New research has pinpointed the genetic boost behind one of the biggest transformations of life on Earth.
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Articles on Plants
Displaying 1 - 20 of 164 articles
Like many plants, onions have defenses to ward off creatures that may want to eat them. Their secret weapon is a kind of natural tear gas.
Masting is what biologists call the pattern of trees for miles around synchronizing to all produce lots of seeds – or very few. Why and how do they get on schedule?
Scientists have tracked endangered species for years. Now they're figuring out how to highlight animals and plants that have recovered – but what does that mean?
How many genes do you really need? Are there any that we can lose? Researchers are now identifying species that have streamlined their genome to adapt to a particular lifestyle.
Oxygen produced by these plants helps animals boost their metabolism to match the heat.
A startling phenomenon occurs after a fire tears through a landscape. So what is it in bushfires that gives plants this kiss of life?
Not only can plants survive fire, they can use the experience of being burned to prepare themselves for future blazes.
Plant cells signal between each other in order to agree what time it is.
On the outskirts of Darwin, small insects are gobbled up by strange plants. Enter the world of the bladderwort.
Plants clearly lack brains but does all intelligence have to look like our own?
Albany pitcher plants are more closely related to cabbages and roses than any other carnivorous plant.
Indoor plant factories have high energy costs since LEDs replace the sunlight outdoor plants get for free. Scientists found a way to dial back how much light is needed by breaking it into tiny bursts.
Waterwheel plants use snap up mosquito larvae, tiny fish and even tadpoles in freshwater wetlands around the world – including remote parts of north Australia.
Britain's councils are cutting roadside verges less often to allow vibrant wildflower meadows to bloom.
They might be a hated household pest, but ants actually live fascinating and complex lives.
A recent global survey found almost 600 plants have gone extinct. And this figure is likely to be an underestimate.
We don't notice the plant species we're losing, but we won't be able to ignore the effect of their loss on our supply of food and medicine.
Leaves fall off trees when they aren’t doing their job any more. If there isn’t enough water, the leaf can be damaged and stop working.
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.
Top contributors
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Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in Plant Biochemistry, University of Westminster
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Chief research scientist, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere; and Executive Director, Global Carbon Project, CSIRO
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PhD Candidate in Biodiversity and Human Health, Edith Cowan University
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Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University
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Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University
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Professor, School of Science, Edith Cowan University
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Senior Lecturer in Horticulture, Nottingham Trent University
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Postdoctoral research fellow, iThemba LABS
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Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Edith Cowan University
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Ph.D. Student in the School of Plant and Environmental Science, Virginia Tech
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Professor of Horticultural Sciences and Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Florida
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Research fellow, University of Aberdeen
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Associate Professor in Biophysics, University of Pretoria
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Postdoctoral associate in Ecology, University of Sheffield
