Plant responses and functioning

Climate is changing, and living things on Earth will be forced to respond. Increasing temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns are likely to drive changes in the functioning of vegetation, including the rates of photosynthesis and the rate of exchange of water between plants and the atmosphere. Many structural and biochemical characteristics of plants—often called traits—influence these rates of functioning. But these traits can change over time as species adapt (and their traits change) or as communities turnover (leading to different trait distributions). However, trait changes are rarely considered when predicting the responses of our dynamic and interacting climate system to global change. Our research is addressing how such changes in plant traits and functional rates will influence climate and, in particular, how the coupling between ecosystems and climate will lead to a different response than we would expect if we considered each part of the system in isolation.

Collaborators on this research include Charlie Koven at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Chris Still at Orgeon State University, Gabe Kooperman at the University of Georgia, Forrest Hoffman at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Jim Randerson at University of California, Irvine.

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy’s Biological and Environmental Research Division.