Metabolic profiling and antibacterial activity of tree wood extracts obtained under variable extraction conditions.

Introduction: Tree bacterial diseases are a threat in forestry due to their increasing incidence and severity. Understanding tree defence mechanisms requires evaluating metabolic changes arising during infection. Metabolite extraction affects the chemical diversity of the samples and, therefore, the biological relevance of the data.

Foliar Water Uptake Supports Water Potential Recovery but Does Not Affect Xylem Sap Composition in Two Salt-Secreting Mangroves.

Mangroves are highly salt-tolerant species, which live in saline intertidal environments, but rely on alternative, less saline water to maintain hydraulic integrity and plant productivity. Foliar water uptake (FWU) is thought to assist in hydration of mangroves, particularly during periods of acute water deficit. We investigated the dynamics of FWU in Avicennia marina and Aegiceras corniculatum by submerging and spraying excised branches and measuring leaf water potential (Ψ) at different time intervals.

Mapping multi-dimensional variability in water stress strategies across temperate forests.

Increasing water stress is emerging as a global phenomenon, and is anticipated to have a marked impact on forest function. The role of tree functional strategies is pivotal in regulating forest fitness and their ability to cope with water stress. However, how the functional strategies found at the tree or species level scale up to characterise forest communities and their variation across regions is not yet well-established.

The pace of life for forest trees.

Tree growth and longevity trade-offs fundamentally shape the terrestrial carbon balance. Yet, we lack a unified understanding of how such trade-offs vary across the world's forests. By mapping life history traits for a wide range of species across the Americas, we reveal considerable variation in life expectancies from 10 centimeters in diameter (ranging from 1.

The global loss of avian functional and phylogenetic diversity from anthropogenic extinctions.

Humans have been driving a global erosion of species richness for millennia, but the consequences of past extinctions for other dimensions of biodiversity-functional and phylogenetic diversity-are poorly understood. In this work, we show that, since the Late Pleistocene, the extinction of 610 bird species has caused a disproportionate loss of the global avian functional space along with ~3 billion years of unique evolutionary history. For island endemics, proportional losses have been even greater.

Mesophyll airspace unsaturation drives C plant success under vapor pressure deficit stress.

A fundamental assumption in plant science posits that leaf air spaces remain vapor saturated, leading to the predominant view that stomata alone control leaf water loss. This concept has been pivotal in photosynthesis and water-use efficiency research. However, recent evidence has refuted this longstanding assumption by providing evidence of unsaturation in the leaf air space of C plants under relatively mild vapor pressure deficit (VPD) stress.

Preliminary Evaluation of the Effect of Domestication on the Marketable and Nutritional Quality of (L.) Delile Oil from Algeria.

is a multipurpose fruit tree that grows wild in many arid and semi-arid African areas; however, recent domestication efforts have been undertaken to protect the species from the threat of urbanization and climate change. Within this context, the impact of the domestication of Algerian was evaluated on its seed oil, which is already valued as food. Hence, oils from wild and domesticated trees were comparatively investigated for their physicochemical and compositional quality.

Pesticide residues and risk assessment of trunk-injected pesticides in pine nut (Pinus koraiensis) seeds.

Pine nuts, the edible seeds of pines (Family: Pinaceae, Pinus spp.), are popular worldwide, particularly those from the Korean pine tree (Pinus koraiensis), which is economically significant and widely exported. The spread of pine wilt disease (PWD) caused by pinewood nematodes (PWNs) has necessitated the use of trunk injections of pesticides in Korea, raising concerns about pesticide residues in edible pine nuts.

Elevated atmospheric CO alters the multi-element stoichiometry of pollen-bearing oak flowers, with possible negative effects on bees.

Increasing atmospheric CO levels change the elemental composition in plants, altering their nutritional quality and affecting consumers and ecosystems. Ecological stoichiometry provides a framework for investigating how CO-driven nutrient dilution in pollen affects bees by linking changes in pollen chemical element proportions to the nutritional needs of bees. We investigated the consequences of five years of Free Air CO Enrichment (FACE) in a mature oak-dominated temperate forest on the elemental composition of English oak (Quercus robur) pollen.

Tribulus (Zygophyllaceae) as a case study for the evolution of C and C photosynthesis.

C photosynthesis is a photosynthetic pathway in which photorespiratory CO release and refixation are enhanced in leaf bundle sheath (BS) tissues. The evolution of C photosynthesis has been hypothesized to be a major step in the origin of C photosynthesis, highlighting the importance of studying C evolution. In this study, physiological, anatomical, ultrastructural, and immunohistochemical properties of leaf photosynthetic tissues were investigated in six non-C Tribulus species and four C Tribulus species.

Unravelling the complexities of biotic homogenization and heterogenization in the British avifauna.

Biotic homogenization is a process whereby species assemblages become more similar through time. The standard way of identifying the process of biotic homogenization is to look for decreases in spatial beta-diversity. However, using a single assemblage-level metric to assess homogenization can mask important changes in the occupancy patterns of individual species.

High heat tolerance, evaporative cooling, and stomatal decoupling regulate canopy temperature and their safety margins in three European oak species.

