Published Special and Focus Issues
Special Issues include at least a dozen papers (reviews and original articles) on a common topic and are published after an open call for submissions. Special Issues may arise from conference sessions or be designed de novo by the guest editors.
Focus Issues are typically five to eight articles of a common theme published within a standard issue. Collected articles may arise from symposia, workshops, activities of a working group, or a synchronous group of ad hoc submissions on a related theme. A Preface thematically links the articles, but no open call for papers is issued.
For more information, contact Mick Hanley, Senior Editor for Special Issues: mehanley@plymouth.ac.uk
Submit an article now or learn how to propose a special issue.
Special Issues Currently Open for Submission
Please visit our calls for papers page to see details of open call for papers and forthcoming special issues.
Published Special Issue and Focus Issues
2025
Plant Reproduction in a Changing Global Environment
Plant reproduction is sensitive to anthropogenic global change. This special issue examines plant responses throughout the reproductive cycle, from floral bud initiation through seedling establishment. Positive and negative effects on phenology, pollinator interactions, floral traits and evolution, nectar production, pollen tube growth, mating systems and sterility are presented.
2024
African Flora in a Changing World
Africa is home to globally important biodiversity. Straddling the equator and extending to temperate latitudes, the continent has varied ecosystems and biomes, which include tropical forests, savannas, deserts, alpine and Mediterranean-type ecosystems. This Special Issue brings together pan-African research towards a holistic synthesis of knowledge on the ecology and evolution of African plants.
Macroalgae in a Changing World
Marine macroalgae (‘seaweeds’) play a critical role in ecological structure and function in the intertidal and coastal shelf environment, but are especially vulnerable to the physico-chemical changes associated with environmental perturbation. This Special Issue explores the impacts of global change at species and ecosystem-levels as well as ways we can better manage these vulnerable habitats.
2023
Pollination and Floral Regulation
This Focus Issue considers convergent evolution in pollination syndromes, flower-pollinator matching, flowering time, thermal induction of flowering, enantiostylous polymorphism, pollinator switching, the effect of N deposition, wind pollination, and male meiocyte development. Please use the cover for illustration.
CAM at the Crossroads
The CAM photosynthetic pathway is one of the most prolific examples of convergent evolution in the biosphere, occurring in close to 20,000 species, including the iconic stem succulents of the world’s deserts and rainforest epiphytes. However, CAM flora is currently at a crossroads. The high diversity of CAM species is under severe threat from human-caused global change, yet their utility for humanity is on the verge of rapid expansion. In honour of the 50th anniversary of Prof Klaas Winter’s first CAM publication, this Special Issue considers the origins and future of CAM.
Plant Reproductive Biology
This Focus Issue presents a collection of seven research papers and a commentary on the topics of floral volatiles, moss reproduction, morphological adaptation in flowers, how plants vary nectar loads to manipulate pollinators, and how well pollination services migrate northward with populations of black mangrove.
Plants and Their Soil Communities
This Focus Issue presents five papers on the community dynamics of below-ground ecosystems. The papers address various aspects of plant and soil dynamics and their impacts on above-ground vegetation.
Polyploidy in Ecology and Evolution
2022
Plants and Water
In this special issue of Annals of Botany, we present a series of papers that investigate the consequences of water use for plants. The papers investigate the mechanisms plants have evolved to manipulate the available volumes of water imposed by the environment into the most resilient shapes for the maintenance of growth and survival.
Seeds in the Anthropocene
This special issue contains commentaries, a viewpoint, research in context and articles, all on the topic of plant seeds and floristic preservation in the Anthropocene.
2021
3D Forest Models and Laser Scanning Data
This Special Issue provides an examination of laser scanning technology and how it has opened new horizons for the research of forest dynamics, with the ability to rapidly capture information on tree and forest structure in an automated, non-destructive capacity.
Intraspecific Variation in Plant Functional Traits (Volume 127, Issue 4, 1 April 2021)
This Special Issue provides a broad synthesis of how intraspecific trait variation improves understanding of plants across the multiple scales, from gene expression and within-plant variation to species interactions, and the dynamics of population, community, and ecosystems.
Genomic Evolution (Volume 127, Issue 1, January 2021)
This Highlight issue contains 8 articles and a Commentary on polyploidy, hybrid speciation, repetitive DNA and genome evolution.
2020
Functional-Structural Plant Models (Volume 126, Issue 4, 14 September 2020) 
Background: Reviews and research articles discuss FSPMs that explore the relationships between plant structures and processes that underlie growth and development covering a range of scale integration from gene to community levels.
