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Identifying an efficient microbial inoculant to promote plant growth is a key pillar in microbial ecology. A wide variety of microbial inoculants have been developed worldwide mostly driven by agricultural demand to define the best inocula. However, the efficacy and comparisons of different microbial inoculants used in dryland ecosystems have rarely been tested. Here, we provide the first quantitative comparison of the effects of commercial versus native inoculants and single versus multiple strain inoculants as well as bacteria versus fungi inoculants on plant growth under field conditions in dryland ecosystems. We used a global meta-analysis of 62 dryland studies to compare the performance of different inocula type on plant growth. We found that microbial inoculation increased plant growth by 43% (CI = 29.69% - 58%) on average in dryland ecosystems, however the magnitude of effect was statistically similar between native (53%, CI = 31% - 80%) and commercial inoculants (40%, CI = 9% - 78%), or between single (39%, CI = 24% - 55%) and multiple strain inoculants (49% , CI = 32% - 68%) or between fungi (39% , CI = 28% - 61%) or bacteria inoculants 43% (CI = 23% - 58%). Our results confirm an assumption that, microorganisms do not usually follow macro-ecological theories and that the choice of an inoculant should be tailored to the purpose and design of the project. In drylands. The result is not only beneficial for agricultural practices in dryland ecosystems, but it is very crucial in dryland restoration projects, especially when the soil system is severely degraded and microbial inoculation is integrated as a plant growth promoter.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:52:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-03-18 Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale. Department of Biology University of Toronto Mississauga ON Centre for Urban Environments University of Toronto Mississauga ON Department of Biology University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Department of Biology University of Louisiana LA Department of Biology Queen's University ON Department of Biology Concordia University QC Department of Biological Sciences DePaul University Department of Biology DePauw University IN Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ Department of Genetics University of Georgia Department of Ecology and Genetics Evolutionary Biology Centre Uppsala University Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere Hokkaido University Natural History Museum Zoology University of New England NSW Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geografia da UFMT campus de Rondonópolis Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia Graduate Program in Genome Sciences and Technology Genome Sciences Centre University of British Columbia Department of Microbiology and Immunology University of British Columbia Red de Biología Evolutiva Instituto de Ecología A. C. School of the Environment Yale University CT Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad Universidad de Chile Department of Biology Mount Allison University Red de Ecoetología Instituto de Ecología A. C. Department of Biology University of Ottawa ON Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA Department of Biology University of Miami FL Centro de Investigación en Recursos Naturales y Sustentabilidad (CIRENYS) Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins Department of Biology, University of La Verne, La Verne, CA, USA Département des sciences du bois et de la forêt Université Laval QC Evolution & Ecology Research Centre School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences UNSW Sydney NSW Department of Biology Ghent University Department of Biology Monmouth University West Long Branch Centre for Ecology Evolution and Environmental Changes Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa Lisboa Department of Biology KU Leuven School of Agriculture and Environment Wildlife and Ecology group Massey University, Palmerston North Department of Biological Sciences University of Cape Town Institute of Landscape Ecology University of Münster Gosnell School of Life Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA Department of Biological Sciences University of Alberta AB Louis Calder Center and Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Armonk, NY, USA Departamento de Ecología Tropical, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México School of Life Sciences University of Sussex Department of Ecology Environment and Plant Sciences Stockholm University iBIOTROP Instituto de Biodiversidad Tropical Universidad San Francisco de Quito Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA Unidad de Recursos Naturales, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán AC, Mérida, Yucatán, México School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences East China Normal University Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Plant Innovation Centre for Ecosystem Science School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences UNSW Sydney NSW Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Michigan MI Department of Biosciences Rice University TX IFEVA Universidad de Buenos Aires Facultad de Agronomía, CONICET Biology Department Saint Mary's University NS Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de los Andes Department of Biology and Biochemistry University of Houston TX Université de Rennes Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia Department of Environmental Studies Dordt University Sioux Center IA Department of Biology Minneapolis Community and Technical College MN Department of Natural Sciences Ecology and Environment Research Centre Manchester Metropolitan University Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad UNAM Department of Botany School of Biology Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Faculty of Biological and Environmental Science Organismal & Evolutionary Biology Research Programme University of Helsinki Institute of Biodiversity Animal Health and Comparative Medicine University of Glasgow Department of Biology Hendrix College Department of Ecological Science Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja Departamento de Biologia Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM) Department of Plant Sciences School of Biology College of Science University of Tehran NTNU University Museum Norwegian University of Science and Technology Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados Instituto de Ecología A. C. School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights Park, Reading, Berkshire, UK Department of Biology Northern Arizona University AZ Department of Biological Sciences MacEwan University AB Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva Instituto de Ecología Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology Potsdam-Golm BIO5 Institute University of Arizona AZ Alaska Center for Conservation Science University of Alaska Anchorage Tropical Diversity, Royal Botanical Garden of Edinburgh Département de biologie Université de Moncton Department of Biological Sciences University of Manitoba MB Departments of Microbiology & Statistics University of Manitoba MB Department of Biology University of New Brunswick Department of Biology Kalamazoo College MI BioProtection Research Centre Lincoln University Departamento de Ciencias Facultad de Artes Liberales Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez Department of Ecology Evolution Behaviour University of Minnesota MN Department of Biological Sciences Brock University Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA ICB - University of Talca School of Molecular and Life Science Curtin University College of Science Health Engineering and Education Murdoch University, Murdoch School of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Sydney NSW School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Department of Biological Sciences Wayne State University MI Department of Biology Western Oregon University, OR School of Natural Resources and the Environment University of Arizona AZ Departamento de Ecología Humana, Cinvestav Mérida Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB) Department of Biology Lund University Department of Biology Norwegian University of Science and Technology Escuela Superiro de Desarrollo Sustentable Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero -CONACYT Clarkson Secondary School Peel District School Board ON Homelands Sr. Public School Peel District School Board ON Department of Biological Sciences University of Illinois at Chicago Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre Department of Biosciences University of Calgary AB Ecological Processes Branch U.S. Army ERDC-CERL Department of Biology, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, USA Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores Unidad Morelia UNAM Institute of Evolution and Ecology University of Tübingen Tübingen Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse Urban Wildlife Institute Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo Departamento de Ecología Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción Department of Biological Sciences University of Denver CO Department of Biological Sciences Mississippi State University MS Department of Biology Center for Computational & Integrative Biology Rutgers University-Camden Kunming Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Laurentian University ON Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering College of Life Sciences Beijing Normal University School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA Department of Biology University of New Mexico NM Department of Biology University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Agriculture Institute Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST) Department of Biology Colby College ME Instituto de Biología Universidad de Antioquia Department of Biology University of Massachusetts Boston MA Agricultural Biology Colorado State University CO Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología Facultad de Biología Universidad de Sevilla, Av. Reina Mercedes s/n Facultad de Estudios Interdisciplinarios Centro GEMA- Genómica Universidad Mayor Evolutionary Ecology Group Naturalis Biodiversity Center Department of Biology and Chemistry Nipissing University ON, North Bay Center for Ecological Research Kyoto University Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Program University of Alaska Fairbanks Department of Botany and Molecular Evolution Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Departamento de Biodiversidade Instituto de Biociências Univ Estadual Paulista - UNESP Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies University of Wisconsin-Madison WI Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, Los Angeles, CA, USA Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Facultad de Ciencias y Biotecnologia Universidad CES Department of Biology Hofstra University Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture Nord University, Bodø Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA Department of Biology University of Richmond VA Estación de Biodiversidad Tiputini Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ Department of Biological Sciences Institute of Environment Florida International University FL Agronomy Department University of Almería Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Urban Ecology and Sustainability Butler University IN Department of Biological Sciences Louisiana State University LA Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt Institute of Biology Leiden Leiden University Department of Biological and Environmental Science University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Department of Biology University of Louisville KY Organization for Programs on Environmental Science University of Tokyo CNRS AgroParisTech Ecologie Systématique et Evolution, Université Paris-Saclay Department of Biology, Providence College, Providence, RI, USA General Zoology Institute for Biology Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg International Arctic Research Center University of Alaska Fairbanks Science, Technology and Society Department, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA SLU Swedish Species Information Centre Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Department of Biology Westfield State University MA Centre of New Technologies University of Warsaw Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA Plant Biology Department Michigan State University MI Biology Department Davidson College College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences/ Hubei Engineering Technology Research Center for Forestry Information Huazhong Agricultural University School of Life Sciences Technical University of Munich School of Life Sciences Lanzhou University Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Department of Evolution Ecology and Behaviour University of Liverpool Departamento de Biodiversidade Instituto de Biociências Univ Estadual Paulista - UNESP

