We are proud of our colleague Martin Bitomský who received the Otto Wichterle Award 2026 from @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition of his research! 🌱👏 #OttoWichterleAward #GoBelowgroud #ExFuMo 1url.cz/PejUQ

We often focus on #belowground organs and #buds, but #seeds are just as important for plant #persistence and #population #regeneration. Check out our new poster. @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social ▶️ 1url.cz/RejUC #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #seedbank #dormancy

What can #bulbs tell us about #plant #ecology? Quite a lot. Southern #African #Oxalis reveals trade-offs in #clonal offspring #allocation, from making many small bulbs to fewer, larger, better-protected ones. ▶️ 1url.cz/AesHQ #ExFuMo #GoBelowground @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

New on the Belowground blog: Using bulbs to answer ecological questions plantlifebelowground.wordpress.com/2026/06/17/u...

Reshare 📢 Urgent #job #vacancy for #Technician in my group @ibotcz.bsky.social near #Prague #Botany Looking for someone with experience in #plants, good data handling skills, and careful, well-organized work habits. Details/apply: www.ibot.cas.cz/en/vacancies... www.ibot.cas.cz/cs/vacancies...

#Clonality may be great for #persistence, but does it come at an #evolutionary #cost? Lineages relying strongly on clonality tend to #diversify more slowly than those reproducing mainly by #seeds ▶️ 1url.cz/HeVgD @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #evolution #ramet

Evolution of arborescence 🍁 - read a new paper from @spacetimeeco.bsky.social member published in @currentbiology.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social and @czechacademy.bsky.social

New on the Belowground blog: A story about three little plants on the bottom of a pond plantlifebelowground.wordpress.com/2026/06/04/a...

Vyšla nová kniha botanických pohádek Bota botanika od naší kolegyně Jitky Klimešové. Vypráví skutečné příběhy rostlin, které autorka poznala během téměř čtyřiceti let botanického výzkumu. Pokud si ji chcete užít přímo s autorkou, přijďte na autorské čtení 14. června, 14.00 do Průhonického parku.

🖐️Už popáté se veřejnost po celé České republice zapojí do víkendového mapování nepůvodních druhů rostlin a živočichů známého jako Biosmršť. 📅Akce proběhne od 12. do 14. června 2026. Více @ibotcz.bsky.social: www.avcr.cz/cs/pro-media...

🚩Many thanks to @czechacademy.bsky.social for supporting #GoBelowground course on #Functional #Morphology (Czech Republic on 13–19 Sep 2026) The fee is now significantly lower and the deadline has been extended! #PlantEcology #Root #Anatomy #ExFuMo #clonal Apply ▶️ 1url.cz/leRBL

Follow-up from Florence CETAF59 meeting packed with information. Decided to create internal bulletin in CZ to inspire and inform colleagues. @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org

How much do we really know about #rhizomes? In the second #Belowground #Book Club post, @Jitka_Klimesova presents Rhizomes by H. Krämer and L. Hesse, highlighting remarkable hidden #diversity of these underground #stems. ▶️ 1url.cz/beR9o #ExFuMo #GoBelowground

Our #GoBelowground #course in #Brazil last week was a fantastic experience! Inspiring students, great discussions, and a wonderful chance to share the hidden half of plants with a new community. Thank you to everyone who made it so special! 🇧🇷🌱 #ExFuMo @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

Taxonomy is not only about names. It is also how we keep botanical collections meaningful and alive. On #TaxonomyRecognitionDay, the historic iris collection in Průhonice @ibotcz.bsky.social shows how science helps conserve both biodiversity and cultural heritage. #NameItToSaveIt

Taxonomie nejsou jen jména. Díky ní zůstávají botanické sbírky srozumitelné, ověřené a živé. Na #TaxonomyRecognitionDay to dnes v Průhonicích ukazuje sbírka kosatců – péče o biodiverzitu i kulturní dědictví. #NameItToSaveIt. O sbírky pečuje Botanický ústav AVČR, v. v. i. @ibotcz.bsky.social

We had a very productive workshop day yesterday :) @drclrichards.bsky.social gave a cool plenary talk on epigenetics. We could not help but we saw a few reminiscences of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam.

