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exfumo.bsky.social
Go Belowground!
@exfumo.bsky.social
430 followers 350 following 99 posts
Go Belowground with us. It is fascinating!
Dept. Experimental and Functional Morphology at the Institute of Botany @ibotcz.bsky.social of Czech Academy of Sciences @czechacademy.bsky.social #GoBelowground #ExFuMo
Blog at plantlifebelowground.wordpress.com
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Reposted by Go Belowground!
ibotcz.bsky.social
A research team including our botanists has drawn attention to a rare albino beech from the Moravian Karst. The tree lacks chlorophyll and, despite this, has been growing for about 30 years. Researchers investigated where it gets the sugars it needs to survive. Read more
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Survival without photosynthesis: physiological characterization of long-lived albino beech (Fagus sylvatica)
Abstract. Albinism is typically lethal in autotrophic plants due to the absence of photosynthetic pigments and functioning chloroplasts. Yet, rare exceptio
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January 30, 2026 at 7:08 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
🌾🍂Removing #litter boosts belowground #bud banks + #shoot density, while litter buildup limits new shoots. #Bunchgrasses respond strongly, #rhizomatous grasses less. #Management is to avoid litter accumulation
Our blog ▶️ 1url.cz/Detdg
#ExFuMo #GoBelowground
Litter manipulation alters the belowground bud bank and aboveground shoot density in a temperate grassland
New research by Jianqiang Qian, from Henan Agricultural University, China. The pictures above show some of the buds found in the temperate grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China. Photos by Jianqiang Q…
1url.cz
February 4, 2026 at 8:36 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
🙌FunSem IV is behind us — long live FunSem V! 👑The 4th edition of the Functional Ecology Seminar was full of interesting talks and inspiring discussions. See you again next year! 🌱 @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
#ExFuMo #GoBelowground #plant #ecology #traits #evolution #diversity
February 3, 2026 at 8:33 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
Try harder! 🏋️‍♀️🪻How young clonal herbs rebuild after disturbance
Read more ▶️ 1url.cz/beLwS
#GoBelowground #ExFuMo #biomass #clonality
#disturbance #establishment #functional #traits #perennial #herb #economic #spectrum #resource #allocation @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
Try harder! How young clonal herbs rebuild after disturbance
New research by Jana Martínková from the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Photo by Jana Martínková. When a perennial herb germinates, it enters th…
1url.cz
January 29, 2026 at 7:53 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
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January 22, 2026 at 8:12 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
How old do herbs live? For #clonal plants, it’s tricky. An individual can be thousands of years old even if their organs are only a few years old. How to #age clonal plants reliably? Read ▶️ 1url.cz/4Jy2x #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #rhizome #ramet #mutation @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
How old do herbs live?
New research by Jitka Klimešová, from the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The picture above portrays one of the ways to determine the age of living parts of a clonal plant: fi…
1url.cz
January 21, 2026 at 9:53 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
🚩Dig into plant functional ecology! 🌱⛏️Join the 8th Go Belowground! PhD course (13–19 Sep 2026 Czech Republic) Lectures, hands-on field, lab training ▶️ 1url.cz/2ziQz
#clonality #budbank #belowground #mophology #roots #traits #GoBelowground #ExFuMo #functional #course
January 20, 2026 at 12:11 PM
exfumo.bsky.social
📢 Root exudates: invisible, fast-changing chemical signals shaping microbes, neighbors and soil. 🦠🌱
A new on our blog ▶️ 📢https://1url.cz/lJAdf
#Rhizosphere #RootExudates #PlantEcology #ExFuMo #GoBelowground #Soil #Exudate #Microbes @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
Drawing by Curtis Lubbe
January 14, 2026 at 10:51 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
#ExFuMo in 2025🎯 Review: new insights into #rhizome investment & #ontogeny, the #Belowground #Persistence Types” framework, the Plant Bodies book, and hands-on belowground training #IAVS #workshop + #GoBelowground course)
Read the recap ▶️ 1url.cz/KJxLz
@ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
The year 2025 for ExFuMo in review
Commentary by Jitka Klimešová, from the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The illustration above is by F. Curtis Lubbe. Now it is the time for reflecting on the p…
1url.cz
January 7, 2026 at 12:47 PM
exfumo.bsky.social
Calling researchers working on plant belowground - #bud banks, #storage, #rhizome, #anatomy, #clonality to join our #IAVS2026 Special Session-The Hidden Half: emerging questions in belowground #functional #ecology in #Gijón 22–26 Jun▶️ 1url.cz/OJ8fM #GoBelowground #IAVS @czechacademy.bsky.social
January 6, 2026 at 9:55 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
Heading to #IAVS2026 in #Gijón? Curious about plant belowground? Join the #Belowground #Workshop! Intro + hands-on field digging in JUN 21. Free for attendees, max 20 participants. Sign up via the conference site! ▶️ 1url.cz/OJ8fM #IAVS #ExFuMo #GoBelowground #clonality @ibotcz.bsky.social
January 6, 2026 at 9:19 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
🚩Dig into plant functional ecology! 🌱⛏️ Join the 8th Go Belowground! PhD course (13–19 Sep 2026, Czech Republic) Lectures, hands-on field, lab training ▶️ 1url.cz/2ziQz
#clonality #budbank #belowground #mophology #roots #traits #GoBelowground #ExFuMo
@ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
Go Belowground! 2026
The Department of Experimental and Functional Morphology, Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences organize the 8th edition of PhD course of functional ecology „Go belowground!“ 1…
1url.cz
January 5, 2026 at 10:18 AM
Reposted by Go Belowground!
