Alexandre Robin-Soriano, University of Tartu, finds that grazing abandonment significantly restructures fungal communties and interaction networks. #SoilEcologyInPractice

✨ Paper spotlight ✨ (🧵 1/7) Contrasting influences of ectomycorrhizal fungi on decomposition depending on soil fertility nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Old-growth grasslands are slow to recover once destroyed. Characteristic plants of such grasslands are shorter and have smaller leaves with less nitrogen than plants in secondary grasslands, which are resource-acquisitive and more competitive. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/zOl950ZFVFu

New study on how intraspecific variability changes plant-soil responses to simulated grazing @irene-cordero.bsky.social, et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Summary also available in Spanish. @plantecoevout.bsky.social #PlantScience

Mixtures of several forage-plant species systematically increase yields with lower fertiliser input. Higher temperatures enhance the benefits of these mixtures, making them a key component of #ClimateChange adaptation. 👇

Adaptable and High-Yielding: Multispecies Mixtures Make Sown Grasslands Climate-Change-Proof - Agrarforschung Schweiz

Mixtures of several forage-plant species systematically increase yields with lower fertiliser input. Higher temperatures enhance the benefits of these mixtures, making them a key component of climate-...

agrarforschungschweiz.ch

🎉New paper! We looked into plant-soil interactions along a unique grassland successional gradient of 300 years. Young (30-60 years old!) ex-arable grasslands still have higher soil pathogen abundance than ancient grasslands, which makes plant populations less resilient to drought. @erc.europa.eu

New Phytologist@newphyt.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Grassland age and local adaptation shape drought resilience across semi‐natural grassland populations Jing et al. @plantecoevout.bsky.social @yuyingj.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

60-yr long time series of changes in local environmental conditions across habitat types (forests, grasslands, shrublands & wetlands) using plant species ecological indicator values #EIVs to track back those changes: increase in N-demanding & shade-tolerant species ⬇️ shorturl.at/RAHGc

New on the Belowground blog: The inverted forest: Why global carbon models miss the mark on subtropical grasslands plantlifebelowground.wordpress.com/2026/04/01/t...

The inverted forest: Why global carbon models miss the mark on subtropical grasslands

New research by Elaine Slooten from North-West University and the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. The photo above is of a subtropical grassland in South Africa in full bloom (photo by …

plantlifebelowground.wordpress.com

We are looking for a new PhD student: Parallel Evolution of Clonality in Angiosperms www.ibot.cas.cz/en/vacancies...

Graduate Student Position (M/F) 0204

Graduate Student Position (M/F) in Parallel Evolution of Clonality in Angiosperms...

ibot.cas.cz

So glad to see this study finally out after several years of trying to find time to put data together despite fast pace of life and new projects coming along! 🎉We linked plant-soil feedbacks to mycorrhizal associations and soil metabolomics: doi.org/10.1111/ele.... @petriacqp.bsky.social @wiley.com

Contrast in Mycorrhizal Associations Leads to Divergent Rhizosphere Metabolomes and Plant–Soil Feedback Among Grassland Species

Most terrestrial plants are colonised by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi but vary in the degree to which they benefit from and depend on these fungi. Here we show that plants can make the interaction wi...

doi.org

Using 63 globally distributed grassland and shrubland sites from the International Drought Experiment, this study identifies plant traits linked to drought resistance after 1 year of extreme drought across growth forms, lifespans and climate 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Growth form and lifespan of herbaceous species mediate the role of traits in short-term drought response - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Using 63 globally distributed grassland and shrubland sites from the International Drought Experiment, this study identified plant traits linked to drought resistance after 1 year of extreme drought a...

nature.com

🐑🌱 What drives functional change in grazed grasslands? Eshelman et al. report that increased grazing favours avoidance, resistance, and tolerance traits, with most trait shifts arising from intraspecific variation rather than species turnover.

Postdoctoral position in Forest Genetics at @uni-freiburg.de with a focus on local adaptation and/or stress reaction of trees. The position combines research and teaching (4 SWS), and offers the opportunity to develop an independent research profile (4+ years).

Introducing.... The Soil Ecology Seminar Series 2026! Join us on Wednesday the 25th of February at 1 pm GMT for the first installment. We will delve into microbial ecology with exciting talks from Dr Ashish Malik and Josh Thurston: Register your interest here: urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

#transgenerational transmission of a core #microbiome that protects against downy mildew from soil to #phyllosphere Fantastic and important study by @jellespooren.bsky.social @rlberendsen.bsky.social @cornepieterse.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc... #plantscience

#TansleyReview: #Mycorrhizas: Epigenetic Regulation & Transgenerational Legacy 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... by Beltrán-Torres et al. @irissammarco.bsky.social @stephane-maury.bsky.social @vtec.bsky.social Figure was created in BioRender (BioRender.com/8rq6i2c).

Transferred resistance – interspecific transfer of plant defence against soilborne pathogens nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #Commentary by Costa and Mathesius highlighting the recent work by Hama et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/2JZ2PX...

