Ex situ living plant collections play a crucial role in providing nature-based solutions to twenty-first century global challenges. However, the complex dynamics of these artificial ecosystems are poorly quantified and understood, affecting biodiversity storage, conservation and utilization. To evaluate the management of ex situ plant diversity, we analysed a century of data comprising 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Caves are primary sites for studying human and animal subsistence patterns and genetic ancestry throughout the Palaeolithic. Iberia served as a critical human and animal refugium in Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), 26.5 to 19 thousand years before the present (cal kya).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding how crop varieties acclimate to elevated temperatures is key to priming them for future climates. Here, we exposed two genotypes of Sorghum bicolor (one sensitive to heat shock (Sen) and one tolerant (Tol)) from multiple growth temperatures to a six-day heat shock (reaching 45°C), carrying out a suite of measurements before and during heat shock. Sen consistently reduced photosynthetic functioning during heat shock, while Tol increased its photosynthetic rate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The increasing number of institutionalized older individuals worldwide stresses the need to evaluate the association between the functional profile of institutionalized older adults and their quality of life (QoL), depressive symptoms and feelings of loneliness.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 19 residential facilities in Alentejo, Portugal. Between March and September 2023, all individuals aged ≥65 years were invited to complete a structured questionnaire ( = 1303).