exfumo.bsky.social
🚩Dig into plant functional ecology! 🌱⛏️ Join the 8th Go Belowground! PhD course (13–19 Sep 2026, Czech Republic) Lectures, hands-on field, lab training ▶️ 1url.cz/2ziQz
#clonality #budbank #belowground #mophology #roots #traits #GoBelowground #ExFuMo
@czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social
December 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
Season’s greetings from our blog ▶️ 1url.cz/PJ6z5 Thank you to everyone who has read, shared, or contributed this year!🩷This illustration of buds on belowground storage organs is available with other materials here▶️ 1url.cz/FJ6z9
#GoBelowground #ExFuMo @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
December 29, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by Go Belowground!
newphyt.bsky.social
An effect of biomass removal on functional traits of clonal and non-clonal herbs during establishment

Martínková et al. @exfumo.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social @jitkaklimesova.bsky.social

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/QK9WCM...
Principal component analysis of functional traits (mean values per species and age) of clonal and nonclonal species.
December 19, 2025 at 3:35 PM
exfumo.bsky.social
🚩Dig into plant functional ecology! 🌱⛏️ Join the 8th Go Belowground! PhD course (13–19 Sep 2026, Czech Republic) Lectures, hands-on field, lab training ▶️ 1url.cz/2ziQz
#clonality #budbank #belowground #mophology #roots #traits #GoBelowground #ExFuMo
@czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social
December 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
Already #ancient antarctic #tree showed a clever survival trick! Root sprouting - new stems popping up from the roots after damage. These #Permian forests regenered from belowground and from roots! ▶️ 1url.cz/MJY2G
#RootSprouting #Antarctica #GoBelowground #ExFuMo @ibotcz.bsky.social
The locality of Skaar Ridge in the Central Transantarctic Mountains. It is at 2200 m, on top of a mountain that rises above the Antarctic icesheet, photo by Rudolph Serbet. Transverse sections of a young Glossopteridale root (R) with its typical structure with wedges of wood producing a sucker shoot (S) with a conspicuous pith and “normal” wood cylinder. A later stage when they are separated but the two axes are still englobed within the same bark tissues (right). Scale bars = 200 µm.
December 17, 2025 at 10:43 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
Banana isn’t just about the fruit 🍌 🍌
New on our blog ▶️ 1url.cz/uJ9Y3
We know little about carbon allocation in banana rhizome, a starch-rich hub connecting mother plants and daughters. Huge knowledge gaps, big climate resilience implications!
#GoBelowground #ExFuMo
Cross-cut of a rhizome, with the central cylinder (rich in starch) and thick cortex, separated by a layer of cambium-like tissue from which roots and suckers develop (credit: Mathilde Vantyghem). New research by Mathilde Vantyghem from the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (Cirad). The photo above shows banana plants with side shoots (suckers) connected to the main plant through the belowground rhizome (credit: Mathilde Vantyghem).
December 11, 2025 at 8:22 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
Plants race too! Just belowground. #Taproot stays put, #bulbsdives down, #tubers scatter in all directions, but the hypogeogenous #rhizome and a #rootsprouter take the gold for lateral spread
▶️ 1url.cz/ZJ57D
#GoBelowground #ExFuMo #art #lateralspread @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
Drawing by Curtis Lubbe
December 3, 2025 at 8:08 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
Perennial #herbs don’t “wake up” in spring out of nowhere. Their #renewalbuds preform leaves and even flowers months before we see any green.
More on our blog ▶️ 1url.cz/VJOhA 🌱 #budpreformation #FunctionalEcology #SpringTiming #GoBelowground #ExFuMo @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
November 27, 2025 at 9:22 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
#Novelty isn’t a yes/no, but a #gradient from #replication to #innovation. We should be honest about where our work sits on that gradient, instead of overselling everything as #groundbreaking
More▶️ 1url.cz/sJXel
#GoBelowground #ExFuMo #linocut @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
linocut by Jitka Klimesova
November 21, 2025 at 10:14 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
Ready for winter! ❄️☃️🪻As winter in the northern hemisphere approaches, plants are preparing to be protected from cold ❄️
Read more on our blog ▶️ 1url.cz/PJ0Vy
#GoBelowground #ExFuMo #rhizome #bud #clonality #overwintering #strategy @ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 7:45 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
When fire digs deeper 🔥🌹🌱 A new on our blog ▶️ 1url.cz/oJSXO Even in fire-adapted grasslands, too much fire can erode resilience! by @alinebombo.bsky.social
#GoBelowground #ExFuMo #Brazil #CamposRupestres #Resilience #buds #regeneration #rhizome #root
@ibotcz.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social
When fire digs deeper: How changing fire frequency reshapes the belowground world of campos rupestres
New research by Aline Bertolosi Bombo at the Lab of Vegetation Ecology, São Paulo State University (UNESP). Above are views of the stunning campos rupestres in southeastern Brazil — ancie…
1url.cz
November 10, 2025 at 8:45 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
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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
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…
1url.cz
October 30, 2025 at 9:13 AM
exfumo.bsky.social
Studying the hidden half is messy—partial samples, broken roots, shifting soils. That’s exactly what students need to see. “In belowground science, perfection is impossible. Accuracy is not.” 🔍🌱
More ▶️ 1url.cz/DJIdJ
#GoBelowground #ExFuMo #ScienceTeaching @ibotcz.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social
Life Lessons in Root Identification
Commentary by S. Grady Welsh from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA. The photo above shows members of the Tumber-Dávila Lab learning to sieve roots and soil. Photo by Shersingh Joseph Tumber-Dá…
1url.cz
October 30, 2025 at 9:11 AM