Plant Defence and Stress Response (Volume 125, Issue 5, 8 April 2020)
Background: Research articles and commentaries describe the processes of plant response to biotic and abiotic stresses, through receptors, signalling and the use of chemicals, metabolites and proteins to establish tolerance and defence.
Bryophyte Highlight (Volume 125, Issue 4, 13 March 2020)
Background: Three research articles and two Commentaries in this Highlight on mosses cover aspects of their small genome organisation, gene transfer in mixed populations, and nutrient recycling in ecosystems.
Vulnerability to, and management of, coastal plant communities in the face of increased flooding and storm risks (Volume 125, Issue 2, 23 January 2020)
Guest Editors: Mick E Hanley, Tjeerd J Bouma, and Hannah L Mossman
The increased likelihood of sea-level rise and extreme weather events globally poses a major flood risk. As a result, many coastal plant communities are now valued for their important contribution to flood defense. Nevertheless, only recently have we begun to examine how plants and plant communities, respond to, and recover from, the disturbances associated with flooding, high winds and wave scouring. More importantly, we understand remarkably little about the role vegetation actually plays in mitigating flooding and coastal erosion. This Special Issue aims to bring together new research on how agricultural, and (semi-) natural coastal vegetation responds to flooding, and how we can incorporate habitats like sand dunes, mangrove forests, and wetlands into integrated flood and coastal defense strategies.
2019
Root traits benefitting crop production in environments with limited water and nutrient availability (Volume 124, Issue 6, 4 November 2019) 
Guest editor: Philip White
Background: Crop production is often limited by lack of water or nutrients. Roots might alleviate such constraints. Shoot and root architectures are inherited independently and can be improved simultaneously to increase the acquisition and utilisation of carbon, water and nutrients. Surveying the ways in which root traits improve resource acquisition, the papers presented in this Annals of Botany Special Issue reveal how different traits are necessary, depending on whether water or a nutrient limits growth. The interactions between roots and microorganisms are discussed, stressing the need for plants to control the symbiotic relationships between mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobia in order to achieve maximal growth.
Developing sustainable bioenergy crops for future climates (Volume 124, Issue 4, 13 September 2019)
Guest Editors include: Iain Donnison, Donal Murphy-Boekern, Gail Taylor
Background: This Annals of Botany Special Issue is devoted to emerging new genomic technologies for bioenergy crop improvement and highlights the latest findings and considering the potential of these technologies for their deployment in the face of climate change. The research provides insights into the complex plant traits underpinning drought tolerance and response to other abiotic and biotic stresses is required for these relatively new crops. There is a focus on recent advances in high throughput phenotyping to unravel these complex responses for bioenergy crops, considering growth on marginal – poor quality – agricultural land, not competing with food crops.
Drought Highlight (Volume 124, Issue 1, 28 June 2019)
Background: Understanding the effects of drought and climatic fluctuation on plant growth and chemistry, and how plants respond to and cope with drought stress are important questions in plant science.
Ecology and Evolution of Plant Reproduction (Volume 123, Issue 2, 23 January 2019)
Guest edited by Jeffrey D. Karron and James D. Thomson
Background: Botanists have long been fascinated by the extraordinary diversity in flowering plant reproductive patterns and have sought to understand the ecological processes and genetic mechanisms influencing plant mating. Over the last five years, research progress in this discipline has rapidly accelerated. Important new insights often combine elegant theoretical models with innovative field and laboratory experiments. The 16 papers in this special issue address the evolution of floral traits, the role of pollinators in structuring flower color patterns in plant communities, and the evolution of plant mating systems.
2018
Plant Ecology Focus (Volume 122, Issue 6, 2 November 2018)
Background: This focus issue includes 13 review and research articles selected from regular submissions. Topics range from climate adaptation, conservation and biodiversity to reproduction and defense.
Developmental Plant Cell Biology (Vol. 122, No 5, October 2018)
Guest edited by Prof Frantisek Baluska, Dr Nigel Chaffey and Dr Dieter Volkmann
Background: Recently, Peter Barlow (latterly Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, UK), passed away. Peter was a multi-talented individual with interests in many aspects of plant biology. This special issue has been assembled as a tribute to Peter's achievements and major contributions to plant science. The articles focus on root growth and development, the quiescent centre, plant cytoskeleton, polarity, gravitational plant biology, plant signalling and intelligence, biological rhythms, pattern formation and modelling, and evolution of eukaryotic cells.
