Despite striking differences in climate, soils, and evolutionary history among diverse biomes ranging from tropical and temperate forests to alpine tundra and desert, we found similar interspecific relationships among leaf structure and function and plant growth in all biomes. Our results thus demonstrate convergent evolution and global generality in plant functioning, despite the enormous dive...

The seasonal changes of leaf physiological traits and its relationship with abiotic factors (photosynthetic active radiation-PAR, leaf temperature-Tleaf, air temperature-Tair, Tleaf - Tair- ΔT) were studied on sugar beets grown under the semi-arid conditions of central Greece. Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cv Rizor was established in a Randomised Complete Block design experiment for two years (...

In a trial to determine if flowering cherries (Prunus serrulata Lindl.) were a source of little cherry disease, infection was found in seven of 10 species and cultivars tested. In an orchard trial with the cultivar 'Lambert', fruit symptoms of little cherry occurred in infected trees in the fifth year of fruiting, 8 years after planting. The symptoms also occurred in the two succeeding years, a...

Plant phenology, a sensitive indicator of climate change, influences vegetation-atmosphere interactions by changing the carbon and water cycles from local to global scales. Camera-based phenological observations of the color changes of the vegetation canopy throughout the growing season have becomepopular in recent years. However, the linkages between camera phenological metrics and leaf bioche...

As one of the most important hosts of natural light harvesting, foliage normally has complicated surface structures to capture solar radiances. Bio-mimicking leaf surface structures can provide novel designs of covers in photovoltaic systems. In this article, we reported on replicating leaf surface structures on poly-(methyl methacrylate) polymers to prompt harvesting efficiencies. Prepared via...

The scanning electrochemical microscope can be used in the feedback mode in two-dimensional scans over biological substrates to obtain topographic information at the micrometer level. In this mode, the effect of distance between a substrate (either conductive or insulating) and a scanning ultramicroelectrode tip on the electrolytic current flowing at the tip is recorded as a function of the tip...