The best of both worlds: Combining lineage-specific and universal bait sets in target-enrichment hybridization reactions.

Premise: Researchers adopting target-enrichment approaches often struggle with the decision of whether to use universal or lineage-specific probe sets. To circumvent this quandary, we investigate the efficacy of a simultaneous enrichment by combining universal probes and lineage-specific probes in a single hybridization reaction, to benefit from the qualities of both probe sets with little added cost or effort.

Methods And Results: Using 26 Brassicaceae libraries and standard enrichment protocols, we compare results from three independent data sets.

Identifying the fitness consequences of sex in complex natural environments.

In the natural world, sex prevails, despite its costs. Although much effort has been dedicated to identifying the intrinsic costs of sex (e.g.

Using computer vision on herbarium specimen images to discriminate among closely related horsetails ().

Premise: is a distinctive vascular plant genus with 15 extant species worldwide. Species identification is complicated by morphological plasticity and frequent hybridization events, leading to a disproportionately high number of misidentified specimens. These may be correctly identified by applying appropriate computer vision tools.

Applying machine learning to investigate long-term insect-plant interactions preserved on digitized herbarium specimens.

Premise: Despite the economic significance of insect damage to plants (i.e., herbivory), long-term data documenting changes in herbivory are limited.

Adaptation to hummingbird pollination is associated with reduced diversification in .

A striking characteristic of the Western North American flora is the repeated evolution of hummingbird pollination from insect-pollinated ancestors. This pattern has received extensive attention as an opportunity to study repeated trait evolution as well as potential constraints on evolutionary reversibility, with little attention focused on the impact of these transitions on species diversification rates. Yet traits conferring adaptation to divergent pollinators potentially impact speciation and extinction rates, because pollinators facilitate plant reproduction and specify mating patterns between flowering plants.

Using citizen science to bridge taxonomic discovery with education and outreach.

Premise Of The Study: Biological collections are uniquely poised to inform the stewardship of life on Earth in a time of cataclysmic biodiversity loss. Efforts to fully leverage collections are impeded by a lack of trained taxonomists and a lack of interest and engagement by the public. We provide a model of a crowd-sourced data collection project that produces quality taxonomic data sets and empowers citizen scientists through real contributions to science.