Our colleague @jitkaklimesova.bsky.social describes the ideas behind her book "Plant Bodies" @springernature.com Read more ▶️ 1url.cz/XelFJ #Botany #PlantScience #PlantMorphology #PlantStrategy #ExFuMo #GoBelowground #PlantForm #PlantFunction @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

At 100, Sir David Attenborough continues to inspire the world to protect nature and understand the vital role of plants and ecosystems. In @forbes.com our botanist J. Klimešová shares how his work shaped her view of the living world. 🌿 #DavidAttenborough100

🚩Dig into plant functional ecology! Join the 8th Go Belowground! PhD course (13–19 Sep 2026 Czech Republic) 🪴⛏️ #Botany #PlantEcology #RootTraits #BelowgroundTraits #CzechRepublic #EcologyCourse #FunctionalTraits #Anatomy #ExFuMo @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

#GoBelowground is going international again! 🇧🇷 This time we go to Brazil. #Functional #morphology #course Go Belowground! will bring students together to explore #storage organs, #clonal plants, and the hidden half of #plant life. #ExFuMo #ecology @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

Co žere našeho vědce klimesovajitka.wordpress.com/2026/04/26/c...

Vyšel nový podcast s naším kolegou Radimem Hédlem👇

Was our landscape ever truly “wild”? Hinterland, awarded Magnesia Litera, shows that sandstone regions in Czechia were shaped by people for thousands of years—through grazing, fire, and daily life. Congratulations to the authors Petr Pokorný & Petr Šída. We’re proud to have contributed to the book.

@akademievedcr.bsky.social udělila Ceny Živa 2025. Mezi oceněnými byli taky naši kolegové za seriál "Mají se vzácné druhy rostlin bát křížení s hojnějšími příbuznými?" Purkyňovu cenu si odnesl Vít Latzel @vtec.bsky.social za článek, který shrnuje desetiletý výzkum o epigenetické paměti rostlin. 🏆

Our new review asks a simple question with big implications: can mycorrhizal symbiosis leave an epigenetic “memory” in plants? 🧬🌱https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.70982 One key message: reproduction matters.

Nikdy to nevzdávej: Spolu & práce klimesovajitka.wordpress.com/2026/04/14/s...

What if #belowground organs had personalities? ▶️ 1url.cz/ueHMb This post turns the hidden #diversity of #roots and #storage organs into a playful study, inspired by the remarkable forms #plants take beneath the #soil. #ExFuMo #GoBelowground #artㅤㅤㅤㅤ @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

Biodiverzita není luxus, ale základ fungující krajiny i společnosti. Jak připomíná dnešní text Ekolistu (ekolist.cz/cz/publicist...), o rozmanitosti života se stále učíme, o to víc ji musíme chránit. I proto Botanický ústav AV ČR koordinuje program Krize biodiverzity. #BotanickyUstav #biodiverzita

How has the landscape of Central Europe changed over the last 15,000 years? A new article in Global Ecology and Conservation, published by our colleagues: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Hidden diversity uncovered: molecular screening reveals cryptic Batrachium taxa in Pannonia, with their closest relatives not in central Europe, but as far as the western Mediterranean area. @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

@nature.com research paper! 🔎 Our botanists contributed to a study that, for the first time, compared how climate warming–driven changes unfold across different types of European environments – in forests, grasslands and mountain summits. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚩Dig into plant functional ecology! Join the 8th Go Belowground! PhD course (13–19 Sep 2026 Czech Republic) Lectures, hands-on field, lab training ▶️ 1url.cz/2ziQz #clonality #budbank #belowground #mophology #roots #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #functional @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

The Podyjí National Park Administration and the Prague City Hall are among the first institutions to undertake systematic removal of invasive black locust. More about the research I contributed to: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Dr. Curtis Lubbe presents our unique collection of South African Oxalis. The collection was established and expanded 20 years ago and comprises around 100 species! www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSWy...

