🙌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

We continue uncovering hidden Batrachium diversity with the discovery of an extremely rare diploid hybrid combination, newly found in the Czech Republic. @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

Šest drobných, okem sotva postřehnutelných lišejníků a houbu, která na lišejnících roste jako parazit, objevili poprvé v ČR naši botanici v Kalvárii v Motole a Oboře Hvězda. www.ibot.cas.cz/cs/pressrele... 📸houba parazitující na lišejnících Erythricium aurantiacum, Alexis, iNaturalist

Vítěznou fotografií letošní Vědy fotogenické je Anglermoss od našeho kolegy Tomáše Figury. Gratulujeme! Nejen ji můžete vidět na aktuální výstavě v galerii Věda a umění @akademievedcr.bsky.social.

Plants race too! Just belowground. #Taproot stays put, #bulbsdives down, #tubers scatter in all directions, but the hypogeogenous #rhizome and a #rootsprouter take the gold for lateral spread ▶️ 1url.cz/ZJ57D #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #art #lateralspread @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

Vědci z @ibotcz.bsky.social publikovali studii v @imafungus.pensoft.net, která odhalila, že 7 kmenů uložených pod stejným druhovým názvem v mez. sbírce je ve skutečnosti 7 geneticky i morfologicky odlišných druhů hub, náležejících do čtyř různých řádů a tří tříd v rámci odd. Ascomycota. 📸 M. Réblová

Complex interplay between climatic factors: What are the individual and interactive effects of temperature and soil moisture on the root metabolome of the alpine Himalayan dwarf shrub Rhododendron anthopogon? @popecolibot.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social Read more https://bit.ly/48J9h9H

Gratulujeme Martě Kudrnáčové, která v rámci Otevřené vědy absolvovala stáž v našem ústavu a na studentské konferenci získala ocenění v kategorii biologie a ekologie. Ve svém studiu se zaměřila na efekt prostředí, stáří semen a typ opylování na klíčení a růst ohroženého druhu drobnokvět pobřežní.

Ready for winter! ❄️☃️🪻As winter in the northern hemisphere approaches, plants are preparing to be protected from cold ❄️ Read more on our blog ▶️ 1url.cz/PJ0Vy #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #rhizome #bud #clonality #overwintering #strategy @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

🫵👀Jak vypadal první den festivalu Týden Akademie věd? Natáčeli jsme na pracovištích v Praze a v budově na Národní třídě. Podívejte se sami, jak se žije vědou!

Winning photograph of the European microscopy competition @eurobioimaging.bsky.social. The author is our colleague Tomáš Figura from the Dept. of Mycorrhizal Symbioses. Resembling a perfect summer holiday scene with a blue sea full of starfish, this is actually the seed surface of Alyssum alyssoides

‪ #Roots + #rhizomes + #buds = the “backup system” after #wildfire. Add the #soil #microbiome and you get real plant #resilience. Time to measure belowground #traits in #FireEcology🔥more ▶️ 1url.cz/IJIjY #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #Resprouting #Brazil @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

Identifying fine roots is a frontier for belowground ecology! In our new blog post ▶️ 1url.cz/lJZZl 🔴Fine Root Identification Protocol 🟠Root Kahoot🟢Rhidentify quiz🟤Rhizarium (2,000+ fine root images) #root #GoBelowground #ExFuMo @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social @josephtumber.bsky.social

Photos of coastal cliffs blanketed in flowering ice plants (Carpobrotus) are helping scientists track how this invasive species spreads along shorelines. They analyzed of over 1,700 images from social media and citizen science platforms. Results: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

📢 Funded #PhD position! 🌿Interested in studying angiosperm macroevolution linking genome size, polyploidy and trait evolution? 🍀🌻🔬🧬 Join my group @ibotcz.bsky.social 📄Apply/Details: www.ibot.cas.cz/en/vacancies... 💬 Questions welcome! #science #plants #polyploidy #genomesize #trait #evolution

🧬Does DNA methylation inheritance differ in clonal and sexual offspring? In wild strawberry, we found higher methylation inheritance in clonal offspring linked to stronger transgenerational plasticity under climate stress. ⬇️⬇️ academic.oup.com/aob/article-... @vtec.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

Our mycologists with colleagues from @mbuavcr.bsky.social have described novel fungal taxa in Rhamphoriales and Pleurotheciales. Far from being just wood decomposers, these microscopic fungi also thrive in soil and plant roots—playing key roles in ecosystems and nutrient cycles. (📰 Persoonia)

Big news! Our colleague Martin Bitomský from the #ExFuMo department is heading to Spain for a two-year research stay under the #MSCA project. Wishing him lots of luck, scientific success and invaluable experience. ¡Buena suerte! 🇪🇸 #GoBelowground @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

#GoBelowground course is over! Huge thanks to all participants and lecturers! We hope you made it home safely and found the course useful. And also big thanks @czechacademy.bsky.social and @ibotcz.bsky.social for their support. Until next time! #ExFuMo #functional #morphology #clonality #roots