Functional–Structural Plant Growth Modelling (Vol. 121, No 5, April 2018)
Guest edited by Jochem B Evers, Veronique Letort, Michael Renton and Mengzhen Kang
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Computational botany: advancing plant science through functional–structural plant modelling
Background: The need to integrate the ever-expanding body of knowledge in the plant sciences has led to the development of sophisticated modelling approaches. This special issue focuses on functional–structural plant (FSP) models, which are the result of cross-fertilization between the domains of plant science, computer science and mathematics. FSP models simulate growth and morphology of individual plants that interact with their environment, from which complex plant community properties emerge. FSP models can be used for a broad range of research questions across disciplines related to plant science.
2017
Morphology and Adaptation (Vol. 120, No 5, November 2017)
Background:The study of plant evolution and development in a phylogenetic context has accelerated research advances in both areas over the last decade. The addition of a robust phylogeny for plant taxa based on DNA as well as morphology has given a strong context for this research. Genetics and genomics, including sequencing of many genes, and a better understanding of non-genetic, responsive changes, by plants have increased knowledge of how the different body forms of plants have arisen. This Special Issue of Annals of Botany on Morphological Adaptation brings together a range of papers that link phylogeny and morphology. These lead to models of development and functional adaptation across a range of plant systems, with implications for ecology and ecosystems, as well as development and evolution.
Polyploidy in Ecology and Evolution (Vol. 120, No 2, August 2017)
Guest edited by Karine Alix, Trude Schwarzacher and J. S. (Pat) Heslop-Harrison
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Polyploidy and interspecific hybridization: partners for adaptation, speciation and evolution in plants
Background: Polyploidy or whole-genome duplication is now recognized as being present in almost all lineages of higher plants, with multiple rounds of polyploidy occurring in most extant species. The ancient evolutionary events have been identified through genome sequence analysis, while recent hybridization events are found in about half of the world’s crops and wild species. Building from this new paradigm for understanding plant evolution, the papers in this Special Issue address questions about polyploidy in ecology, adaptation, reproduction and speciation of wild and cultivated plants from diverse ecosystems. Other papers, including this review, consider genomic aspects of polyploidy.
Plant Immunity (Vol. 119, No 5, March 2017)
Guest edited by Robert Miller and Marie-Anne Van Sluys
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Plant immunity: unravelling the complexity of plant responses to biotic stresses
Background: Plants are constantly exposed to evolving pathogens and pests, with crop losses representing a considerable threat to global food security. As pathogen evolution can overcome disease resistance that is conferred by individual plant resistance genes, an enhanced understanding of the plant immune system is necessary for the long-term development of effective disease management strategies. Current research is rapidly advancing our understanding of the plant innate immune system, with this multidisciplinary subject area reflected in the content of the 18 papers in this Special Issue.
Endemism Hotspots (Vol. 119, No 2, January 2017)
Guest edited by Susan Harrison and Reed Noss
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Viewpoint - Endemism hotspots are linked to stable climatic refugia
Background: Centres of endemism have received much attention from evolutionists, biogeographers, ecologists and conservationists. Climatic stability is often cited as a major reason for the occurrences of these geographic concentrations of species which are not found anywhere else. The proposed linkage between endemism and climatic stability raises unanswered questions about the persistence of biodiversity during the present era of rapidly changing climate.
2016
Root Biology (Vol. 118, No 4, October 2016)
Guest edited by Peter R. Ryan, Emmanuel Delhaize, Michelle Watt, and Alan E. Richardson
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Plant roots: understanding structure and function in an ocean of complexity
Scope: These papers investigate how roots cope with drought, nutrient deficiencies, toxicities and soil compaction as well as the interactions that roots have with soil microorganisms. Roots of model plant species, annual crops and perennial species are studied in short-term experiments through to multi-year trials. Spatial scales range from the gene up to farming systems and nutrient cycling. The diverse, integrated approaches described by these studies encompass root genetics as applied to soil management, as well as documenting the signalling processes occurring between roots and shoots and between roots and soil.
Developmental Robustness and Species Diversity (Vol. 117, No 5, April 2016)
Guest edited by Günter Theißen and Rainer Melzer
Scope: Considering diverse groups of plants and animals, and employing different concepts and approaches, the authors of articles in this Special Issue try to understand better the impact of developmental robustness, phenotypic plasticity and variance on species diversity, evolution and morphological disparity.
