With global warming, many species will shift their geographic ranges coldward (i.e., towards higher latitudes and elevations) to remain within suitable thermal conditions. At the community level, these range shifts result in “thermophilization”—the increasing relative abundance of warm‐adapted (“thermophilic”) species and the concomitant decrease of cold‐adapted species over time. Quantifying rates of thermophilization provide...

Rock outcrops are geological formations that harbor a highly specialized biota adapted to harsh environmental conditions that differ from their surrounding landscapes. They are globally distributed, especially in old, highly weathered landscapes, and can function as habitat islands containing high levels of endemism and distinct evolutionary lineages. Despite their ecoevolutionary importance, rock outcrops remain largely overl...

This is a tribute to a truly inspirational plant biologist, Prof. John A. Raven, FRS, FRSE (25th June 1941– 23rd May 2024), who died at the age of 82. He was a leader in the field of evolution and physiology of algae and land plants. His research touched on many areas including photosynthesis, ion transport, carbon utilisation, mineral use, such as silicon, iron and molybdenum, the evolution of phytoplankton, the evolution of...

The fundamental trade‐off between current and future reproduction has long been considered to result in a tendency for species that can grow large to begin reproduction at a larger size. Due to the prolonged time required to reach maturity, estimates of tree maturation size remain very rare and we lack a global view on the generality and the shape of this trade‐off. Using seed production from five continents, we estimate tree...

Background and aims Hakea prostrata (Proteaceae) is a highly phosphorus-use-efficient plant native to southwest Australia. It maintains a high photosynthetic rate at low leaf phosphorus (P) and exhibits delayed leaf greening, a convergent adaptation that increases nutrient-use efficiency. This study aimed to provide broad physiological and gene expression profiles across leaf development, uncovering pathways leading from young...

“Least‐cost theory” posits that C 3 plants should balance rates of photosynthetic water loss and carboxylation in relation to the relative acquisition and maintenance costs of resources required for these activities. Here we investigated the dependency of photosynthetic traits on climate and soil properties using a new Australia‐wide trait dataset spanning 528 species from 67 sites. We tested the hypotheses that plants on rela...

Background and aims This study investigated whether root traits at the seedling stage are maintained at the flowering stage in two chickpea ( Cicer arietinum ) genotypes with contrasting root morphology and physiology; and whether the genotype with greater rhizosheath carboxylates mobilises more poorly-available phosphorus (P) pools to increase shoot P at flowering/podding and seed yield at maturity. Methods Two chickpea genot...

Lack of tree fecundity data across climatic gradients precludes the analysis of how seed supply contributes to global variation in forest regeneration and biotic interactions responsible for biodiversity. A global synthesis of raw seedproduction data shows a 250‐fold increase in seed abundance from cold‐dry to warm‐wet climates, driven primarily by a 100‐fold increase in seed production for a given tree size. The modest (three...