Shifts in flowering phenology have been studied in detail in the northern hemisphere and are a key plant response to climate change. However, there are relatively fewer data on species' phenological shifts in the southern hemisphere. We combined historic field data, data from herbarium specimens dating back to 1842 and modern field data for 37 Australian species to determine whether species were flowering earlier in the year than they had in the past. We also combined our results with data compiled in the southern and northern hemispheres, respectively, to determine whether southern hemisphere species are showing fewer advances in flowering phenology through time. Across our study species, we found that 12 species had undergone significant shifts in flowering time, with four species advancing their flowering and eight species delaying their flowering. The remaining 25 species showed no significant shifts in their flowering phenology. These findings are important because delays or lack of shifts in flowering phenology can lead to mismatches in trophic interactions between plants and pollinators or seed dispersers, which can have substantial impacts on ecosystem functioning and primary productivity. Combining our field results with data compiled from the literature showed that only 58.5% of southern hemisphere species were advancing their flowering time, compared with 81.6% of species that were advancing their flowering time in the northern hemisphere. Our study provides further evidence that it is not adequate for ecologists to assume that southern hemisphere ecosystems will respond to future climate change in the same way as ecosystems north of the Equator. Synthesis. Field data and data from the literature indicate that southern hemisphere species are showing fewer advances in their flowering phenology through time, especially in comparison to northern hemisphere species.

