Abstract The COVID‐19 pandemic and its global response have resulted in unprecedented rapid changes to most people’s day‐to‐day lives. To slow the spread of virus, governments implemented practice physical distancing (“social distancing”), which includes isolation within home with limited time spent outdoors. During this extraordinary time, nature around may play a key role mitigating against adverse mental health outcomes due measures taken address it. assess whether is case, we conducted...

Abstract A growing body of empirical evidence shows that experiences nature provide people with diverse psychological benefits, including improved cognitive function and mental health. While our understanding the proximate causes these positive responses humans to has advanced, ultimate (evolutionary) drivers behind them remain poorly understood. In this study, we a summary several widely accepted evolutionary hypotheses originating from Biophilia , reviewing their challenges limitations....

Weed is a major biological factor causing declines in crop yield. However, widespread herbicide application and indiscriminate weeding with soil disturbance are of great concern because their environmental impacts. Site-specific weed management (SSWM) refers to strategy for digital agriculture that results low energy loss. Deep learning crucial developing SSWM, as it distinguishes crops from weeds identifies species. this technique requires substantial annotated data, which necessitates...

The disposition and metabolism of tafluprost, an ester prodrug the 15,15-difluoro-prostaglandin F_2α antiglaucoma agent, have been studied in rats after ocular administration. Radioactivity was absorbed very rapidly into eye systemic circulation a single dose 0.005% [³H]tafluprost ophthalmic solution, with maximum levels plasma most tissues occurring within 15 min. absorption ratio radioactivity approximately 75%, suggesting high availability administration tafluprost....

The evolution of increased competitive ability hypothesis (EICA) predicts that when alien plants are free from their natural enemies they evolve lower allocation to defense in order achieve a higher growth rate. If this is true, the converse implication would be against herbivory could restored if enemy also becomes present introduced range. We tested scenario case Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) – species invaded Japan North America. collected seeds five American populations, three...

Raising public interest in and conservation activity for threatened species is critically important successful biodiversity conservation. However, our understanding of what influences the animals how induces activities quite limited. Here, we examined role zoos a television program featuring animated shaping support including from 2011 to 2018 Japan. Public was measured by Internet search volumes donation zoos. Results showed that both made significant contribution increasing animals. The...

Fleshy fruits can be divided between climacteric (CL, showing a typical rise in respiration and ethylene production with ripening after harvest) non-climacteric (NC, no rise). However, despite the importance of CL/NC traits horticulture fruit industry, evolutionary significance distinction remains untested. In this study, we tested hypothesis that NC fruits, which ripen only on plant, are adapted to tree dispersers (feeding tree), CL falling from ground dispersers. A literature review 276...

Host range expansion of herbivorous insects is a key event in ecological speciation and insect pest management. However, the mechanistic processes are relatively unknown because it difficult to observe ongoing host natural population. In this study, we focused on introduced populations ragweed leaf beetle, Ophraella communa, estimate evolutionary process plant insect. native North America, O. communa does not utilize Ambrosia trifida, as plant, but extensively utilized beetle's range. Larval...

Abstract Competition among neighbouring plants plays essential roles in growth, reproduction, population dynamics, and community assembly, but how competition drives local adaptation the traits underlying remain unclear. Here, we focused on populations of aggressive weed Digitaria ciliaris from urban rural habitats as low‐ high‐competition environments for light resources examined competitive interaction drove contemporary adaptive divergence traits. To examine to different D. specific that...

Prevalence of impervious surface and resulting higher temperatures in urban areas, known as heat islands, comprises prominent characteristics global cities. However, it is not whether how plants adapt to such stress. This study focused on Oxalis corniculata , which has intraspecific polymorphism leaf color (green red) examined the variation associated with Field observations revealed that green-leaved were dominant green habitats, red-leaved individuals at local (<500 meters), landscape...

Abstract Recent advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs) and image processing have made high‐throughput field phenotyping possible at plot/canopy level the mass grown experiment. Such techniques are now expected to be used for individual single We found two main challenges of plants experiment: plant segmentation from weedy backgrounds estimation complex traits that difficult measure manually. In this study, we proposed a methodological framework field‐based by UAV. Two contributions,...

Although self-discrimination has been well documented, especially in animals, plants identified only a few cases, such as self-incompatibility flowers and root discrimination. Here, were port new form of plants: discrimination by vine tendrils. We found that tendrils the perennial Cayratia japonica more likely to coil around neighbouring non-self than self both experimental natural settings. The higher level coiling physiologically severed plant compared with connected suggested was mediated...

Abstract High‐throughput 3D phenotyping is a rapidly emerging field that has widespread application for measurement of individual plants. Despite this, high‐throughput plant rarely used in ecological studies due to financial and logistical limitations. We introduce EasyDCP, Python package phenotyping, which uses photogrammetry automatically reconstruct point clouds individuals within populations container plants output phenotypic trait data. Here we give instructions the imaging setup...

Abstract In wind‐pollinated plants, male‐biased sex allocation is often positively associated with plant size and height. However, effects of (biomass or reproductive investment) height were not separated in most previous studies. Here, using experimental populations monoecious Ambrosia altemisiifolia, we examined (1) how male female investments ( MRI FRI ) change biomass height, (2) affect success MRS pollen dispersal, (3) affects seed production. Pollen dispersal kernel selection gradients...

Abstract We found that the abundance of Ophraella communa, a specialist herbivore invasive weeds Ambrosia artemisiifolia and A. trifida, is higher in introduced range than its native range. also O. communa does not feed on but so extensively. Keywords: speciesbiogeographical approachbiological control artemsiifolia trifida Acknowledgements thank members ecology group at Kyushu University, especially Yudai Nishide, for helpful discussions, Marko Jusup editing manuscript, Satoshi Koyama,...

Abstract Background and Aims The impact of urbanization on plant evolution, particularly the evolution reproductive traits, remains largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate consequences traits Portulaca oleracea in Kantō region Japan. has a unique cleistogamous system, which consists genetically determined chasmogamous (open, CH) (closed, CL) plants. Methods We collected seeds P. from ten populations rural areas urban areas. common garden experiment, recorded type flowers (CH...

This paper describes the preparation of monosialoganglioside GM1 with sialidase-producing marine bacteria as a microbial biocatalyst. A new bacterium, identified tentatively Pseudomonas sp. strain YF-2, was isolated from seawater by enrichment culture ganglioside sole source carbon. When YF-2 cultured in synthetic medium containing crude bovine brain gangliosides at 25 degrees C for 3 days, 80 to 90% were converted GM1. then purified supernatant C18 reverse-phased chromatography, followed...