1/2 V pondělí můžete, ať již osobně nebo virtuálně, zavítat na přednášku věnovanou podzemním orgánům rostlin. Do světa pod povrchem nás pomyslně zavede @jitkaklimesova.bsky.social z Botanického ústavu AV ČR ( @ibotcz.bsky.social )

@akademievedcr.bsky.social zahajuje program Krize biodiverzity, který koordinujeme. Cílem je posílit roli vědeckých poznatků v rozhodování státu a ve veřejné debatě o budoucí stabilitě české krajiny a kvalitě života. Vědci budou kvantifikovat míru úbytku biodiverzity a vyhodnocovat jeho dopady.

New study from our team: we tested two common Central European grasses (Festuca rubra vs Lolium perenne) across a strong drought gradient under today’s climate vs “future” conditions (warming + elevated CO₂), tracking plant traits + leaf/root/rhizosphere microbiomes via amplicon sequencing.

How will drought reshape #grassland life under climate change? 🌾🌍 New work shows #drought strongly shifts plant #microbiomes, especially #bacteria. Elevated CO₂ can partly buffer losses, revealing species-specific strategies that shape resilience from roots to leaves. 🔗 buff.ly/1TxurUJ (MK)

🙌FunSem IV is behind us — long live FunSem V! 👑The 4th edition of the Functional Ecology Seminar was full of interesting talks and inspiring discussions. See you again next year! 🌱 @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social #ExFuMo #GoBelowground #plant #ecology #traits #evolution #diversity

Our colleague Tomáš Figura won the first prize of the Invisible Imaging Contest by @eurobioimaging.bsky.social! The image "Is this what a fern looks like?" shows the fertile frond of Schizaea fluminensis, a curly grass fern from South America, with blue spore capsules on its purple frond. 🥇🎉

A research team including our botanists has drawn attention to a rare albino beech from the Moravian Karst. The tree lacks chlorophyll and, despite this, has been growing for about 30 years. Researchers investigated where it gets the sugars it needs to survive. Read more share.google/z7yJ8weflmrj...

Projekt EXPLANT (MSCA OP JAK) nám pomůže podpořit 3 talentované mladé vědce. 🌱 Dva zahraniční badatelé u nás budou zkoumat, jak rostliny zvládají sucho a stárnutí. 🌍 Český kolega naopak vyrazí do Španělska studovat sekvestraci uhlíku. Projekt je spolufinancován Evropskou unií. Těšíme se na výsledky!

Právě vyšla nová odborná monografie Karpatské lesostepní louky, která se věnuje jednomu z nejbohatších a nejméně pochopených ekosystémů střední Evropy. Přináší ucelený pohled na vegetaci, druhovou pestrost a vývoj lesostepních luk na okraji Karpat. Autorem je kolega Jan Roleček a kolektiv.

📢 Root exudates: invisible, fast-changing chemical signals shaping microbes, neighbors and soil. 🦠🌱 A new on our blog ▶️ 📢https://1url.cz/lJAdf #Rhizosphere #RootExudates #PlantEcology #ExFuMo #GoBelowground #Soil #Exudate #Microbes @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

#ExFuMo in 2025🎯 Review: new insights into #rhizome investment & #ontogeny, the #Belowground #Persistence Types” framework, the Plant Bodies book, and hands-on belowground training #IAVS #workshop + #GoBelowground course) Read the recap ▶️ 1url.cz/KJxLz @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

🚩Dig into plant functional ecology! 🌱⛏️ Join the 8th Go Belowground! PhD course (13–19 Sep 2026, Czech Republic) Lectures, hands-on field, lab training ▶️ 1url.cz/2ziQz #clonality #budbank #belowground #mophology #roots #traits #GoBelowground #ExFuMo @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

🌱⚡🔬#RootStressWeek Species habitat preferences and root trait variation across 65 temperate perennial forbs by Zuzana Münzbergová and co-authors in @annbot.bsky.social #freeaccess article 👉 doi.org/qj6g @torpas.bsky.social @popecolibot.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social #PlantScience