Researchers led by Wolfram Weckwerth at the University of Vienna have now uncovered how one especially water efficient form of photosynthesis (CAM) evolved in multiple ways within a single genus of tropical trees. By comparing the genomes of three Clusia species, the team traced how ancient genome duplication followed by extensive genetic reorganization helped produce different forms of CAM. The findings were recently published in Nature Communications. A Photosynthesis Mystery Dating Back 200 Years Around 1800, Alexander von Humboldt noticed something unusual while studying a tropical tree. He placed one of its leaves in water and found that, even in sunlight, it did not produce the oxygen bubbles he had observed before. The explanation lies in the plant's unusual daily schedule. Its stomata, the tiny pores that normally take in CO2 and release oxygen during the day, remain closed while the sun is up, reducing water loss through evaporation. Instead, the plant absorbs CO2 at night, chemically binds it, and stores it as malic acid. This strategy is known as 'CAM photosynthesis' (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism). Although scientists have long known how CAM works, exactly how it evolved within the genus Clusia, and why different species use it in different ways,...

Creating beautiful flower gardens is satisfying, but part of me is thrilled when I grow something edible. This is the genetic result of my grandparents’ farming background, I suppose. Two years ago, I...

Step into a tropical forest, and something feels different right away. The air feels rich, the ground feels alive, and every plant seems part of a bigger system. This sense of connection is not just your imagination. Science now shows that trees in these forests actively support one another, creating a strong and balanced ecosystem. Recent research published in Nature explores this idea in detail. Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and the ForestGEO network teamed up to study how trees interact across the world. The results reveal that forests are not just places of competition. In many cases, cooperation plays an equally important role. Trees interacting worldwide To understand tree behavior, researchers studied 17 forests spread across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The team examined almost three million trees and over 5000 species. Each tree was measured and mapped using the same method, which allowed fair comparison between different forests. This careful approach helped scientists see clear patterns. Forests closer to the equator showed more positive interactions between trees. Forests farther away showed fewer supportive connections. Trees still interact everywhere, but the balance changes with location and climate. This discovery helps explain why tropical forests feel so...

Researchers say the finding provides new insights into the history of Asia’s rainforests. For the first time, researchers have uncovered fossil remains belonging to a tropical tree species that still exists today and is currently endangered. The groundbreaking discovery, made...

The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has been increasing rapidly, leading to severe climate consequences. However, researchers at Wageningen University have identified an unexpected benefit of rising CO2 levels: tropical trees have become more efficient at photosynthesis...

A tree can’t walk away from a drought. Ecologists have mostly assumed it can’t change its inner workings either. The traits that decide how a tree moves water were long treated as fixed across a species – the same in a rainforest as in a dry forest. A new study from Puerto Rico found that most of the tree species tested there adjust those traits to match the rain they get. Severe droughts have already killed trees across the tropics, and tropical forests hold most of the world’s aboveground plant matter. If enough trees die, forests that now absorb carbon could become a source of it instead. Chris Smith-Martin, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, led the study. He began it as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Columbia University ecologist María Uriarte. Collaborators at Uppsala University in Sweden and the University of Tasmania in Australia joined them. The team measured what botanists call hydraulic traits – the properties that decide how a tree moves water and how much it can hold. Uriarte answered Earth.com’s questions about the work by email. “The most striking finding is that hydraulic traits were much more flexible within species than previously...

The world’s tallest tropical trees lift water to their highest leaves without strain, a new study has found. These giants – the dipterocarps that tower over the rainforests of Southeast Asia – rebuild their inner plumbing as they grow, so height never leaves them short of water. The finding overturns a long-held idea that giant trees struggle to stay hydrated and so die more readily in drought. Because the biggest trees hold much of a forest’s carbon, that assumption sits inside some climate models, and this work suggests it is wrong. An untested assumption For decades, plant scientists reasoned that growing tall should carry a hidden cost. Water climbing from roots to leaves meets more resistance the farther it travels, while gravity pulls harder on the column with every added foot. The taller the tree, the harder its leaves must pull to lift water to the top. In theory that strain should slow growth and leave the highest branches most at risk when rain fails. No one, though, had tested the idea at the crowns of the very tallest trees. A team based at the University of Exeter and Cardiff University set out to close that gap, led by plant...