🌷The fourth day of the #GoBelowground course was dedicated to #bud #traits and bud bank, fine #root traits with @joanabergmann.bsky.social and participants' presentations. Thanks to @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social #ExFuMo #clonality #functional #ecology #course #morphology #phenology

🚩Beware the Hoof! 🦓🐮 A new on our blog ⏩ 1url.cz/tJsmC South Africa’s mesic #grasslands depend on #forbs, but heavy #grazing threatens their rich #biodiversity. Protect them with careful grazing and time to recover. #ExFuMo #GoBelowground @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

Blue-and-white Blue Onion #cibulak a classic Central European motif began as a pomegranate motif resembling an onion. These images push it further😄They fuse leaves, stems, flowers & belowground! #GoBelowgroud #ExFuMo #art #science @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social ▶️ 1url.cz/EJkYG

📢Fine root responses to soil uncovered with high-resolution sampling of multiple nutrients A new on our blog ▶️ 1url.cz/SJVhx ..."We were surprised at the strength of fine root responses to cations like magnesium and calcium"... #GoBelowgrund #ExFuMo @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

🚩When Roots Meet: The Social Life Belowground A new on our blog ⏩ 1url.cz/3J333 ...In the presence of a neighbour, the primary root’s behaviour changed: nutations became more frequent and faster... #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #Root @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

New article from our mycologists in IMA Fungus: From seagrass roots to saline soils: discovery of two new genera in Lulworthiales (Sordariomycetes) from osmotically stressed habitats imafungus.pensoft.net/articles.php...

Thrilled to start as Junior Group Leader @ibotcz.bsky.social this Sept at Průhonice! 🌿🚀 We will explore how #genomesize, #polyploidy & #traits shape plant #diversity, #evolution & #distribution across space and time, combining lab work and modelling.🌴🔬🧬 Funded #PhD openings soon! Get in touch!

This is the live view from our castle tower in Průhonice Park. I love working at @ibotcz.bsky.social. www.youtube.com/live/RkagqS8...

🌴🌲🌾Plant Bodies are here! A new book by @jitkaklimesova.bsky.social Do You Want to Know How Plant Structures Contribute to Our Comprehension of Their Life-History Strategy? 1url.cz/ZJRTl #morphology #architecture #ecology #GoBelowground #ExFuMo @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

We’ve published the results of May’s mapping of non-native species in the Czech Republic – Biosmršť 2025! 👫 Over 200 volunteers took part over just 3 days. 📋 They recorded 800 verified observations of 31 species – a new record! 🔽 www.biosmrst.cz/rocnik-2025/ @pavelpipek.bsky.social

The 2022 wildfire in the Bohemian and Saxon Switzerland National Parks affected over 1,000 hectares. A team of our botanists investigated how different forest types responded to the fire. More about findings on our blog or in Forest Ecology and Management: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

What a great speed visit at @ibotcz.bsky.social!!

The Limits of Sharing in Ecology - a new commentary on our blog by @jitkaklimesova.bsky.social ▶️ 1url.cz/lJHkH Let’s look at the reasons why it is sometimes difficult to #share (#resources, #data, or #ideas) in #ecology. #GoBelowground #ExFuMo @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

Maybe we are upside down 🙃🙂 A new on the blog! 1url.cz/WJ298 Do we really know the point of view of plants? Maybe their focus is different... #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #storage #plants #upsidedown #whatif @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

🏅The award for promoting the good name of the Czech Republic abroad - Gratias agit 2025 - was received today at Ministry of Foreign Affairs by our colleague Josef Elster. Josef is a significant personality in polar research. Congratulation!

Podíleli jsme se na vydání nového expertního stanoviska @akademievedcr.bsky.social, které se týká přírodních požárů. Co je jejich příčinou, jaký mají vliv na ekosystém, jaké jsou prognózy do budoucna a mnoho dalšího se dočtete na www.avcr.cz/cs/veda-a-vy....

‼️Colours belowground! Although not always as showy as the plant parts aboveground, the belowground can also feature a variety of colours! Read more on our blog ▶️ 1url.cz/6JN3U #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #Oxalis @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

Ještě dnes můžete navštívit náš stánek na Veletrhu vědy @akademievedcr.bsky.social . Přijďte zjistit více o fascinujícím světě rostlin a hub 💚

@ibotcz.bsky.social smells like peonies. One of the most beautiful places to do research. Maybe only Kew Gardens comes close?

#GoBelowground Morphological knowledge in plant ecology matters! @jitkaklimesova.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

What is your favourite plant? Whatever it is, you certainly know its name and it's likely that it was named by a taxonomist. What is their favorite plant? If you're heading outdoors this weekend, be sure to share your favorite plant with us. Just share it with #nameitosaveit. @tettris.eu

The head of our Průhonice Botanical Garden and president of the Union of Botanical Gardens Pavel Sekerka explains why taxonomy is important for botanical gardens. @tettris.eu #nameittosaveit