Plants are excellent climate indicators and their macro-remains or pollen accumulating in geological archives serve as recorders of environmental change. In Europe birch trees contribute importantly to Holocene plant successions. They constitute the dwarf species Betula nana and B. humilis,...

Leaf traits, the rate of gas exchange, and biomass were examined in five plurizonal species (Alisma plantago-aquatica L., Carex acuta L., Eleocharis palustris (L.) Roem. et Schult., Phalaris arundinacea L., and Typha angustifolia L.) of emergent plants growing in wetlands of forest (Middle Urals)...

In this issue of New Phytologist, Ramírez-Valiente et al. (2020; pp. 794-809) used a common garden experiment to assess whether leaf traits, whole-plant morphology, plant hydraulics, gas exchange, and growth rates have evolved in coordination in 12 oak (Quercus) species from the western Palearctic...

Water is the main limiting factor for groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in drylands. Predicted climate change (precipitation reductions and temperature increases) and anthropogenic activities such as groundwater drawdown jeopardise the functioning of these ecosystems, presenting new...

This report presents information on all aspects of the biology, ecology and invasion behaviour of Rhododendron ponticum L., particularly R. ponticum subsp. baeticum (Boiss. & Reut.) Hand.-Mazz. The main topics presented are: taxonomy, distribution, history of introduction and spread, ecology,...

In this study, we investigate the phylogeny and taxonomy of the /Camptori clade sensu Soop et al. (2019a). Based on combined nrDNA ITS phylogenetic, morphological, and ecological analyses, the clade includes six species in Europe, four of which are described here as new to science: Cortinarius...

This is a commentary on the article of Rosas et al. (pp. 632-646) in the issue New Phytologist that investigates within-and among-species variation in key plant traits along a water availability gradient in two major plant families (three Fagaceae and three Pinaceae) from a European forest. Results ...

Understanding the critical soil moisture (SM) threshold (θ_crit) of plant water stress and land surface energy partitioning is a basis to evaluate drought impacts and improve models for predicting future ecosystem condition and climate. Quantifying the θ_crit across biomes and climates is challenging ...

A simple regression model for calculating annual actual evapotranspiration (ET) and potential evapotranspiration (PET), as well as annual transpiration (TR) of mature boreal forests grown in the European part of Russia in the Holocene using paleoclimatic and paleobotanical data (air temperature,...

The introduction of Lupinus mutabilis (Andean lupin) in Europe will provide a new source of protein and oil for plant-based diets and biomass for bio-based products, while contributing to the improvement of marginal soils. This study evaluates for the first time the phenotypic variability of a...