Aims Fertiliser is often used to kick-start ecological restoration despite growing evidence of the potentially negative impacts on plant diversity. Jarrah ( Eucalyptus marginata ) forest species growing on nutrient (especially phosphorus) impoverished soils in southwestern Australia have a suite of adaptations for phosphorus (P) acquisition, including the formation of cluster roots, and associations with mycorrhizal fungi. Her...

Recruitment from seeds is among the most vulnerable stage for plants as global temperatures change. While germination is the means by which the vast majority of the world's flora regenerate naturally, a framework for accurately predicting which species are at greatest risk of germination failure during environmental perturbation is lacking. Taking a physiological approach, we assess how one family, the Cactaceae, may respond t...

Many of the skills and resources associated with botanic gardens and arboreta, including plant taxonomy, horticulture, and seed bank management, are fundamental to ecological restoration efforts, yet few of the world's botanic gardens are involved in the science or practice of restoration. Thus, we examined the potential role of botanic gardens in these emerging fields. We believe a reorientation of certain existing institutio...