Research
How do trees function in the context of their environments?
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Functional traits to improve predictive ecology
Water and thermal stress
Physics-informed functional trait syndromes can predict climatic stress tolerance. Current work focuses on the traits regulating water absorption by leaves and twigs. Through TEAMnet we are tracking the impacts of regional climate on traits that limit foliar water uptake in redwoods. We are digging deep into the little-known process of rainwater absorption by twigs and exploring the traits that cause species-level variation in water absorption capacity.
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Long-term carbon storage
Wood density and heartwoodForests have a unique ability to hold captured atmospheric CO2 for millennia. We want to understand the structural components of wood density and use recent wood growth to predict heartwood deposition. We have made a unique a collection of hundreds of microCT scans of paired sapwood and heartwood from five conifer species to model wood density and the quantity of substances deposited in heartwood.
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