Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
@plantecoevout.bsky.social
Interested in evolutionary ecology, plant-soil interactions and global change. Led by Prof. Marina Semchenko @Uni Tartu
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
🌿🍄🟫🌱🍄We’re recruiting!!🌿🍄🟫🌱🍄
I’m looking for two postdocs and a technician to join my group @sheffielduni.bsky.social @sheffieldpps.bsky.social to work with me on my exciting @royalsociety.org Faraday Discovery Fellowship project, details for each post as follows:
I’m looking for two postdocs and a technician to join my group @sheffielduni.bsky.social @sheffieldpps.bsky.social to work with me on my exciting @royalsociety.org Faraday Discovery Fellowship project, details for each post as follows:
November 8, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🌿🍄🟫🌱🍄We’re recruiting!!🌿🍄🟫🌱🍄
I’m looking for two postdocs and a technician to join my group @sheffielduni.bsky.social @sheffieldpps.bsky.social to work with me on my exciting @royalsociety.org Faraday Discovery Fellowship project, details for each post as follows:
I’m looking for two postdocs and a technician to join my group @sheffielduni.bsky.social @sheffieldpps.bsky.social to work with me on my exciting @royalsociety.org Faraday Discovery Fellowship project, details for each post as follows:
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
Tree evolution is surprisingly quirky! 🌳 Trees are likely ancestral in many plant groups, often re-evolve on islands, and Arabidopsis can be made tree-like by tweaking a few genes. We revisited what genes really make a tree a tree using comparative genomics. @trhvidsten.bsky.social #trees #evolution
An updated perspective: what genes make a tree a tree? #plantscience
An updated perspective: what genes make a tree a tree?
We learn early on how to tell trees apart from other plants. However, it has proved hard to distinguish trees from other plants at the genetic level, and it is believed that there are no unique ‘tree genes’. With the rapid increase in available tree genomes, we can perform new comparative and evolutionary analyses of plant life histories and growth forms. Here we provide a fresh perspective on the genetic foundation for woodiness and perenniality in angiosperms by analyzing selection pressures and gene family evolution in the rosids using genomic data. We examine genes distinguishing trees from herbs and discuss future directions for uncovering the genetic factors that define a tree in this new era of tree genomics.
dlvr.it
October 24, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Tree evolution is surprisingly quirky! 🌳 Trees are likely ancestral in many plant groups, often re-evolve on islands, and Arabidopsis can be made tree-like by tweaking a few genes. We revisited what genes really make a tree a tree using comparative genomics. @trhvidsten.bsky.social #trees #evolution
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
Our first paper from the Bug-Network (BugNet) is out! 🎉
BugNet is a global network studying how invertebrate herbivores and fungal pathogens shape plant diversity & ecosystem functioning worldwide. The paper reports on the methods of the experimental part:
📄 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
BugNet is a global network studying how invertebrate herbivores and fungal pathogens shape plant diversity & ecosystem functioning worldwide. The paper reports on the methods of the experimental part:
📄 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
The Bug‐Network (BugNet): A Global Experimental Network Testing the Effects of Invertebrate Herbivores and Fungal Pathogens on Plant Communities and Ecosystem Function in Open Ecosystems
The Bug-Network (BugNet) is a novel global collaborative research network that implements standardized consumer-reduction experiments in herbaceous- or shrub-dominated ecosystems to assess the impact...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 10, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Our first paper from the Bug-Network (BugNet) is out! 🎉
BugNet is a global network studying how invertebrate herbivores and fungal pathogens shape plant diversity & ecosystem functioning worldwide. The paper reports on the methods of the experimental part:
📄 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
BugNet is a global network studying how invertebrate herbivores and fungal pathogens shape plant diversity & ecosystem functioning worldwide. The paper reports on the methods of the experimental part:
📄 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
Ecological acclimation: A framework to integrate fast and slow responses to climate change - Stemkovski - 2025 - Functional Ecology - Wiley Online Library besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Ecological acclimation: A framework to integrate fast and slow responses to climate change
Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
August 29, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Ecological acclimation: A framework to integrate fast and slow responses to climate change - Stemkovski - 2025 - Functional Ecology - Wiley Online Library besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
🗞️New publication🗞️
How do neighbourhood diversity effects on tree growth change with climatic conditions?🌳🌲🔆🌧️
We adress this question in our new study in @natecoevo.nature.com led by Liting Zheng.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
/w @liting-zheng.bsky.social, Peter Reich & #TreeDivNet
How do neighbourhood diversity effects on tree growth change with climatic conditions?🌳🌲🔆🌧️
We adress this question in our new study in @natecoevo.nature.com led by Liting Zheng.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
/w @liting-zheng.bsky.social, Peter Reich & #TreeDivNet
Neighbourhood diversity increases tree growth in experimental forests more in wetter climates but not in wetter years - Nature Ecology & Evolution
How tree diversity effects on ecosystem functioning vary along climatic gradients is unclear. Here, analysing data from 15 experimental forest sites, the authors show that tree growth responses to nei...