2015
Plants and Climate Change (Vol. 116, No 6, November 2015)
Guest edited by Camille Parmesan and Mick E. Hanley
Scope: We reviewed the literature on species’ responses to Anthropogenic climate change (ACC), finding ∼42 % of 4000 species studied globally are plants (primarily terrestrial). We review impacts on phenology, distributions, ecophysiology, regeneration biology, plant–plant and plant–herbivore interactions, and the roles of plasticity and evolution. We focused on apparent deviations from expectation, and highlighted cases where more sophisticated analyses revealed that unexpected changes were, in fact, responses to ACC.
Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species (Vol. 116, No 4, September 2015)
Guest edited by Michael J. Considine, Luisa María Sandalio, and Christine Helen Foyer
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Unravelling how plants benefit from ROS and NO reactions, while resisting oxidative stress
Scope: Plants have mastered the art of redox control using ROS and RNS as secondary messengers to regulate a diverse range of protein functions through redox-based, post-translational modifications that act as regulators of molecular master-switches. Much current focus concerns the impact of this regulation on local and systemic signalling pathways, as well as understanding how such reactive molecules can be effectively used in the control of plant growth and stress responses.
Halophytes (Vol. 115, No 3, February 2015)
Guest edited by Timothy J. Flowers and Timothy D. Colmer
Scope: Improved knowledge of halophytes is of importance to understanding our natural world and to enable the use of some of these fascinating plants in land re-vegetation, as forages for livestock, and to develop salt-tolerant crops. In this Preface to a Special Issue on halophytes and saline adaptations, the evolution of salt tolerance in halophytes, their life-history traits and progress in understanding the molecular, biochemical and physiological mechanisms contributing to salt tolerance are summarized. In particular, cellular processes that underpin the ability of halophytes to tolerate high tissue concentrations of Na+ and Cl−, including regulation of membrane transport, their ability to synthesize compatible solutes and to deal with reactive oxygen species, are highlighted. Interacting stress factors in addition to salinity, such as heavy metals and flooding, are also topics gaining increased attention in the search to understand the biology of halophytes.
2014
Pollinator-Driven Speciation (Vol. 113, No 2, January 2014)
Guest edited by Timotheüs Van der Niet, Rod Peakall, and Steven D. Johnson
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Viewpoint - Pollinator-driven ecological speciation in plants: new evidence and future perspectives
Functional–Structural Plant Modelling (Vol. 114, No 4, September 2014)
Guest edited by Risto Sievänen, Christophe Godin, Theodore M. DeJong, and Eero Nikinmaa
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Functional–structural plant models: a growing paradigm for plant studies
Plant Cell Walls (Vol. 114, No 6, October 2014)
Guest edited by Zoë A. Popper, Marie-Christine Ralet, and David S. Domozych
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Plant and algal cell walls: diversity and functionality
Flower Development (Vol. 114, No 7, November 2014)
Guest edited by Charlie P. Scutt and Michiel Vandenbussche
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Viewpoint - Current trends and future directions in flower development research
2013
Matching Roots to their Environment (Vol. 112, July 2013)
Guest edited by Philip J. White, Timothy S. George, Peter J. Gregory, A. Glyn Bengough, Paul D. Hallett, and Blair M. McKenzie
Seedling Herbivory (Vol. 112, August 2013)
Guest edited by Kasey E. Barton and Mick E. Hanley
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Viewpoint - Seedling–herbivore interactions: insights into plant defence and regeneration patterns
Inflorescences (Vol. 112, November 2013)
Guest edited by Bruce K. Kirchoff and Regine Claßen-Bockhoff
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Inflorescences: concepts, function, development and evolution
2012
Plant Mating Systems (Vol. 109, February 2012)
Guest edited by Jeffrey D. Karron, Christopher T. Ivey, Randall J. Mitchell, Michael R. Whitehead, Rod Peakall, and Andrea L. Case
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Viewpoint - New perspectives on the evolution of plant mating systems
Root Biology (Vol. 110, July 2012)
Guest edited by Alexander Lux and Thomas L. Rost
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Plant root research: the past, the present and the future