Introduced species often benefit from escaping their enemies when they are transported to a new range, an idea commonly expressed as the enemy release hypothesis. However, species might shed mutualists as well as enemies when they colonize a new range. Loss of mutualists might reduce the success of introduced populations, or even cause failure to establish. We provide the first quantitative synthesis testing this natural but often overlooked parallel of the enemy release hypothesis, which is known as the missed mutualist hypothesis. Meta-analysis showed that plants interact with 1.9 times more mutualist species, and have 2.3 times more interactions with mutualists per unit time in their native range than in their introduced range. Species may mitigate the negative effects of missed mutualists. For instance, selection arising from missed mutualists could cause introduced species to evolve either to facilitate interactions with a new suite of species or to exist without mutualisms. Just as enemy release can allow introduced populations to redirect energy from defence to growth, potentially evolving increased competitive ability, species that shift to strategies without mutualists may be able to reallocate energy from mutualism toward increased competitive ability or seed production. The missed mutualist hypothesis advances understanding of the selective forces and filters that act on plant species in the early stages of introduction and establishment and thus could inform the management of introduced species.

A literature synthesis concluded that small mammals have the greatest impact on post-dispersal removal of intermediate-sized seeds (Dylewski et al. 2020). However, this study failed to consider the duration of seed exposure to predators. Re-analyses of the corrected dataset revealed only a weak effect of seed mass on seed removal.

