How many species still to name? That’s a good question.
Shutterstock/ju see
New species are being discovered all the time, which only adds to the problem of knowing how many there are on the planet today. It also helps to know what we mean by species.
A grizzly bear eats ripe buffaloberry fruit in the Bow Valley of Alberta. Shifts in the timing of buffaloberry development in the Rocky Mountains will change the behaviour of grizzly bears, and could threaten reproductive rates in this vulnerable population.
Alex P. Taylor
As warming temperatures shift the availability of key food sources, Alberta’s grizzly bears will be forced to adjust.
Elizaveta Galitckaia/Shutterstock
Pollen counts focus on the amount of grains in the air, but it could be the species that are more important.
Phragmites, an invasive species, line this marsh at Sachuest Point in Middletown, Rhode island.
Tom Sturm/USFWS
Phragmites australis, an invasive reed, has taken over wetlands across the US. But it also stabilizes shorelines and harbors many fish and birds. Is it time to compromise with this alien?
John Tann/Flickr
What grows everywhere and looks good doing it? Clematis aristata.
Silver moss can survive almost total dehydration.
HermannSchachner/Wikipedia
The moss that grows in pavement cracks and on the edge of basketball courts in every town and city in Australia has a secret superpower.
Gnangarra via Wikipedia
Firewood banksia don’t just survive in Western Australia’s sandy plains, they thrive, showing off with vibrant, pink-red flower spikes.
The Conversation
This retiring violet tucked away in the Australian bush holds the key to future generations of medically-engineered plants.
How seeds came to be.
Shutterstock.
This is the story of how seeds came together bit-by-bit over a really long time, as plants evolved.
The Conversation/THawkes
Move over Benedict Cumberbatch, there’s another oddly shaped pale figure stealing the limelight.
Your plants would certainly love a drink this summer. But which water is best?
from www.shutterstock.com
Plants can find it tough to get all the nitrogen they need, especially from Australian soils. But summer storms can provide an added boost.
Amenic181/Shutterstock
There are over 100 species of wild coffee, but only a few supply the world’s morning caffeine kick. Sadly, climate change and disease could be about to change that.
‘Brow-raising browning.
Rachael Treharne
Extreme climatic events are harming plant communities in the Arctic. The resulting colour change is bad news for the region’s carbon storage.
Got a license for those seeds?
xuanhuongho/Shutterstock.com
Sharing seeds was common practice among farmers throughout history until the rise of agribusiness. Now seeds are trademarked and regulated, but there’s a new place to get them for free: the library.
Some sneaky plants steal food instead of exclusively making their own.
Charlie Jackson/flickr
Since plants can’t pick up and move to greener pastures if conditions are tough, some have evolved interesting and sneaky strategies to make a living.
The Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa.
Shutterstock
The colonial history of botanical gardens encouraged pride in indigenous flora and culture.
The Eucalyptus obliqua as seen in Merthyr Park, Tasmania.
Cowirrie/Flickr, CC BY-SA
One of the great Australian trees – messmate stringybark, Eucalyptus obliqua.
Shutterstock.
Practical advice from an expert about lighting, decoration and furnishings.
Radula complanata, a cannabinoid moss.
Henri Koskinen/Shutterstock
Radula liverwort shares an intriguing similarity to cannabis – researchers are working out what it does to the brain.
Marc Freestone/The Conversation
Scientists are racing against the clock to figure out how to propagate the rare leek orchid before it goes extinct.