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Changes in plant phenology belong to the important consequences of climate change. Earlier start of the bud bursting, leaf development, or root growth are reported for many species, including those growing in northern peatlands. The next generation of plants depends on the production of generative organs; therefore, flower and fruit development are essential stages of ontogenesis, which are strongly regulated by ambient temperature. In this work, we focused on the generative organs’ development of bog cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos L.) under climate manipulation. The study was carried out in a nutrient-poor fen located in Western Poland, where two climate manipulation sites with different hydrology and vegetation composition were established in 2017. The site with a more stable water-table depth (WTD) and higher abundance of Carex spp. is named CL, and the site with a more fluctuating WTD and lower abundance of Carex spp. is named CR. Each site consists of three control (C) and six manipulated (M). The climate manipulation was induced by open-top chambers with the addition of 100 W infrared heaters that were switched on during nighttime. This manipulation resulted in an average annual increase of the air temperature 30 cm above ground in the period April-June of the studied year 2022 by 0.44°C at the CL site and 1.07°C at the CR site. The flower and fruit appearance and the flowering dynamics were analyzed from high-resolution images. We observed that flowering in M plots started on average 3.5 days sooner at CL and 14.5 days sooner at the CR site compared to respective Cs. The peak of flowering in warmed plots occurred 7.5 and 14 days earlier for CL and CR sites, respectively. The first fruit developed on average 11 days sooner in M plots of the CL site and 19 days sooner in M plots of the CR site than in respective Cs. In addition to the shifts in phenophases, the flowering dynamic was changed. The slow flower opening at the beginning and the faster opening towards the peak of flowering in C were changed to the fast opening at the beginning and slower towards the peak in M plots.Our results show the earlier onset of the generative stages of bog cranberry with the warming climate. Additionally, a comparison of the two vegetation sites suggests that the vegetation community mediates the magnitude of the climate manipulation impact. The Research was co-founded by the National Science Centre of Poland (NCN) within grants No. 2016/21/B/ST10/02271 and 2020/37/ B/ST10/01213.

The present study aimed to evaluate fresh spent mushroom substrate (SMS) as a growing medium in soilless strawberry cv. ‘Honeoye’ production. Fresh SMS after commercial production of Agaricus bisporus, Lentinus edodes, and Pleurotus ostreatus was used as a peat substitute in 15 and 25% (v/v), for strawberry cultivation in an unheated plastic tunnel. In the experiment, seven different substrates were studied, including peat (100%) as control and six substrate combinations (prepared by mixing SMSs with peat). The study was carried out in a randomized complete block design in five replicates. The results indicated that the electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and nutrient content varied among the studied substrates. The experiment also demonstrated that the substrates significantly influenced strawberry yield, leaf area, and fresh and dry plant weights. However, no significant differences were observed for selected photosynthetic parameters (Fv/Fm, Fv/F0, and PIabs) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values among the evaluated substrates. Differences were recorded for the Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) and Modified Chlorophyll Absorption in Reflectance Index (MCARI) values. The present investigation revealed that fresh SMSs can be an effective and inexpensive peat substitute in 15 and 25% (v/v). Therefore, such easy and immediate utilisation of SMSs could overcome associated disposal problems.

Global climate is changing faster than humankind has ever experienced. Model-based predictions of future climate are becoming more complex and precise, but they still lack crucial information about the reaction of some important ecosystems, such as peatlands. Peatlands belong to one of the largest carbon stores on the Earth. They are mostly distributed in high latitudes, where the temperature rises faster than in the other parts of the planet. Warmer climate and changes in precipitation patterns cause changes in the composition and phenology of peatland vegetation. Peat mosses are becoming less abundant, vascular plants cover is increasing, and the vegetation season and phenophases of vascular plants start sooner. The alterations in vegetation cause changes in the carbon assimilation and release of greenhouse gases. Therefore, this article reviews the impact of climate change-induced alterations in peatland vegetation phenology and composition on future climate and the uncertainties that need to be addressed for more accurate climate prediction.

