22 May is the International Day for Biological Diversity

22 May is the International Day for Biological Diversity

The word biodiversity recalls lush forests inhabited by countless animal and plant species. Life, thanks to its blind determination, blossoms in a myriad of stunning environments: from deserts and volcanoes to mountains covered up by perennial ice. The most extreme and inhospitable ecosystems can host animals and plants that adapted in the name of survival.

How many plants there are in the world and how they’re doing

How many plants there are in the world and how they’re doing

There are about 391,000 plant species known to science. They’re vascular plants, which have a vascular system to conduct water and minerals throughout the plant and include all plants except for algae, moss and hepatics. A recent study has assessed for the first time ever the conservation status of the world’s plants. The report on the state of the world’s plant

Plant behaviour finally recognised as a form of intelligence

Plant behaviour finally recognised as a form of intelligence

Italian plant neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso has been working tirelessly to teach the world that plants are intelligent creatures that are able to communicate with each other in order to find nutrients, propagate their species and defend themselves against predators. Naturalist Charles Darwin introduced this notion in the late 1800s, although it was not taken seriously