Research revolves around studying how plants cope with environmental stress in desert ecosystems (including those in urban, riparian and upland areas). Specific questions we seek to answer include understanding 1) strategies that plants use to cope with extreme heat stress and drought, 2) relationships between the physiology / morphology of stem succulents and their sensitivity to climate extremes, 3) how local adaptation to environmental conditions impacts populations and species responses to climate change and other global change processes. To this end, we are applying stable isotope methods, dendrochronological techniques, measurements in plant water relations and measurements of plant carbon allocation and storage to improve our understanding of how desert plant systems function at multiple scales.
For more information about the research conducted by the Dryland Plant Ecophysiology Lab, visit us here.
