A large-scale species level dated angiosperm phylogeny for evolutionary and ecological analyses.

Phylogenies are a central and indispensable tool for evolutionary and ecological research. Even though most angiosperm families are well investigated from a phylogenetic point of view, there are far less possibilities to carry out large-scale meta-analyses at order level or higher. Here, we reconstructed a large-scale dated phylogeny including nearly 1/8th of all angiosperm species, based on two plastid barcoding genes, (incl.

The evolution of climate tolerance in conifer-feeding aphids in relation to their host's climatic niche.

Climate adaptation has major consequences in the evolution and ecology of all living organisms. Though phytophagous insects are an important component of Earth's biodiversity, there are few studies investigating the evolution of their climatic preferences. This lack of research is probably because their evolutionary ecology is thought to be primarily driven by their interactions with their host plants.

The contribution of spatial mass effects to plant diversity in arable fields.

In arable fields, plant species richness consistently increases at field edges. This potentially makes the field edge an important habitat for the conservation of the ruderal arable flora (or 'weeds') and the invertebrates and birds it supports. Increased diversity and abundance of weeds in crop edges could be owing to either a reduction in agricultural inputs towards the field edge and/or spatial mass effects associated with dispersal from the surrounding landscape.

Hydrogen generation from a sodium borohydride-nickel core@shell structure under hydrolytic conditions.

Sodium borohydride (NaBH) is an attractive hydrogen carrier owing to its reactivity with water: it can generate 4 equivalents of H by hydrolysis (NaBH + 4HO → NaB(OH) + 4H). Since using NaBH in the solid state is the most favorable way to achieve a high gravimetric hydrogen storage capacity (theoretical maximum of 7.3 wt%), we have investigated the possibility of developing a core@shell nanocomposite (NaBH@Ni) where a metallic nickel catalyst facilitating the hydrolysis is directly supported onto NaBH nanoparticles.

Preliminary insights into the genetics of bank vole tolerance to Puumala hantavirus in Sweden.

Natural reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens generally seem to be capable of tolerating infections. Tolerance and its underlying mechanisms remain difficult to assess using experiments or wildlife surveys. High-throughput sequencing technologies give the opportunity to investigate the genetic bases of tolerance, and the variability of its mechanisms in natural populations.

Two new species of (Palmae/Arecaceae) from Cameroon and Gabon.

(Arecaceae, Calamoideae) is the most diverse genus of African palms with around 20 species. Two new species from Cameroon and Gabon, Mogue, Sonké & Couvreur, and Mogue, Sonké & Couvreur, are described and illustrated. Their affinities are discussed and the conservation status of each species is assessed.

Gender equity at scientific events.

Although the proportion of women in science, and in evolutionary biology in particular, has substantially increased over the last century, women remain underrepresented in academia, especially at senior levels. In addition, their scientific achievements do not always receive the same level of recognition as do men's, which can be reflected in a lower relative representation of women among invited speakers at conferences or specialized courses. Using announcements sent to the EvolDir mailing list between April 2016 and September 2017, and the symposium programs of three large evolutionary biology congresses held in summer 2017, we quantified the representation of women announced as invited speakers in conferences, congress symposia, and specialized courses.