Plant Population Biology (Vol. 110, November 2012)
Guest edited by John R. Pannell
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - The ecology of plant populations: their dynamics, interactions and evolution
2011
Plant Growth and Architectural Modelling and its Applications (Vol 107, No 5, April 2011)
Guest edited by Yan Guo, Thierry Fourcaud, Marc Jaeger, Xiaopeng Zhang, and Baoguo Li
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Plant growth and architectural modelling and its applications
The Plant Cell Cycle (Vol 107, No 7, May 2011)
Guest edited by J. A. Bryant and D. Francis
Evolution and Development (Vol 107, No 9, June 2011)
Guest edited by Annette Becker, Karine Alix, and Catherine Damerval
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - The evolution of flower development: current understanding and future challenges
Plant Sexual Reproduction (Vol 108, No 4, September 2011)
Guest edited by Simon J. Hiscock
Functional–Structural Plant Modelling (Vol 108, No 6, October 2011)
Guest edited by Theodore M. DeJong, David Da Silva, Jan Vos, and Abraham J. Escobar-Gutiérrez
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Using functional–structural plant models to study, understand and integrate plant development and ecophysiology
Palm Biology (Vol 108, No 8, December 2011)
Guest edited by James W. Tregear, Alain Rival, and Jean-Christophe Pintaud
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - A family portrait: unravelling the complexities of palms
2010
Plant Nutrition (Vol 105, No 7, June 2010)
Guest edited by P. J. White and P. H. Brown
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Overview - Plant nutrition for sustainable development and global health
2009
Adaptation to Flooded Conditions by Crops and Native Plants (Vol 103, No 2, January 2009)
Guest edited by Michael B. Jackson, Kimiharu Ishizawa, and Osamu Ito
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Evolution and mechanisms of plant tolerance to flooding stress
Photosynthesis Under Water Deficit and Salinity Stresses (Vol 103, No 4, February 2009)
Guest edited by David W. Lawlor
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Musings about the effects of environment on photosynthesis
Ecology and Evolution of Plant–Pollinator Interactions (Vol 103, No 9, June 2009)
Guest edited by Randall J. Mitchell, Rebecca E. Irwin, Rebecca J. Flanagan, and Jeffrey D. Karron
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Viewpoint - Ecology and evolution of plant–pollinator interactions
Orchid Evolutionary Biology and Conservation (Vol 104, No 3, August 2009)
Guest edited by Michael F. Fay and Mark W. Chase
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Orchid biology: from Linnaeus via Darwin to the 21st century
2008
Cell Separation, Germination and DNA Repair (Marking Daphne J. Osborne’s career in science) (Vol 101, No 2, January 2008)
Guest edited by Irene Ridge, Michael Jackson and D. S. Thompson
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Preface - Daphne J. Osborne (1925–2006)
- Viewpoint - Space and Time in the Plant Cell Wall: Relationships between Cell Type, Cell Wall Rheology and Cell Function
Genome Horizons (Vol 101, No 6, April 2008)
Guest edited by I. J. Leitch and M. F. Fay
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Introduction - Plant Genome Horizons: Michael Bennett's Contribution to Genome Research
Plant Growth Modelling (Vol 101, No 8, May 2008)
Guest edited by Thierry Fourcaud, Xiaopeng Zhang, Alexia Stokes, Hans Lambers, and Christian Körner
- Table of contents
- ContentSnapshots
- Viewpoint - Plant Growth Modelling and Applications: The Increasing Importance of Plant Architecture in Growth Models
2007
Crop Domestication (Vol. 100, No 5, October 2007)
Guest edited by D. A. Vaughan, E. Balázs, and J. S. Heslop-Harrison
2005
Plant Genome Size (Vol. 95, No. 1, Jan 2005)
Guest edited by M. D. Bennett and I. J. Leitch
Flooding Stress (Vol. 96, No. 4, Sept 2005)
Guest edited by M. B. Jackson and T. D. Colmer
2003
Flooding and Plant Growth (Vol. 91, Jan 2003)
Guest edited by E. J. W. Visser, L. A. C. J. Voesenek, B. B. Vartapetian, and M. B. Jackson
2002
Plant Responses to Water Stress (Vol. 89, June 2002)
Guest edited by H. Griffiths and M. A. J. Parry
2001
Physiology and Agronomy of White Clover (Vol. 88, Oct 2001)
Guest edited by A Guckert and R. K. M. Hay
- Table of contents
- Preface - The Overwintering, Spring Growth, and Yield in Mixed Species Swards, of White Clover in Europe
2000
Pollen-stigma Interactions (Vol. 85, Supplement 1, March 2000)
Guest edited by H. G. Dickinson
- Table of contents
- Preface - Pollen-Stigma Interactions An International Conference Dedicated to the Memory of Jack Heslop-Harrison