📖Published! Land use change can affect both species diversity and evolution within species🌍🐿️ We find that evolutionary response to land use change can be masked in the field by phenotypic plasticity, revealing hidden adaptation to global change👇️ buff.ly/TRxJ3bM

Have you heard about countergradient variation? We found it plays a role in plant response to grassland land use change: phenotypic plasticity masks evolutionary response to grazing abandonment! @erc.europa.eu @journalofecology.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Check out our new paper, Multilevel selection informs context-dependent mycorrhizal functioning! This is my very first first-authored publication, and I worked w some incredible folks to make it happen: @meafkhami.bsky.social @balachaudhary.bsky.social and Nancy Johnson! doi.org/10.3389/frmb...

Frontiers | Multilevel selection theory informs context-dependent mycorrhizal functioning

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form widespread, ancient, and critically important symbioses with plants, but their functioning and beneficial effects are ...

doi.org

“Bektaş et al. (2026) offer a valuable template for future studies embracing the complexity of whole-plant strategies, inviting the scientific community to go beyond the traditionally used traits (Matthus et al., 2025).” Thank you @karlandraczek.bsky.social & @newphyt.bsky.social 🙏🏽

New Phytologist@newphyt.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Acclimation lags in alpine #grasslands reveal early warning signs of #ClimateChange 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 👆 A #Commentary by @karlandraczek.bsky.social on this article by Bektaş et al. 👇 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #LatestIssue

💭Are you a researcher or practitioner with an interest in publishing? We are looking for Associate Editors who can help advance outstanding ecological research by joining the Editorial Board for one of our seven Society-owned journals.

🌿🍄‍🟫🌱🍄We’re recruiting!!🌿🍄‍🟫🌱🍄 I’m looking for two postdocs and a technician to join my group @sheffielduni.bsky.social @sheffieldpps.bsky.social to work with me on my exciting @royalsociety.org Faraday Discovery Fellowship project, details for each post as follows:

Tree evolution is surprisingly quirky! 🌳 Trees are likely ancestral in many plant groups, often re-evolve on islands, and Arabidopsis can be made tree-like by tweaking a few genes. We revisited what genes really make a tree a tree using comparative genomics. @trhvidsten.bsky.social #trees #evolution

Trends in Plant Science@cp-trendsplantsci.bsky.social · 11mo ago

An updated perspective: what genes make a tree a tree? #plantscience

Our first paper from the Bug-Network (BugNet) is out! 🎉 BugNet is a global network studying how invertebrate herbivores and fungal pathogens shape plant diversity & ecosystem functioning worldwide. The paper reports on the methods of the experimental part: 📄 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

The Bug‐Network (BugNet): A Global Experimental Network Testing the Effects of Invertebrate Herbivores and Fungal Pathogens on Plant Communities and Ecosystem Function in Open Ecosystems

The Bug-Network (BugNet) is a novel global collaborative research network that implements standardized consumer-reduction experiments in herbaceous- or shrub-dominated ecosystems to assess the impact...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Ecological acclimation: A framework to integrate fast and slow responses to climate change - Stemkovski - 2025 - Functional Ecology - Wiley Online Library besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Ecological acclimation: A framework to integrate fast and slow responses to climate change

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

🗞️New publication🗞️ How do neighbourhood diversity effects on tree growth change with climatic conditions?🌳🌲🔆🌧️ We adress this question in our new study in @natecoevo.nature.com led by Liting Zheng. www.nature.com/articles/s41... /w @liting-zheng.bsky.social, Peter Reich & #TreeDivNet

Neighbourhood diversity increases tree growth in experimental forests more in wetter climates but not in wetter years - Nature Ecology & Evolution

How tree diversity effects on ecosystem functioning vary along climatic gradients is unclear. Here, analysing data from 15 experimental forest sites, the authors show that tree growth responses to nei...

nature.com

Hot off the press 🔥 New Ecological Monographs paper shows why, when and how to include intraspecific trait variability to enhance functional diversity research. Huge shout out to Facundo Palacio for his vision and leadership. Read here 👉 doi.org/10.1002/ecm.... #traits #functionaldiversity 📏🌐

Integrating intraspecific trait variability in functional diversity: An overview of methods and a guide for ecologists

Variability in traits within species (intraspecific trait variability; ITV) has attracted increased interest in functional ecology, as it can profoundly influence the detection of functional trait pa....

doi.org

Check out our new paper: Origin matters: mycorrhizal growth response and induced resistance to pathogens depend on mycorrhizal and pathogen source, where we show that mycorrhizal induced resistance occurs within native plant species 🌱 @newphyt.bsky.social

Origin matters: mycorrhizal growth response and induced resistance to pathogens depend on mycorrhizal and pathogen source

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are critical to native plant community ecology and influence plant invasions. Research has focused on nutritional benefits of AMF, although evidence shows that the...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

⬆️🌡️Increasing temperatures,☀️ drought,🐮🐑🚫 grazing cessation and nitrogen deposition amount to tough times for vulnerable dry grasslands. A three-decade long case study in Germany by Horka et al. gives us more insights on the changes these communities face. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Diversity Increases but Community Specialists Decline Over Three Decades in Dry Grassland Communities of Central Germany

Aim Dry grasslands are vulnerable to climate and land-use change. Increasing temperatures, drought, grazing cessation and nitrogen deposition can all result in shifts in grasslands' taxonomic and fu...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com