Karrikins (KARs) are relatively simple molecules originating from the burning of plant material, which can enhance the germination of many species from fire-prone environments, but also for species whose life cycle is not connected with fire, for example, Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana L.). KARs not only improve germination but also alter several physiological processes and morphological features of plants. One of the changes in morphology observed on Arabidopsis seedlings is the shortening of hypocotyls when grown under continuous red light. So far, six biologically active compounds belonging to the KARs group were identified. Most of the plants showed the strongest response to the first identified KAR, KAR1, but Arabidopsis exhibited the strongest reaction to KAR2. In our experiment, we focused on seedlings’ hypocotyl length of rapeseed (Brassica napus napus L.), an economically important plant from the same family as Arabidopsis, Brassicaceae. Our results show that the hypocotyl of eight-day-old seedlings of rapeseed grown under continuous red light was significantly shortened by both KARs examined by us, KAR1, as well as by KAR2. Therefore, we can conclude that, similarly to Arabidopsis, rapeseed seedlings possess the light-dependent response of development to KARs. This proves that the role of these compounds is not yet fully understood in plant life, as well as in the germination induction of fire-following species. Moreover, it is very unlikely that the combustion of plant material is the only source of KARs occurring in nature.

Salinization is a worldwide environmental problem, which is negatively impacting crop yield and thus posing a threat to the world's food security. Considering the rising threat of salinity, it is need of time, to understand the salt tolerant mechanism in plants and find avenues for the development of salinity resistant plants. Several plants tolerate salinity in a different manner, thereby halophytes and glycophytes evolved altered mechanisms to counter the stress. Therefore, in this review article, physiological, metabolic, and molecular aspects of the plant adaptation to salt stress have been discussed. The conventional breeding techniques for developing salt tolerant plants has not been much successful, due to its multigenic trait. The inflow of data from plant sequencing projects and annotation of genes led to the identification of many putative genes having a role in salt stress. The bioinformatics tools provided preliminary information and were helpful for making salt stress-specific databases. The microRNA identification and characterization led to unraveling the finer intricacies of the network. The transgenic approach finally paved a way for overexpressing some important genes viz. DREB, MYB, COMT, SOS, PKE, NHX, etc. conferred salt stress tolerance. In this review, we tried to show the effect of salinity on plants, considering ion homeostasis, antioxidant defense response, proteins involved, possible utilization of transgenic plants, and bioinformatics for coping with this stress factor. An overview of previous studies related to salt stress is presented in order to assist researchers in providing a potential solution for this increasing environmental threat.

Peatlands are one of the most important ecosystems due to their biodiversity and abundant organic compounds; therefore, it is important to observe how different plant species in peatlands react to changing environmental conditions. Sphagnum spp. are the main component of peatlands and are considered as the creator of conditions favorable for carbon storage in the form of peat. Sphagnum angustifolium and Sphagnum fallax are taxonomically very close species. To examine their adaptability to climate change, we studied the morphology and pigment content of these two species from environmental manipulation sites in Poland, where the environment was continuously manipulated for temperature and precipitation. The warming of peat was induced by using infrared heaters, whereas total precipitation was reduced by a curtain that cuts the nighttime precipitation. Morphology of S. angustifolium stayed under climate manipulation relatively stable. However, the main morphological parameters of S. fallax were significantly affected by precipitation reduction. Thus, this study indicates S. angustifolium is better adapted in comparison to S. fallax for drier and warmer conditions.

Karrikins (KARs) have been identified as molecules derived from plant material smoke, which have the capacity to enhance seed germination for a wide range of plant species. However, KARs were observed to not only impact seed germination but also observed to influence several biological processes. The plants defected in the KARs signaling pathway were observed to grow differently with several morphological changes. The observation of KARs as a growth regulator in plants leads to the search for an endogenous KAR-like molecule. Due to its simple genomic structure, Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana L.) helps to understand the signaling mechanism of KARs and phenotypic responses caused by them. However, different species have a different phenotypic response to KARs treatment. Therefore, in the current work, updated information about the KARs effect is presented. Results of research on agricultural and horticultural crops are summarized and compared with the findings of Arabidopsis studies. In this article, we suggested that KARs may be more important in coping with modern problems than one could imagine.