Annual report 2015

KWR researcher Yuki Fujita wins 2nd prize for Best Paper

In February 2015, KWR researcher Yuki Fujita, together with her co-authors, won 2nd prize for Best Paper during the Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting 2015. The authors were honoured for their article, ‘Low investment in sexual reproduction threatens plants adapted to phosphorus limitation’, published in Nature.

Reproduction of ‘low-phosphorus’ plants

Plant species that persist in areas with low availability of phosphorus invest little in sexual reproduction. Due to the increase of phosphorus in their habitats and the fragmentation of low-phosphorus areas, these plant species, which already are on the ‘red list’, are under threat of extinction. This is the conclusion of research by, among others, Fujita of KWR. These results have implications for broader research on the impact of climate change and water management on vegetation. The amount of available phosphorus in the soil can be influenced by groundwater and surface water.

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