PREMISE Current knowledge about defense strategies in plants under herbivore pressure is predominantly based on vascular plants. Bryophytes are rarely consumed by herbivores since they have ample secondary metabolites. However, it is unknown whether bryophytes have induced defenses against herbivory and whether there is a trade-off between growth and defense in bryophytes. METHODS In an experiment with two peatland bryophytes, Sphagnum magellanicum Brid. and S. fuscum (Schimp.) H. Klinggr., two kinds of herbivory, clipping with scissors and grazing by mealworms (Tenebrio molitor L.) were simulated. At the end of the experiment, we measured growth traits, carbon-based defense compounds (total phenolics and cellulose) and storage compounds (total nonstructural carbohydrates) of these two Sphagnum species. RESULTS Grazing but not clipping increased total phenolics and C:N ratio and reduced biomass production and height increment. A negative relationship between biomass production and total phenolics was found in S. magellanicum but not in S. fuscum, indicating a growth-defense trade-off that is species-specific. Grazing reduced the sugar starch content of S. magellanicum and the sugar of S. fuscum. Either clipping or grazing had no effect on chlorophyll fluorescence (including actual and maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II) except that a significant effect of clipping on actual photochemical efficiency in S. fuscum was observed. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that Sphagnum can have induced defense against herbivory and that this defense can come at a cost of growth. These findings advance our knowledge about induced defense in bryophytes, the earliest land plants.

Ring-forming species of spinifex grasses (Triodia spp.) are a dominant feature across much of Australia’s arid and semi-arid zone. Researchers have long been curious about the mechanisms underpinning their striking growth form. However, none of the factors investigated to date provide a convincing explanation for ring formation. Here, we asked whether an accumulation of pathogenic soil microbes might impede seedling emergence and subsequent growth in the centre of Triodia basedowii rings. We collected soil from inside and outside naturally occurring spinifex rings and compared plants grown in soil with live microbes to plants grown in sterilised soil. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that emergence of T. basedowii seedlings was lower in live soil from inside the rings than in live soil from outside the rings. Further, seedling emergence in soil from inside the rings increased significantly in response to soil sterilisation. We found no significant difference in growth between sterile and live soils. However, this might be due to a lack of power caused by high rates of seedling mortality in all treatments. Overall, our study provides evidence for the role of soil pathogens in shaping this iconic Australian grass.

The length of time a flower remains open and functional - floral longevity - governs important reproductive processes influencing pollination and mating and varies considerably among angiosperm species. However, little is known about large-scale biogeographic patterns and the correlates of floral longevity. Using published data on floral longevity from 818 angiosperm species in 134 families and 472 locations world-wide, we present the first global quantification of the latitudinal pattern of floral longevity and the relationships between floral longevity and a range of biotic and abiotic factors. Floral longevity exhibited a significant phylogenetic signal and was longer at higher latitudes in both northern and southern hemispheres, even after accounting for elevation. This latitudinal variation was associated with several biotic and abiotic variables. The mean temperature of the flowering season had the highest predictive power for floral longevity, followed by pollen number per flower. Surprisingly, compatibility status, flower size, pollination mode, and growth form had no significant effects on flower longevity. Our results suggest that physiological processes associated with floral maintenance play a key role in explaining latitudinal variation in floral longevity across global ecosystems, with potential implications for floral longevity under global climate change and species distributions.

Despite the importance of life-history characteristics in determining a species’ success, we still lack basic information about some fundamental life-history elements found across the life cycle of introduced plants. Our study assesses rapid evolutionary divergence in life-history characteristics of the beach daisy Arctotheca populifolia by comparing introduced Australian and source South African plants and measuring eight key variables including seed mass, germination, reproductive output and survival. This is the first study that compares the life history of an introduced plant species with its single original source population, providing a precise and powerful method for detecting evolutionary divergence. We found that introduced A. populifolia has evolved a suite of weedy life-history characteristics in less than 90 years: the introduced plants use a live-fast die-young strategy of germination and survival and produce significantly more inflorescences and more seeds that germinate faster. This knowledge adds to the remarkable data that we already have on the rapid evolutionary divergence occurring in the morphology, physiology and defence of this introduced plant and highlights the speed and scope of evolutionary divergence possible in plants. To fully understand and manage the future of our plant species, we must consider their potential for ongoing change in key aspects of life history.