Different tropical tree species can vary in their ability to withstand drought — and so too, it seems, can distinct populations of the same tree species...

Plants use sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into energy-rich sugars and oxygen in various ways (photosynthesis). Drought is a major challenge in this process. A research team led by Wolfram Weckwerth at the University of Vienna has now demonstrated how a particularly water-efficient variant of this process (CAM) has evolved in diverse ways within a single tropical tree genus. By analysing the genomes of three species of the genus Clusia, the researchers were able to trace how genome duplication and subsequent genetic rearrangement contribute to the diversity of different CAM traits. The findings have recently been published in Nature Communications. Around 1800, Alexander von Humboldt made an unusual observation. He dipped the leaf of a tropical tree into water and noted that, despite sunlight, no oxygen bubbles formed – as had previously been the case. This plant keeps its stomata – which normally serve to absorb CO2 and release oxygen during the day – closed during daylight hours, thereby preventing water loss through evaporation. CO2 is then absorbed at night, chemically bound and stored in the form of malic acid. This principle is known as 'CAM photosynthesis' (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism). How this strategy has evolved within the genus...

An interesting new study revealed how the trees of the tropical forests of Panama modify their roots in response to droughts. Apparently, they redirect them towards deeper areas of the soil. Additionally, the roots also strengthen their relationship with fungi to conserve water and nutrients during droughts. A study led by the Colorado State University documented this phenomenon over five years. The research was conducted in four lowland tropical forests and yielded results that warn about the adaptation limits of these ecosystems. The PARCHED experiment on the impact of droughts on tree roots To simulate a prolonged drought, the scientific team diverted up to 70% of the usual rainfall using physical barriers. They also isolated the soil with trenches lined with plastic to create sustained water stress. This allowed them to observe how different tree species responded to water scarcity over time. The researchers recorded a significant decrease in surface root biomass. In some cases, roots in the top centimeters of soil were reduced by up to 50% during the drought. Surface fine roots are essential: they absorb water and nutrients and contribute carbon to the soil. Their loss forced the trees to redirect growth to deeper layers, where moisture...

Some tropical trees are reaching deeper for water as droughts intensify. In a new study, scientists saw surface fine root growth fall about 50 percent, while deeper roots increased during dry periods. The study was led by experts at Colorado...

How do you cool yourself on a hot day? Perhaps you find shade, switch on a fan or retreat to air conditioning? But spare a thought for tropical forest trees. As the climate warms, they must either adjust to the...

Drought stress, rising carbon dioxide, global heating and wildfires are widely recognised as major causes of tree death in tropical forests. But a new study points to a lesser-known culprit: The growing frequency of thunderstorms, now emerging as a significant...

Tropical trees are dying at faster rates than ever before. While deforestation continues to be a major issue, even untouched forests are seeing increased rates of tree death. Scientists have long pointed to drought, extreme heat, and wildfires as key...

Scientists discover trees in the lowland rainforests of Panama that use lightning strikes to their advantage. Lightning is usually seen as a harbinger of destruction in forests, killing or damaging trees in their blasts. But in the lowland rainforests of...

Lightning is a major threat to big trees, even where forest fires are rare. However, natural selection is a powerful force, and one species of forest giant has learned to make lemonade out of life’s lemons, new research suggests. Not...

In the dense forests of Panama, where competition for sunlight is fierce, one tree species has evolved an unusual survival strategy—getting struck by lightning. New research reveals that Dipteryx oleifera trees not only survive direct lightning strikes with minimal damage...

Being struck by lightning is something humans generally try to avoid. But for at least one tropical tree species, this doesn’t hurt—and might even be a good thing. Scientists have long believed that being hit by lightning could have only...