Heatwaves and soil droughts are increasing in frequency and intensity, leading many tree species to exceed their thermal thresholds, and driving wide-scale forest mortality. Therefore, investigating heat tolerance and canopy temperature regulation mechanisms is essential to understanding and predicting tree vulnerability to hot droughts. We measured the diurnal and seasonal variation in leaf water potential (Ψ), gas exchange (photosynthesis A and stomatal conductance g), canopy temperature (T), and heat tolerance (leaf critical temperature T and thermal safety margins TSM, i.

Global atmospheric methane uptake by upland tree woody surfaces.

Methane is an important greenhouse gas, but the role of trees in the methane budget remains uncertain. Although it has been shown that wetland and some upland trees can emit soil-derived methane at the stem base, it has also been suggested that upland trees can serve as a net sink for atmospheric methane. Here we examine in situ woody surface methane exchange of upland tropical, temperate and boreal forest trees.

The inclusion of improved forest management in strategic forest planning and its impact on timber harvests, carbon and biodiversity conservation.

In forestry, although the so-called nature-based climate solutions have usually been focused on the calculation of carbon captured in new afforestation projects, it should be noted that the increase in carbon associated with improvements in their management (Improved Forest Management) can also be computed. This type of carbon is not usually integrated into strategic forest planning models, nor has its possible degree of conflict with other regulation ecosystemic services, like biodiversity conservation, been verified. In this research, those two issues have been approached by calculating a baseline in an emblematic forest with an extensive forestry history.

Foraging for the future: traditional culinary uses of wild plants in the Western Himalayas-Kashmir Valley (India).

Background: In the intricate tapestry of food security, wild food species stand as pillars, nourishing millions in low-income communities, and reflecting the resilience and adaptability of human societies. Their significance extends beyond mere sustenance, intertwining with cultural traditions and local knowledge systems, underscoring the importance of preserving biodiversity and traditional practices for sustainable livelihoods.

Methods: The present study, conducted between February 2022 and August 2023 along the Line of Control in India's Kashmir Valley, employed a rigorous data collection encompassing semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and specific field observations facilitated through a snowball sampling technique.

Power-law scaling in intratumoral microbiota of colorectal cancer.

It has recently been proposed that the study of microbial dynamics in humans may gain insights from island biogeographical theory. Here, we test whether the diversity of the intratumoral microbiota of colorectal cancer tumors (CRC) follows a power law with tumor size akin to the island species-area relationship. We confirm a direct correlation between the quantity of Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) within CRC tumors and tumor sizes, following a (log)power model, explaining 47% of the variation.

Relative decline in density of Northern Hemisphere tree species in warm and arid regions of their climate niches.

Although climate change is expected to drive tree species toward colder and wetter regions of their distribution, broadscale empirical evidence is lacking. One possibility is that past and present human activities in forests obscure or alter the effects of climate. Here, using data from more than two million monitored trees from 73 widely distributed species, we quantify changes in tree species density within their climatic niches across Northern Hemisphere forests.

Coevolutionary analysis of Pseudomonas syringae-phage interactions to help with rational design of phage treatments.

Treating plant bacterial diseases is notoriously difficult because of the lack of available antimicrobials. Pseudomonas syringae pathovar syringae (Pss) is a major pathogen of cherry (Prunus avium) causing bacterial canker of the stem, leaf and fruit, impacting productivity and leading to a loss of trees. In an attempt to find a treatment for this disease, naturally occurring bacteriophage (phage) that specifically target Pss is being investigated as a biocontrol strategy.

Corrigendum: Invertebrates and herptiles for livelihoods-ethnozoological use among different ethnic communities in Jammu and Kashmir (Indian Himalayas).

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.

Local spatiotemporal dynamics of particulate matter and oak pollen measured by machine learning aided optical particle counters.

Conventional techniques for monitoring pollen currently have significant limitations in terms of labour, cost and the spatiotemporal resolution that can be achieved. Pollen monitoring networks across the world are generally sparse and are not able to fully represent the detailed characteristics of airborne pollen. There are few studies that observe concentrations on a local scale, and even fewer that do so in ecologically rich rural areas and close to emitting sources.

Reponses of morphological and biochemical traits of bamboo trees under elevated atmospheric O enrichment.

Dwarf bamboo (Indocalamus decorus) is an O-tolerant plant species. To identify the possible mechanism and response of leaf morphological, antioxidant, and anatomical characteristics to elevated atmospheric O (EO) concentrations, we exposed three-year-old I. decorus seedlings to three O levels (low O-LO: ambient air; medium O-MO: Ambient air+70 ppb high O-HO: Ambient air+140 ppb O) over a growing season using open-top chambers.

Using Carbon Stable Isotopes to Study C and C Photosynthesis: Models and Calculations.

Stable carbon isotopes are a powerful tool to study photosynthesis. Initial applications consisted of determining isotope ratios of plant biomass using mass spectrometry. Subsequently, theoretical models relating C isotope values to gas exchange characteristics were introduced and tested against instantaneous online measurements of C photosynthetic discrimination.