The importance of regeneration to plant habitat specialization has been poorly studied. ten Brink et al. examine the adaptive association between germination ecology and specialization to either forest or open habitats in a comparative experiment using 17 congeneric species pairs with contrasting habitat preference. They find that seeds of forest and open habitat species respond differently to [...]

Fine-root decomposition is an important determinant of nutrient and carbon cycling in grasslands, but little is known about the factors controlling interspecific root decomposition. By studying 18 Mediterranean herbaceous species from different life histories and taxonomic groups, Birouste et al. demonstrate that the potential decomposition rate of fine roots is affected by root chemical composition [...]