Opportunistic diversification has allowed ferns to radiate into epiphytic niches in angiosperm dominated landscapes. However, our understanding of how ecophysiological function allowed establishment in the canopy and the potential transitionary role of the hemi-epiphytic life form remain unclear....

Sap flow measurements are a crucial tool for studies of plant water relations, but upscaling to tree or stand transpiration requires accounting for the radial distribution of sap flow across the stem. Because radial sap flow profiles cannot be measured with single-point measuring methods,...

Although clouds are the most recognisable and defining feature of tropical montane cloud forests, little research has focussed on how clouds affect plant functioning. We used satellite and ground-based observations to study cloud and leaf wetting patterns in contrasting tropical montane and...

A new genus, Andea van der Werff, is described. It consists of 25 gynodioecious species, all occurring in the Andes except for one species found in the mountains of Costa Rica. Morphological characteristics are discussed and a key to the species is presented.

A new species of Pradosia is described and illustrated from Costa Rica, P. golfodulcensis. The specific epithet refers to a region in the south Pacific of Costa Rica, from where most of the specimens of this new tree originate. The new species shows morphological affinities with four South American ...

Rationale: New methods to measure stable isotopes of soil and tree water directly in the field enable us to increase the temporal resolution of obtained data and advance our knowledge on the dynamics of soil and plant water fluxes. Only few field applications exist. However, these are needed to...

Small-scale treefall gaps are among the most important forms of forest disturbance in tropical forests. These gaps expose surrounding trees to more light, promoting rapid growth of understory plants. However, the effects of such small-scale disturbances on the distribution of plant water use across ...

We report 14 harmala and tryptamine-iridoid alkaloids with various tri-, tetra- and pentacyclic cores from leaves and stem bark of six species of the large and complex neotropical genus Palicourea. Among them is the previously undescribed compound deoxostrictosamide which is related to...

Epiphyte communities comprise important components of many forest ecosystems in terms of biomass and diversity, but little is known regarding trade-offs that underlie diversity and structure in these communities or the impact that microclimate has on epiphyte trait allocation. We measured 22...

Jatropha curcas is an oleaginous plant of multiple uses including the production of biodiesel. By-products after oil extraction can be used for animal feed, but the presence of toxic compounds such as phorbol esters limits its use. The availability of non-toxic germplasm permits the generation of...