For honeybees to overwinter successfully, several factors must work together. Researchers at the University of Würzburg have now identified a crucial one: The more diverse the diet, the greater the chances of survival.

The SHOWCASE project, funded by Horizon 2020, has released four practice abstracts on the EU CAP Network platform, promoting sustainable agricultural practices that support biodiversity while maintaining productivity. These abstracts provide evidence-based insights into farmer motivations, effective policy instruments and strategies for integrating biodiversity into agricultural systems through practical and policy-relevant solutions. By bridging the gap between science, policy and practice, SHOWCASE empowers European farmers and stakeholders to adopt biodiversity-positive practices aligned with the evolving goals of the EU Common Agricultural Policy.

How do plants regulate these two pathways? Recently, a review article published by Professor Lin Zhang’s team at China Agricultural University pointed out that plants balance carbon expenditure with phosphorus acquisition efficiency. When soil phosphorus is scarce, plants increase investment in their root systems, allocating more carbon resources to the roots to search for limited phosphorus through the direct pathway. Conversely, when soil phosphorus is relatively abundant, plants reduce carbon allocation to the mycorrhizal symbiotic system.

Scientists have found that when tomato plants are infected with the late blight pathogen, neighboring healthy plants connected via the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) network can activate the defense genes related to jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) within 24 hours, and this process is completely dependent on the direct connection of the hyphae.

International researchers from a range of disciplines challenge long-held assumptions about one of the most transformative processes in human history

Feedlot cattle with access to grooming brushes are generally more content, sociable and have less stress, according to recent research out of Murdoch University’s Centre for Animal Production and Health.