Climate change and unpredictable weather threaten global food security by disrupting agricultural cycles. Now, Japanese researchers have discovered devernalizers (DVRs)—small molecules that delay flowering in plants without heat treatment. These compounds reactivate a key flowering suppression gene, prolonging the nutritional quality and yield of leafy crops. This breakthrough could lead to new agricultural technologies, enabling farmers to control plant growth and adapt to changing climates more effectively.

Subalpine and boreal moorlands are two ecosystems that contribute to climate stability by reducing excess carbon as well as acting to help regulate the climate. Therefore, understanding how to maintain these communities in their natural state is imperative. However, the underlying mechanisms of community stability and how factors such as biodiversity within these communities affect their long-term stability is still not well understood. Scientists in Japan have been studying subalpine and boreal moorland plant communities over an extended area in a national monitoring project, the ‘Monitoring Site 1000’. Using this dataset researchers at YOKOHAMA National University analyzed the relationships between vascular plant species richness, species asynchrony, species stability, community compositional stability, bryophyte cover and the temporal stability of the community cover to understand what factors influence plant communities’ stability.

The SpongeBoost project is taking a creative approach to communicating its mission of enhancing and restoring landscapes' natural water retention capacities. By consolidating existing knowledge, utilising best practices, and testing innovative approaches, the project aims to create a comprehensive roadmap for implementing transformative measures that improve resilience to extreme weather events. This involves synthesising information for policy-making, practical restoration, and land-use planning, as well as showcasing successful examples of sponge restoration and its multiple benefits.