AIM: Leaf pubescence has several important roles, including regulating heat balance, reducing damage from UV radiation, minimizing water loss and reducing herbivory. Each of these functions could affect a plant's ability to tolerate the biotic and abiotic stresses encountered in different parts of the world. However, we know remarkably little about large scale biogeographic patterns in leaf pubescence. Our aims were: (a) to determine whether a higher proportion of species have pubescence at sites where it is hot, dry and solar radiation is high, and (b) to quantify the latitudinal gradient in pubescence. LOCATION: Australia. TAXON: Vascular land plants. METHODS: We compiled data on the presence/absence of pubescence on mature photosynthetic organs for 4,183 species, spanning 107 families. We combined these data with over 1.9 million species occurrence records from the Atlas of Living Australia to calculate the proportion of species with pubescence in 3,261 grid cells spanning the Australian continent. RESULTS: The proportion of pubescent species was most closely related to solar radiation (R² = 0.33), followed by maximum temperature in the warmest month (R² = 0.30). Mean annual precipitation was very weakly related to pubescence (R² = 0.01). We found a significant negative relationship between latitude and pubescence (R² = 0.19), with the average percentage of species with pubescence dropping from 46% at 10° S to 35% at 44° S. This cross‐species relationship remained significant after accounting for phylogenetic relationships between species. We found that a quadratic model explained more variation in pubescence across latitudes than did a linear model. The quadratic model shows a peak in the proportion of pubescent species at 19° S (within the tropics). MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with the idea that leaf pubescence may have a protective function in areas with high solar radiation and high temperatures. Our data are also consistent with the idea that species towards the tropics should be better defended than are species at higher latitudes.

1. Seed-based ecosystem restoration has huge potential to restore degraded drylands. However, fewer than 10% of directly sown seeds transition to established seedlings. One of the potential factors restricting plant establishment in degraded soils is the low abundance and diversity of native soil micro-organisms. In this study, we investigated whether returning indigenous bacteria and cyanobacteria consortia to degraded dryland soils improved seedling emergence, survival and growth of native plants. 2. We inoculated ‘culturable whole soil’ native heterotrophic bacteria and biocrust cyanobacteria individually and as a mixed inoculant into extruded pellets containing Acacia inaequilatera (Fabaceae) and Triodia epactia (Poaceae) seeds. The pellets were planted in an active minefield for 28 weeks and seedling emergence and total biomass of plants were determined. 3. Cyanobacteria and bacteria inoculants increased the emergence of A. inaequilatera by 55% and 48%, respectively. Seedling emergence in T. epactia was increased by 20% by cyanobacteria but was not increased by bacteria. The only effect of inoculation on seedling survival or mass per surviving seedling in either species was an 11% reduction of the growth of T. epactia seedlings that were inoculated with cyanobacteria. 4. Synthesis and applications: Our results suggest that the benefit of micro-organisms on plant establishment is both species specific and life stage specific, with particularly strong benefits in the early stages of recruitment. Our experiment was conducted under shade and with additional water, so a worthwhile future direction would be to quantify the effect of inoculation under unmodified field conditions. It would also be worthwhile monitoring the outcomes for longer than 28 weeks. Since seedling emergence is one of the critical challenges in dryland restoration, our study provides direct evidence in the use of native micro-organisms to potentially improve seedling emergence in seed-based dryland restoration. Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award - DE180100570 Hermon Slade Foundation de Australia - HSF 1808 Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Australian Government's Global Innovation Linkages - GIL 53873 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación de España, beca Ramón y Cajal - RYC2020-029255-I

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can facilitate the uptake of limiting or inaccessible nutrients by plants. However, the importance of AMF for invasive plants under phosphorus (P) limitation is poorly well understood because of the presence of non-focal microorganisms, such as endophytes or rhizosphere bacteria. In this study, we investigated how an invasive clonal plant

We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge., Measurement(s)plant traitTechnology Type(s)digital curationSample Characteristic - OrganismViridiplantaeSample Characteristic - LocationAustralia Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14545755

