Physiological age (p-age) in potato seed tubers is a complex and dynamic biochemical process that strongly influences plant vigour, canopy development and final yield. Consequently, p-age is a major concern for both seed producers and growers because it directly affects seed quality and subsequent crop performance. Extensive research has characterised the physiological, biochemical, and hormonal mechanisms underlying tuber age...

Hornworts are a small group of plants exclusively characterized by asynchronous sporogenesis and a sporangium that grows from its base. Among the most widely used and reliable features that delineate hornwort taxa are those related to spores, especially shape, color and spore wall ornamentation. The present study provides comparative data on the development and microanatomy of spores from all genera, representing the range of...

Climate change is already altering, and will continue to reshape, the persistence and spatial structure of marine populations. Understanding metapopulation connectivity and local adaptation is therefore critical for identifying both vulnerable populations and those with adaptive resilience. We applied a seascape genomics approach to investigate connectivity patterns and adaptive responses in the honeycomb worm, Sabellaria alve...

Coral growth and reef accretion are increasingly impacted by ocean warming and declining water quality, yet the interactive effects of heat stress and turbidity on coral growth remain equivocal. Using close-range photogrammetry, we quantified annual linear extension rates of five common hard coral morphotypes during a moderate heat stress year (2021–2022; 7.3 degree heating weeks; DHW) and an extreme heat stress year (2022–202...

Aim Dramatic Quaternary climate fluctuations impacted the evolutionary history and contemporary biogeography of many residents of the Great Basin Desert of western North America. This study investigates the historical biogeographic processes that shaped the contemporary distribution of genetic variation in a polytypic group of specialized butterflies that are residents of unique dune and playa habitats. Many of the subspecies...

This study aimed to assess the prevalence, severity, predictors, and lived experiences of food insecurity among women enrolled in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study in the USA in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that pre-existing socioeconomic and health-related disparities would heighten the risk of worsening food insecurity during the pandemic. The 10-item US Household Food Security Survey was adm...

Antarctica is designated as a natural reserve devoted to peace and science, with Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) serving as the primary instrument for area‐based biodiversity protection. However, the existing ASPA network lacks the comprehensiveness and representativeness required under Annex V, Article 3(2), of the Madrid Protocol. We demonstrated the application of systematic conservation planning to explore the...

Purpose of Review This paper reviews the current understanding of the potential for humans to enter a state of torpor/hibernation, and discusses the possibility of inducing torpor in astronauts for long-duration space travel, including some of the physiological, technological, and ethical considerations associated with its implementation. By exploring means to induce torpor in various human organoid systems, we hope such resea...

Biomass dynamics of primary producers provide a basis for assessing their capacity to capture carbon and mitigate excess greenhouse gases. Here, we estimate inter-annual and seasonal biomass cycles in canopy-forming Sargassaceae at 19 sites spanning ~ 200 km of the Ningaloo World Heritage Area over 11 consecutive years. Our global average summer estimate of 1.53 kg wet wt m −2 equates to 4.1–9.4 Gg of standing macroalgal carbo...

Species must acclimate, shift their distribution, or adapt in place in response to anthropogenic climate change. Populations at the low‐latitude trailing edge of the species distribution typically experience thermal conditions closest to the upper limit of their thermoregulatory capacity. Landscape and functional genomic approaches provide quantitative measures of risk and adaptive capacity which can inform and prioritise cons...

Understanding how species assemble across landscapes requires integration of data representing evolutionary, ecological, and biogeographic processes. We developed a comparative macrogenetic framework, applying it across 22 co‐distributed rainforest trees, to identify replicated landscape‐level genetic signatures. Diversity‐migration analyses and genogeographic clustering identified shared spatial dynamics in relation to refugi...

Suspended particulates on turbid coral reefs can mitigate thermal stress and bolster coral energy acquisition, improving resilience to climate change. Yet, questions remain regarding how corals on turbid reefs respond to successive heat stress events and whether certain coral taxa are more likely to survive under increasingly variable environmental conditions. We investigated the response of coral communities across a natural...