Special Issue in Botany, Volume 102, Number 3, March 2024

Parasitism has evolved in different forms and multiple times independently among plants. The most diverse type of parasitism is based on an organ called haustorium, which promotes the connection between the parasite and the host. These haustorium parasites are often further classified into hemi- and holoparasites based on their ability to photosynthesize and produce some of their own carbohydrates (Teixeira-Costa and Davis 2021). Among hemiparasites, there are mistletoes and root parasites, such as the sandal wood tree (Santalum album L.). On the other hand, there are a variety of holoparasites, which lack chlorophyll and obtain all their carbohydrates from the host plant, such dodders (Cuscuta spp. L.).

Taken together, these fascinating parasitic plants can influence forest biodiversity, structure, and composition. In some cases, they are considered important pests, while in other cases they are considered high-priority conservation taxa.

IUFRO Working Party 7.02.11. Parasitic Flowering Plants in Forests organized a session during the All-Division 7 Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2022. This special issue presents eight papers of that session.

Details:  https://cdnsciencepub.com/toc/cjb/102/3

Parasitic flowering plants are diverse in their morphology, with versatile physiological strategies and convoluted evolutionary histories. They can cause extensive negative and positive impacts to many ecological processes, as well as affect ecosystem productivity and biodiversity. As keystone components of natural and urban systems worldwide, parasitic flowering plants also have a role in global change biology.

To showcase the breadth of research on parasitic flowering plants, this special issue of Botany welcomes submissions on (but not limited to): conservation, anatomy, physiology, ecology, and management of unbalanced host-parasite relationships.


Submission deadline:  6 March 2023
 
Details:  https://cdnsciencepub.com/topic/cjb-parasitic-flowering-plants-in-forests

Special Issue of "Botany" from Session D7d "Complex Interactions of Mistletoe, Ecosystems, and People";
XXV IUFRO World Congress; Curitiba, 29 September - 5 October 2019.
Botany, 2020, 98(9).

This special issue of Botany is a result of a Technical Session entitled "Complex interactions of mistletoe, ecosystems, and people", which was held during the 2019 World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). The session was organized by the IUFRO Working Party 7.02.11, which is devoted to the study of parasitic flowering plants in forests. The goal of the session was to discuss the complex and important role of mistletoe in forests and woodlands worldwide, as well as the relevance of these plants to people. Current research on mistletoe is expanding, with more emphasis on tropical forests, where the diversity of mistletoe is highest. Mistletoe plays important roles in human systems. On the one hand, mistletoes can be pests in orchards, woodlots, and forestry lands, but on the other hand, these plants are also beneficial to forest biodiversity, multiple ecosystem functions, and may also have an indirect positive effect upon the trees and shrubs that serve as host plants. In addition, mistletoes can be harvested for other non-timber resources, such as sources for medicinal products, animal fodder, and various commercial products. The six papers in this issue capture the complex roles of mistletoe in ecosystems and managed landscapes in both tropical and temperate regions of the planet.

Details at: https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/toc/cjb/98/9 

Abstract submission has been extended for for the upcoming IUFRO Unit 7.02.11 Parasitic flowering plants in forests sponsored conference July 17-22, 2016 in Ashland, Oregon:  Mistletoes: Pathogens, Keystone Species, and Medicinal Wonder.  Please consider submitting an abstract by May 1st... visit http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/mistletoe/
Sincerely, David Shaw and the organizing committee!

The IUFRO Working Party 7.02.11 Parasitic flowering plants in forests, is hosting a global meeting, "Mistletoes: Pathogens, Keystone Resource, and Medicinal Wonder" on July 17-22, 2016 at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon.  Ashland, Oregon is located in southern Oregon near the California border, and is surrounded by diverse forests with a diverse flora of Viscaceae (Arceuthobium and Phoradendron). 

Abstracts for oral talks and/or posters are now being accepted until 1 April! Please visit the website to submit abstracts:  http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/mistletoe/