RESEARCH COMMENTARY Experiments with Cistus albidus L., a western Mediterranean shrub, suggest that runoff carrying gravel and sediment may abrade hard seed coats and promote germination. These findings broaden the predominantly fire-centred understanding of Mediterranean shrub regeneration. This Research Commentary…
SCIENTIFIC ESSAY Food systems are commonly compared through concentrations of individual constituents. Yet deliberately matched production or processing populations may also differ in how metabolite abundances co-vary across independent experimental units, even when conventional compositional summaries are similar. We define…
SCIENTIFIC ESSAY Plant compounds such as caffeine, nicotine and morphine did not evolve as medicines, yet they can alter human perception, arousal and behaviour through identifiable biological targets. This Scientific Essay examines that apparent paradox without reducing it to either…