www.nature.com
July 25, 2025 at 10:18 AM
🗞️New publication🗞️
How do neighbourhood diversity effects on tree growth change with climatic conditions?🌳🌲🔆🌧️
We adress this question in our new study in @natecoevo.nature.com led by Liting Zheng.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
/w @liting-zheng.bsky.social, Peter Reich & #TreeDivNet
How do neighbourhood diversity effects on tree growth change with climatic conditions?🌳🌲🔆🌧️
We adress this question in our new study in @natecoevo.nature.com led by Liting Zheng.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
/w @liting-zheng.bsky.social, Peter Reich & #TreeDivNet
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
Hot off the press 🔥 New Ecological Monographs paper shows why, when and how to include intraspecific trait variability to enhance functional diversity research. Huge shout out to Facundo Palacio for his vision and leadership. Read here 👉 doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
#traits #functionaldiversity 📏🌐
#traits #functionaldiversity 📏🌐
Integrating intraspecific trait variability in functional diversity: An overview of methods and a guide for ecologists
Variability in traits within species (intraspecific trait variability; ITV) has attracted increased interest in functional ecology, as it can profoundly influence the detection of functional trait pa....
doi.org
July 8, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Hot off the press 🔥 New Ecological Monographs paper shows why, when and how to include intraspecific trait variability to enhance functional diversity research. Huge shout out to Facundo Palacio for his vision and leadership. Read here 👉 doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
#traits #functionaldiversity 📏🌐
#traits #functionaldiversity 📏🌐
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
Check out our new paper: Origin matters: mycorrhizal growth response and induced resistance to pathogens depend on mycorrhizal and pathogen source, where we show that mycorrhizal induced resistance occurs within native plant species 🌱 @newphyt.bsky.social
Origin matters: mycorrhizal growth response and induced resistance to pathogens depend on mycorrhizal and pathogen source
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are critical to native plant community ecology and influence plant invasions. Research has focused on nutritional benefits of AMF, although evidence shows that the...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 7, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Check out our new paper: Origin matters: mycorrhizal growth response and induced resistance to pathogens depend on mycorrhizal and pathogen source, where we show that mycorrhizal induced resistance occurs within native plant species 🌱 @newphyt.bsky.social
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
⬆️🌡️Increasing temperatures,☀️ drought,🐮🐑🚫 grazing cessation and nitrogen deposition amount to tough times for vulnerable dry grasslands. A three-decade long case study in Germany by Horka et al. gives us more insights on the changes these communities face.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Diversity Increases but Community Specialists Decline Over Three Decades in Dry Grassland Communities of Central Germany
Aim Dry grasslands are vulnerable to climate and land-use change. Increasing temperatures, drought, grazing cessation and nitrogen deposition can all result in shifts in grasslands' taxonomic and fu...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 4, 2025 at 10:45 AM
⬆️🌡️Increasing temperatures,☀️ drought,🐮🐑🚫 grazing cessation and nitrogen deposition amount to tough times for vulnerable dry grasslands. A three-decade long case study in Germany by Horka et al. gives us more insights on the changes these communities face.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
led by Cathy Fahey, we used #metabolomics in the #BiodiversiTREE experiment to show that chemically mediated plant–enemy interactions promote positive biodiversity effects on young tree growth - Journal of Ecology #treedivnet besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Chemically mediated plant–enemy interactions promote positive biodiversity effects on young tree growth
A large-scale tree diversity experiment reveals that early growth of trees is influenced by phytochemically mediated trophic interactions. Specifically, foliar chemical diversity is higher for trees ...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 2, 2025 at 1:34 PM
led by Cathy Fahey, we used #metabolomics in the #BiodiversiTREE experiment to show that chemically mediated plant–enemy interactions promote positive biodiversity effects on young tree growth - Journal of Ecology #treedivnet besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Ever wondered how plant interactions with soil pathogens and mutualists may regulate both species co-existence and diversity-productivity relationships? It is complicated 📈📉 but we tried to put different threads together:
Excited to share our latest article that bridges species coexistence, biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships and plant-soil feedbacks! 🎉🎉🎉