Accurately detecting sudden changes, or steps, in genetic diversity across landscapes is important for locating barriers to gene flow, identifying selectively important loci, and defining management units. However, there are many metrics that researchers could use to detect steps and little information on which might be the most robust. Our study aimed to determine the best measure/s for genetic step detection along linear gradients using biallelic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data. We tested the ability to differentiate between linear and step-like gradients in genetic diversity, using a range of diversity measures derived from the q-profile, including allelic richness, Shannon Information, GST, and Jost-D, as well as Bray-Curtis dissimilarity. To determine the properties of each measure, we repeated simulations of different intensities of step and allele proportion ranges, with varying genome sample size, number of loci, and number of localities. We found that alpha diversity (within-locality) based measures were ineffective at detecting steps. Further, allelic richness-based beta (between-locality) measures (e.g., Jaccard and Sørensen dissimilarity) were not reliable for detecting steps, but instead detected departures from fixation. The beta diversity measures best able to detect steps were: Shannon Information based measures, GST based measures, a Jost-D related measure, and Bray-Curtis dissimilarity. No one measure was best overall, with a trade-off between those measures with high step detection sensitivity (GST and Bray-Curtis) and those that minimised false positives (a variant of Shannon Information). Therefore, when detecting steps, we recommend understanding the differences between measures and using a combination of approaches.

F.K.C.H. is supported by an ANU cross‐disciplinary research grant. D.I.W. was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT120100501). G.C.P. was supported by the Australia Postgraduate Award and ARC Discovery Project scheme (DP180103543). A.T.M. is supported by an Australia Research Council Discovery Grant (DP180100836). F.J.T. is supported from the Marsden Fast‐Start Fund and the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Aims Organisms on islands are thought to escape biotic pressure and lose defensive capabilities. However, broadscale, evidence-based tests of this idea are rare. In this study, we asked: (i) whether the proportion of spinescent plant species differed between islands and mainlands and (ii) whether the proportion of spinescent species increased with increasing island area and with decreasing island distance to mainland. Methods We compiled species lists for 18 island–mainland pairs around Australia. We classified 1129 plant species as spinescent or non-spinescent using published species descriptions. Important Findings There was no significant difference between the proportion of spinescent species found on islands and on mainlands. Proportions of spinescent species were not significantly related to island area or distance to mainland. Our results suggest that spinescence is just as important to island plants as it is to mainland plants, even for plants inhabiting small or distal islands. This is unexpected, given prevailing thought and previous work on island–mainland comparisons. Our study demonstrates the importance of testing well-accepted yet untested ideas.

Seed-based ecosystem restoration has huge potential to restore degraded lands but currently less than 10 % of directly sown seeds successfully establish in drylands. Soil microbial communities are important for improving plant establishment in degraded land. However, current methods such as soil translocation can potentially disturb the donor site. In this study, we investigated a novel non-destructive method for improving seedling growth of native plants used in restoration through seed-soil-microbial pelleting. We assessed seedling emergence and survival of Triodia epactia and Acacia inaequilatera seeds inoculated with whole soil bacteria and cyanobacteria consortia retrieved and isolated from a pristine ecosystem. A field experiment was set-up in a 35m x 40m purpose-built rain exclusion shelter that contained reconstructed soil profiles typically encountered in mine rehabilitation programs of Australia’s arid north-west. We hypothesized that inoculated seed-soil pellets would improve seedling emergence and survival of these species. After three weeks of planting, seedling emergence in microbially inoculated Acacia inaequilatera and Triodia epactia were 48% and 55% higher than non-inoculated seeds in bacteria and cyanobacteria, respectively. We also tested whether the use of cyanobacteria consortia as inocula promoted higher seedling emergence over whole soil bacteria. We found that there was no significant difference in seedling emergence between the microbial taxa. We show that, improving the diversity of soil microorganisms improves seedling emergence and the seed-soil pellet method used is viable to improve seed-based restoration outcomes.Key words: Seed-based restoration, microbial community, cyanobacteria, bacteria community, seedling emergence.

