The king of fruits

Societal Impact StatementWe found evidence that larger fruited plant species are more likely to be found in aseasonal wet areas of Malesia. These areas are likely to be impacted by increasing human encroachment, which threatens both large‐fruited species and the large fauna that are most likely responsible for their dispersal. This synergistic threat could drive the loss of fruit‐crop relatives that potentially have key traits for resilient fruit crops of the future.Summary It is unclear how fruit size determines distributions of megadiverse tropical flora. Energetic constraints of ecosystems suggest plant species with larger fruit should be found in the higher productivity, aseasonal wet tropics. However, the probability of seed dispersal over large scales should be increased by fruits being smaller, due to being available to a greater number of dispersal agents. We use a Bayesian phylogenetic model of species occurrence for >3400 species in Malesia to test how fruit size and environment interact to determine species distributions across the archipelago. We show that larger fruited species are more likely to occur in aseasonal wet areas. We also found that smaller fruit size was associated with species occurrence in more mountainous areas. Fruit size interacts with environmental variables to shape plant distributions across the megadiverse Malesian islands. The evolutionary processes that influence the patterns we have observed require further examination.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environment‐dependent influence of fruit size upon the distribution of the Malesian archipelagic flora

Trethowan¹,

Jennings²,

Bramley³

et al. 2022

“…), which has been an important part of the history and culture in Southeast Asia for millenia and may be eaten in a variety of ways including fresh, frozen, and in desserts (Brown, 1997). In Thorogood et al (2022), the authors feature this "king of fruits", from taxonomy, to culture, to ecological and evolutionary history, including areas for future research and conservation concerns. Conservation is also of major concern for the clonally propagated banana (Musa spp.…”

Section: Familiar Fruitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fruit in focus: A sampler platter of research

Migicovsky

Forrestel

Warschefsky

2023

Few plants have captured the imagination and palettes of the world like those which bear edible fruits, providing novel insights into the relationships between plants and people. This special collection of reviews and research highlights the unique challenges and opportunities we face when studying, breeding, and working to conserve these species. The 18 articles included here examine fruiting plants across diverse scales and topics, from the genome to global sustainability, and from fruit morphology to species' geographic distributions, yet they showcase only a fraction of the immense evolutionary, phenotypic, and genomic diversity present in fruit‐bearing plants. Across the special collection, our hope is to not only offer highlights of fruit diversity and importance but also provide a taste of future research in this area. We hope you enjoy the fruits of our labor.

“…In addition, our unique Flora Obscura series, which specifically aims to highlight extraordinary plant biology, continues to support our aspirations to capture the wider interest of the public. Flora Obscura serve as engaging and timely updates and useful resources for teaching purposes—for instance, see Teixeira‐Costa and Suetsugu's article on Mitrastemonaceae, which is a bizarre family of parasitic flowering plants, or Thorogood et al's article on durian, an edible fruit with a unique odour (Teixeira‐Costa & Suetsugu, 2022; Thorogood et al, 2022).…”

Section: Organization Policy Document Date Of Policy Document Publica...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From houseplants, to medicinal plants and plant-based diets and the benefits of plants and greenspaces for mental health and well-being, these growing trends provide an attractive springboard for science outreach and plant-focused conversations.We are keen to feature these types of conversations and discussions in the pages of Plants, People, Planet, for instance, and along related lines, we currently seek proposals for a Special Issue devoted to 'Methodologies for investigating plant awareness'.In addition, our unique Flora Obscura series, which specifically aims to highlight extraordinary plant biology, continues to support our aspirations to capture the wider interest of the public. Flora Obscura serve as engaging and timely updates and useful resources for teaching purposes-for instance, see Teixeira-Costa and Suetsugu's article on Mitrastemonaceae, which is a bizarre family of parasitic flowering plants, or Thorogood et al's article on durian, an edible fruit with a unique odour (Teixeira-Costa & Suetsugu, 2022;Thorogood et al, 2022).We are delighted to offer an update on Plants, People, Planet articles that have informed or impacted policy since the publication of Hiscock et al, 2022 (see Table 1). These works will be added to our…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy influence 2023: Societal impact at Plants, People, Planet

Hiscock,

Lennon,

Young

2023

In 2022, we celebrated 5 years of societal impact at Plants, People, Planet in Hiscock et al. (2022). In that article, we reflected on the broader impact of work published in Plants, People, Planet since it was launched in 2017 by detailing articles that had either informed or influenced policy. Showcasing plant-based research with societal impact is at the core of what we do and Plants, People, Planet's key mission is to highlight the important work of scientists and researchers across disciplines to address major global challenges through their work on plants (Hiscock et al., 2018). For example, see Rivers et al. (2022), where the authors call for greater protection of the world's trees and highlight urgent actions needed to avert an ecological, cultural and socio-economic catastrophe caused by the widespread destruction of forests and accompanying extinction of tree species. Plants, People, Planet is also a forum that aims to capture the interest and imagination of the wider public by showcasing the wonder of plants and communicating their importance to humanity and the future of the planet. Indeed, as discussed by Burke et al. (2022), during and since the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a "botanical boom" of awareness and interest in plants and plant-related topics, which poses a real opportunity for the global plant research community. From houseplants, to medicinal plants and plant-based diets and the benefits of plants and greenspaces for mental health and well-being, these growing trends provide an attractive springboard for science outreach and plant-focused conversations.We are keen to feature these types of conversations and discussions in the pages of Plants, People, Planet, for instance, and along related lines, we currently seek proposals for a Special Issue devoted to 'Methodologies for investigating plant awareness'.In addition, our unique Flora Obscura series, which specifically aims to highlight extraordinary plant biology, continues to support our aspirations to capture the wider interest of the public. Flora Obscura serve as engaging and timely updates and useful resources for teaching purposes-for instance, see Teixeira-Costa and Suetsugu's article on Mitrastemonaceae, which is a bizarre family of parasitic flowering plants, or Thorogood et al.'s article on durian, an edible fruit with a unique odour (Teixeira-Costa & Suetsugu, 2022;Thorogood et al., 2022).We are delighted to offer an update on Plants, People, Planet articles that have informed or impacted policy since the publication of Hiscock et al., 2022 (see Table 1). These works will be added to our