The invasion success of the leguminous tree Acacia dealbata Link has been related to the release of novel chemical compounds that affect both native plant performance and native soil bacterial communities. However, the allelopathic effect of A. dealbata on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) has not been explored. We used natural leachates from invasive A. dealbata and native soils to assess the...

Trade-offs in life-history traits is a central tenet in evolutionary biology, yet their ubiquity and relevance to realized fitness in natural populations remains questioned. Trade-offs in pathogens are of particular interest because they may constrain the evolution and epidemiology of diseases. Here, we studied life-history traits determining transmission in the obligate fungal pathogen, Podosp...

Studies in experimental grasslands have shown variation in plant individual performance in response to neighbourhood diversity. To which extent these responses are due to phenotypic plasticity or genetic variation is largely unknown. We collected seed families of five herbaceous species (Cirsium oleraceum, Crepis biennis, Plantago lanceolata, Plantago media and Rumex acetosa) in monocultures an...

BACKGROUND Forecasting the consequences of accelerating rates of changes in biodiversity for ecosystem functioning requires a mechanistic understanding of the relationships between the structure of biological communities and variation in plant functional characteristics. So far, experimental data of how plant species diversity influences the investment of individual plants in direct chemical de...

The purpose of this study was to determine the concentrations of heavy metals (cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, iron and manganese) in soil, their bioavailability and bioaccumulation in plants leaves. This study also examined their influences on the antioxidant response of the plants Cardaminopsis arenosa and Plantago lanceolata grown in metal-contaminated and non-contaminated soils. The activities...

Ten wet grassland species were fumigated with four concentrations of ozone (charcoal-filtered air, non-filtered air and non-filtered air plus 25 or 50 nl l(-1) ozone) in open-top chambers during one growing season to investigate the long-term effect of this air pollutant on various growth variables. Only Eupatorium cannabinum showed ozone-related foliar injury, while five species reacted with s...

Accurate measures of age-dependent mortality are critical to life-history analysis and measures of fitness, yet these measures are difficult to obtain in natural populations. Age-dependent mortality patterns can be obscured not only by seasonal variation in environmental conditions and reproduction but also by changes in the heterogeneity among individuals in the population over time due to sel...

Organic dairy farmers often introduce alternative pasture species, such as chicory (Cichorium intybus) and narrow-leaved plantain (Plantago lanceolata), to their swards because of their higher mineral contents, yet they are concerned about the presence of weed species such as docks (Rumex spp.) and dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). The mineral content and nutritive value of both desired and les...

haplothrips zabolius sp. n. is described from two plant species, cynodon dactylon (poaceae) and plantago lanceolata (plantaginaceae) from the southeast of iran. the new species is apparently close to some grass-living haplothrips species: h. aculeatus (fabricius), h. eragrostidis priesner and h. hukkineni priesner. most specimens of the new species have only one sense cone on the antennal segme...