Online now: Plant–soil microbial interactions as modulators of species coexistence and productivity
May 30, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Ever wondered how plant interactions with soil pathogens and mutualists may regulate both species co-existence and diversity-productivity relationships? It is complicated 📈📉 but we tried to put different threads together:
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
🦠Research reveals that nitrogen deposition decouples grassland plant community from soil bacterial & fungal communities, posing great challenges for an accurate evaluation of ecosystem functions under future global change scenarios 🧪🌍
Nitrogen deposition decouples grassland plant community from soil bacterial and fungal communities along a precipitation gradient
buff.ly
May 30, 2025 at 11:01 AM
🦠Research reveals that nitrogen deposition decouples grassland plant community from soil bacterial & fungal communities, posing great challenges for an accurate evaluation of ecosystem functions under future global change scenarios 🧪🌍
Spring is in full swing and we had our traditional yearly botanical trip. Amazing variety and beauty in every habitat - from dessert-like heath to species-rich flooded meadow! 🤩
May 30, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Spring is in full swing and we had our traditional yearly botanical trip. Amazing variety and beauty in every habitat - from dessert-like heath to species-rich flooded meadow! 🤩
Barley roots are really hairy! 🤩Tempted to measure if varieties differ in root hair length and density, but how? If you have positive experience, please share your method with us!
May 23, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Barley roots are really hairy! 🤩Tempted to measure if varieties differ in root hair length and density, but how? If you have positive experience, please share your method with us!
Today we had a new record: over 600 pots harvested in one day for a plant-soil feedback experiment with barley + soil leachate collection for 150 pots! 💪👏🥳 #AgroCropFuture project @kkoorem.bsky.social
May 19, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Today we had a new record: over 600 pots harvested in one day for a plant-soil feedback experiment with barley + soil leachate collection for 150 pots! 💪👏🥳 #AgroCropFuture project @kkoorem.bsky.social
We are looking for a research fellow to join our group for 2 years! Please share with anyone looking for a new position and interested in 🌱 local adaptation, plant-soil interactions and land use! euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/340833
Research Fellow in Plant Evolutionary Ecology (postdoc)
We are looking for a 2-year postdoctoral research fellow within the European Research Council project PlantSoilAdapt - “Eco-evolutionary dynamics in plant-soil interactions during land use transition:...
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
May 8, 2025 at 7:13 AM
We are looking for a research fellow to join our group for 2 years! Please share with anyone looking for a new position and interested in 🌱 local adaptation, plant-soil interactions and land use! euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/340833
Global intraspecific trait variation in grasslands: intraspecific responses to local environment can change species trait rankings nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1... @rjgriffin-nolan.bsky.social
Predicting global intraspecific trait variation of grasses
Plant traits are important for understanding community assembly and ecosystem processes, yet our understanding of intraspecific trait variation (ITV) is limited. This gap in our knowledge is partiall...
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 8, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Global intraspecific trait variation in grasslands: intraspecific responses to local environment can change species trait rankings nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1... @rjgriffin-nolan.bsky.social
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
Out now by Wang et al. in Journal of Applied Ecology: 'Tree functional strategies and soil microbial communities regulate forest ecosystem services' besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Tree functional strategies and soil microbial communities regulate forest ecosystem services
This research highlights the role of tree functional strategies and soil microbial community composition in influencing the ecosystem services of subtropical forests, and provides important informati...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 5, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Out now by Wang et al. in Journal of Applied Ecology: 'Tree functional strategies and soil microbial communities regulate forest ecosystem services' besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
After every encounter with the current scientific publishing system
May 4, 2025 at 4:49 AM
After every encounter with the current scientific publishing system
Have you heard about the concept of dark diversity 🧙♀️? If not, find out what it is and how it can be used in the assessment of human impacts!
