Community science investigation of nutrient resorption patterns throughout the geographic range of Acer rubrum
TASpeR (Traits Across Species’ Ranges) is a community science project focused on understanding how variation within plant species influences the size and movement of different pools of elements (e.g., carbon, nitrogen) on the surface of the Earth. The major focus of the TASpeR project in 2021 is to understand how red maple (Acer rubrum) leaf traits, including foliar nutrient resorption varies across its geographic distribution and in response to strong environmental gradients. Collaborators: Adrien Finzi (BU), Bailey Cowart (BU) |
Link to TASpeR website: http://sites.bu.edu/tasper/
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Tradeoffs between nutrient use efficiency and reproductive investment
In this project we are examining how plants navigate seemingly divergent ecological and evolutionary incentives of obtaining high nutrient use efficiency while maintaining adequate allocation of resources to reproduction in nutrient limited environments. Collaborators: Adrien Finzi (BU) |
Physiological mechanisms in fruit that minimize resource costs of reproduction
We are investigating photosynthesis, respiration, and nutrient resorption in the winged fruit (i.e., samara) of four different species. Ultimately these processes may influence the net costs of reproduction in plants. Collaborators: Adrien Finzi (BU), Bailey Cowart (BU) |
Plant phenology is the study of the timing of key events that mark distinct stages of vegetative or reproductive productivity. Two well studied examples include flowering and leaf out of trees in temperate regions. Numerous studies show that the timing of these events can be sensitive to inter-annual variability in climate. Trees also utilize stored non-sructural carbon when leaves are still expanding, which is likely to deplete some portion of stored C reserves. Likewise a number of trees are known to flower prior to leaf emergence which may have further implications for plant non-structural C dynamics. In this work we aim to link plant physiology and phenology with broader ecological implications. Future work on this project will also explore the entire sequence of reproductive and vegetative phenological events for perennial plants.
Collaborators: Andy Gougherty (UBC) |
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