Aim: Humans influence species distributions by modifying the environment and by dispersing species beyond their natural ranges. Populations of species that have established in disjunct regions of the world may exhibit trait differentiation from native populations due to founder effects and adaptations to selection pressures in each distributional region. We compared multiple native, expansive and introduced populations of a single species across the world, considering the influence of environmental stressors and transgenerational effects. Location: United States Gulf and Atlantic coasts, United States interior, European Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, east coast of Australia. Taxon: Baccharis halimifolia L. (eastern baccharis). Methods: We monitored seed germination, seedling emergence, survival and early growth in a common garden experiment, conducted with over 18,200 seeds from 80 populations. We also evaluated the influence of environmental stress and maternal traits on progeny performance. Results: Introduced European Atlantic populations had faster germination and early growth than native populations. However, this was not the case for the more recently naturalized European Mediterranean populations. Introduced Australian populations grew faster than native populations in non-saline environments but had lower survival in saline conditions commonly encountered in the native range. Similarly, expansive inland US populations germinated faster than coastal native populations in non-saline environments but grew and germinated more slowly in saline environments. Maternal inflorescence and plant size were positively related with seed germination and seedling survival, whereas flower abundance was positively correlated with seedling early growth and survival. However, maternal traits explained a much lower fraction of the total variation in early demographic stages of B. halimifolia than did distributional range. Main conclusions: Phenotypic differentiation could allow B. halimifolia to adapt to different biotic and abiotic selection pressures found in each distributional range, potentially contributing to its success in introduced and expansive ranges.

Citizen science is fundamentally shifting the future of biodiversity research. But although citizen science observations are contributing an increasingly large proportion of biodiversity data, they only feature in a relatively small percentage of research papers on biodiversity. We provide our perspective on three frontiers of citizen science research, areas that we feel to date have had minimal scientific exploration but that we believe deserve greater attention as they present substantial opportunities for the future of biodiversity research: sampling the undersampled, capitalizing on citizen science's unique ability to sample poorly sampled taxa and regions of the world, reducing taxonomic and spatial biases in global biodiversity data sets; estimating abundance and density in space and time, develop techniques to derive taxon-specific densities from presence or absence and presence-only data; and capitalizing on secondary data collection, moving beyond data on the occurrence of single species and gain further understanding of ecological interactions among species or habitats. The contribution of citizen science to understanding the important biodiversity questions of our time should be more fully realized.

Rapid evolution is likely to be an important mechanism allowing native species to adapt to changed environmental conditions. Many Northern Hemisphere species have undergone substantial recent changes in phenology and morphology. However, we have little information about how native species in the Southern Hemisphere are responding to climate change. We used herbarium specimens from 21 native alpine plant species in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia, to make over 1,500 measurements of plant size, leaf thickness, leaf mass per area, leaf shape, and leaf size across the last 126 years. Only two out of 21 species (9%) showed significant changes in any of the measured traits. The number of changes we observed was not significantly different to what we would expect by chance alone, based on the number of analyses performed. This lack of change is not attributable to methodology—an earlier study using the same methods found significant changes in 70% of species introduced to southeast Australia. Australia's native alpine plants do not appear to be adapting to changed conditions, and because of the low elevation of Australia's mountains, they do not have much scope for uphill migration. Thus, our findings suggest that Australia's native alpine plants are at even greater risk in the face of future climate change than was previously understood., This study is the first test of whether alpine plants in the Southern Hemisphere have changed their morphology in response to climate change. Using herbarium specimens from 21 native alpine plant species in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia, we found that only 9% of the species showed any significant changes in plant or leaf traits over the last 126 years, standing in stark contrast to the number of changes recorded in introduced plants (up to 70%) using the same methods. A lack of morphological change combined with limited migration options suggests that native alpine plants may face a bleak future.