Excited to announce our new paper, “Global impoverishment of natural vegetation revealed by dark diversity,” out today in Nature – and it’s open access! Huge global collaboration led by Meelis Pärtel 🌐@macroecologyut.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Global impoverishment of natural vegetation revealed by dark diversity - Nature
A comparison of alpha diversity (number of plant species) and dark diversity (species that are currently absent from a site despite being ecologically suitable) demonstrates the negative effects of re...
www.nature.com
April 3, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Have you heard about the concept of dark diversity 🧙♀️? If not, find out what it is and how it can be used in the assessment of human impacts!
Very intriguing findings - quite strong positive effect of AMF on presumably non-mycorrhizal plant!
Most surprising discover of my career to date 😲. Most assume mustard plants do not associate w/ AMF. Our research shows that AMF promote invasive mustard growth without forming arbuscules 🤯. This may be a new pathway in which AMF can enhance plant growth 🍄🌱
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Boost Development of an Invasive Brassicaceae
We show that an invasive, “nonmycorrhizal” Brassicaceae (Alliaria petiolata) can be colonised by AMF, and that this boosts its growth and nutrition even in the absence of classic nutrient exchange ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 28, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Very intriguing findings - quite strong positive effect of AMF on presumably non-mycorrhizal plant!
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
Very excited to see this work out by visiting PhD in my group Yuanhao Zhang exploring interactions between clonal plant integration and CMNs! Spoiler they interact in big ways! doi.org/10.1111/ppl....
Capacity to form common mycorrhizal networks reduces the positive impact of clonal integration between plants
Both clonal plant capabilities for physiological integration and common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) formed by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can influence the distribution of nutrients and growth...
doi.org
March 14, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Very excited to see this work out by visiting PhD in my group Yuanhao Zhang exploring interactions between clonal plant integration and CMNs! Spoiler they interact in big ways! doi.org/10.1111/ppl....
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
🌿 Understanding how land use affects temporal #stability is key to preserve #biodiversity & #ecosystem functions. Our 13-year study across 300 sites reveals that trait-based #community features are key mediators of #land-use effects on stability drivers. @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Functional traits mediate the effect of land use on drivers of community stability within and across trophic levels
Functional traits, notably leaf-related trade-offs, shape land-use impacts on stability drivers within and across trophic levels.
www.science.org
March 11, 2025 at 1:37 PM
🌿 Understanding how land use affects temporal #stability is key to preserve #biodiversity & #ecosystem functions. Our 13-year study across 300 sites reveals that trait-based #community features are key mediators of #land-use effects on stability drivers. @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
In our recent paper, Anvar Sanaei shows that root traits of 'absorptive fine roots' relate to tree growth! In fact, they are better predictors than traits of 'transport fine roots'.
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
But there is more to it... 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
But there is more to it... 🧵
Tree growth is better explained by absorptive fine root traits than by transport fine root traits - Communications Biology
Tree growth is better explained by absorptive root traits than by transport root traits, highlighting that variation in absorptive roots affects the uptake of soil resources like nutrients and water, ...
www.nature.com
February 27, 2025 at 9:36 AM
In our recent paper, Anvar Sanaei shows that root traits of 'absorptive fine roots' relate to tree growth! In fact, they are better predictors than traits of 'transport fine roots'.
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
But there is more to it... 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
But there is more to it... 🧵
Reposted by Plant Evolutionary Ecology lab
Nature research paper: Latitudinal scaling of aggregation with abundance and coexistence in forests
https://go.nature.com/3CUTWWg
https://go.nature.com/3CUTWWg
Latitudinal scaling of aggregation with abundance and coexistence in forests - Nature
A unified framework is presented that integrates observed spatial patterns of individual trees in forests with ecological processes into a novel coexistence theory.
go.nature.com
February 26, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Nature research paper: Latitudinal scaling of aggregation with abundance and coexistence in forests
https://go.nature.com/3CUTWWg
https://go.nature.com/3CUTWWg
These two people are very dear to us 🥳 Such an inspirational PhD defence today! Check out Eleonora’s work on functional trait spaces: rdcu.be/eaNox
February 21, 2025 at 3:30 PM
These two people are very dear to us 🥳 Such an inspirational PhD defence today! Check out Eleonora’s work on functional trait spaces: rdcu.be/eaNox