Understory herbs experience steep light gradients that should favor adaptive plasticity in photosynthetic traits. We transplant clonal fragments of six species across experimentally manipulated shade treatments and measure specific leaf area, chlorophyll content, and photosynthetic capacity. Plastic responses are species-specific and partially decouple from phylogenetic relatedness, indicating repeated evolution of shade strategies within the community.

Riparian corridors facilitate both native biodiversity and invasive plant spread. We compare bee visitation to co-flowering native and invasive shrubs along three river segments using timed focal-plant observations and pan traps. Invasive-dominated reaches attract high bee abundance but reduce visit diversity to native co-flowering species, suggesting competition for pollinator attention that may slow native recruitment.

Low phosphorus availability constrains legume productivity on weathered soils common in Mediterranean climates. We quantify root length density, cortical aerenchyma, and exudate profiles in six native legume species grown in stratified sand columns. Species with deeper coarse-root systems maintain uptake at low bulk phosphorus concentrations, while shallow fibrous roots depend on localized solubilization by rhizosphere microbes.

Historical collections offer long temporal baselines rarely available from field monitoring alone. We georeference 1,840 herbarium specimens of ten montane forbs collected over 120 years and model elevational centroids against regional warming trends. Most species show upward displacement of median elevation, but trailing-edge populations persist on north-facing slopes, implying heterogeneous extinction debt across the assemblage.

Crop wild relatives harbor microbial partners that may confer stress tolerance absent in domesticated lines. We isolate root-associated fungi from drought-prone barley populations and inoculate seedlings under controlled water deficit. Several endophyte strains improve biomass retention and stomatal regulation without increasing water use efficiency penalties, suggesting exploitable symbioses for pre-breeding programs.

Alpine sedges occupy nutrient-poor fens yet tolerate wide temperature swings, making them useful models for cold-adaptation genomics. We generate a chromosome-scale assembly using long-read sequencing and Hi-C scaffolding from a single individual collected above treeline. Annotation reveals expanded gene families linked to membrane stability and stress signaling relative to lowland congeners, supporting targeted comparative analyses across the genus.

Habitat fragmentation can disrupt mutualistic interactions without immediately reducing species richness. We compare pollination networks across eight forest patches of varying size and connectivity using standardized transect sampling over two flowering seasons. Smaller remnants show higher network specialization but lower redundancy, with generalist pollinators buffering the loss of specialist links only when adjacent matrix vegetation remains structurally diverse.