar feeding circle of a Monarch caterpillar on crown flower leaf
Crown flower, Calotropis procera, with bleeding latex
Abundant non-native monarch butterflies feeding on non-native milkweeds on the big island of Hawaii
Each year, we offer several #awards for undergraduate & graduate botanical #research, training and symposia. Applications are open for this winter, the deadline for submissions Feb 15, 2025! Learn more and apply here:
www.torreybotanical.org/grants-awards/
#botany #grants π§ͺππΏππΎ
