Spatial decoupling of taxon richness, phylogenetic diversity and threat status in the megagenus (Ericaceae).

Estimates of the number of vascular plant species currently under threat of extinction are shockingly high, with the highest extinction rates reported for narrow-range, woody plants, especially in biodiversity hotspots with Mediterranean and tropical climates. The large genus is a prime example, as a large proportion of its 851 species, all shrubs or small trees, are endemic to the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa. Almost two hundred are known to be threatened and a further hundred are 'Data Deficient'.

Taking it with a grain of salt: tolerance to increasing salinization in Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) across a low-lying delta.

Background: Salinity, exacerbated by rising sea levels, is a critical environmental cue affecting freshwater ecosystems. Predicting ecosystem structure in response to such changes and their implications for the geographical distribution of arthropod disease vectors requires further insights into the plasticity and adaptability of lower trophic level species in freshwater systems. Our study investigated whether populations of the mosquito Culex pipiens, typically considered sensitive to salt, have adapted due to gradual exposure.

Parallel developments in floral adaptations to obligate moth pollination mutualism in tribe Phyllantheae (Phyllanthaceae).

Several groups within tribe Phyllantheae (Phyllanthaceae) formed, independently, an (obligate) pollination mutualism with moths, which originally had been parasitic. In this pollination system, female moths actively collect pollen from staminate flowers and deposit it on the stigma of pistillate flowers, after which they place at least one egg in or against the ovary. The high pollination rate makes the system beneficial for the plants, whereas the larvae are provided with food (part of the developing seeds) and some protection against predation.