Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences

🫵👀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

To understand plant resilience to fire, look belowground New research and commentary by Marco Antonio Chiminazzo from Universidade Estadual Paulista in Brazil. The photo above was taken by Marco Antonio Chiminazzo during a prescribed burn in Central Braz…

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#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

The photo above shows a fine root from an eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). Photo by Grady Welsh.

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

iEcology reveals the importance of geography and genetic makeup in the flowering phenology of invasive Carpobrotus taxa Scientists use social media to track the flowering of an invasive coastal plant across six countries. Photographs from Instagram, iNaturalist and Google Maps showed that Carpobrotus plants flower at ...

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

Stronger transgenerational plasticity in clonal compared to sexual offspring of Fragaria vesca: effects of drought, elevated temperature and CO2 AbstractBackground and Aims. Climate change threatens plant species, potentially exceeding their adaptive capacities. Plants may adapt to rapid environment

🧬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 New research by Caroline Dallstream from the Soper Lab at McGill University in Canada. The illustration above depicts how trees could experience substantial soil heterogeneity at various spatial sc…

📢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 New research by Valentina Simonetti, from the University of Padova in Italy. In the Mind(The)Plant laboratory ( at the University of Padova, we study plant growth from a behavioural perspective. On…

🚩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

From seagrass roots to saline soils: discovery of two new genera in Lulworthiales (Sordariomycetes) from osmotically stressed habitats As part of an ongoing study of marine fungi associated with seagrasses, we discovered a novel root-fungus symbiosis in the Indo-Pacific species Thalassodendron ciliatum from Mauritius. Culturing its m...

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!

Botanický ústav AV ČR - Průhonický park a zámek – živé vysílání YouTube video by Botanický ústav AV ČR - Průhonický park a zámek

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

Plant colonisation, soil nutrient patterns and microclimate after a large forest fire in temperate Central Europe Fire is a key ecological factor shaping ecosystems worldwide that influences both vegetation and soil parameters. It alters the soil's organic horizon…

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 Illustration and commentary by F. Curtis Lubbe from the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Our view of plants shows us that aboveground parts, like leaves, are at the top and bel…

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