Studies assessing the biological impacts of climate change typically rely on long-term, historic data to measure trait responses to climate through time. Here, we overcame the problem of absent historical data by using resurrected seeds to capture historic plant trait data for a number of plant regeneration and growth traits. We collected seed and seedling trait measurements from resurrected historic seeds and compared these with modern seed and seedling traits collected from the same species in the same geographic location. We found a total of 43 species from South-Eastern Australia for which modern/historic seed pairs could be located. These species were located in a range of regions that have undergone different amounts of climate change across a range of temperature, precipitation and extreme measures of climate. There was a correlation between the amount of change in climate metrics, and the amount of change in plant traits. Using stepwise model selection, we found that for all regeneration and growth trait changes (except change in stem density), the most accurate model selected at least two measures of climate change. Changes in extreme measures of climate such as heatwave duration and changes in climate variability were more strongly related to changes in regeneration and growth traits than changes in mean climate metrics. Across our species, for every 5% increase in temperature variability, there was a three-fold increase in the probability of seed viability and seed germination success. An increase of one day in the maximum duration of dry spells through time led to a 1.5-fold decrease in seed viability and seeds became 30% flatter/thinner. Regions where the maximum heatwave duration had increased by ten days saw a 1.35 cm decrease in seedling height and a 1.04 g decrease in seedling biomass. Rapid responses in plant traits to changes in climate may be possible, however, it is not clear whether these changes will be fast enough for plants to keep pace with future climate change.

Many taxa show substantial differences in lifespan between the sexes. However, these differences are not always in the same direction. In mammals, females tend to live longer than males, while in birds, males tend to live longer than females. One possible explanation for these differences in lifespan is the unguarded X hypothesis, which suggests that the reduced or absent chromosome in the heterogametic sex (e.g. the Y chromosome in mammals and the W chromosome in birds) exposes recessive deleterious mutations on the other sex chromosome. While the unguarded X hypothesis is intuitively appealing, it had never been subject to a broad test. We compiled male and female longevity data for 229 species spanning 99 families, 38 orders and eight classes across the tree of life. Consistent with the unguarded X hypothesis, a meta-analysis showed that the homogametic sex, on average, lives 17.6% longer than the heterogametic sex. Surprisingly, we found substantial differences in lifespan dimorphism between female heterogametic species (in which the homogametic sex lives 7.1% longer) and male heterogametic species (in which the homogametic sex lives 20.9% longer). Our findings demonstrate the importance of considering chromosome morphology in addition to sexual selection and environment as potential drivers of sexual dimorphism, and advance our fundamental understanding of the mechanisms that shape an organism's lifespan.

There is a wealth of research on the way interactions with pollinators shape flower traits. However, we have much more to learn about influences of the abiotic environment on flower colour. We combine quantitative flower colour data for 339 species from a broad spatial range covering tropical, temperate, arid, montane and coastal environments from 9.25o S to 43.75o S with 11 environmental variables to test hypotheses about how macro-ecological patterns in flower colouration relate to biotic and abiotic conditions. Both biotic community and abiotic conditions are important in explaining variation of flower colour traits on a broad scale. The diversity of pollinating insects and the plant community have the highest predictive power for flower colouration, followed by mean annual precipitation and solar radiation. On average, flower colours are more chromatic where there are fewer pollinators, solar radiation is high, precipitation and net primary production is low, and growing seasons are short, providing support for the hypothesis that higher chromatic contrast of flower colours may be related to stressful conditions. To fully understand the ecology and evolution of flower colour, we should incorporate the broad selective context that plants experience into research, rather than focussing primarily on effects of plant-pollinator interactions.

Citizen science can play an important role in school science education. Citizen science is particularly relevant to addressing current societal environmental sustainability challenges, as it engages the students directly with environmental science and gives students an understanding of the scientific process. In addition, it allows students to observe local representations of global challenges. Here, we report a citizen science programme designed to engage school‐age children in real‐world scientific research. The programme used standardized methods deployed across multiple schools through scientist–school partnerships to engage students with an important conservation problem: habitat for pollinator insects in urban environments. Citizen science programmes such as the programme presented here can be used to enhance scientific literacy and skills. Provided key challenges to maintain data quality are met, this approach is a powerful way to contribute valuable citizen science data for understudied, but ecologically important study systems, particularly in urban environments across broad geographical areas.