Planning Visit to Australia for Parallel Long-Term Studies of Eucalyptus and Populus

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ

Investigators

Abstract

OISE 0439125 Thomas Whitham, Northern Arizona University This planning visit will enable Dr. Thomas Whitham of Northern Arizona University and several of his students and postdoctoral fellows to discuss research plans with Dr. Brad Potts and his research group of the University of Tasmania and examine his Eucalyptus experimental forests. They intend to replicate these experimental forests in the U.S. using Populus trees and coordinate identical field experiments in Arizona with Dr. Potts longstanding research on Eucalyptus trees in Tasmania. Dr. Whitham's recent research has examined the ecosystem consequences of genetic variations in natural stands of Populus in Arizona (i.e., the feedback from leaf chemistry to leaf litter decomposition, nutrient cycling and productivity.) He intends to set up similar studies on Eucalyptus in Tasmania. This visit will make it possible for Drs. Whitham and Potts to finalize the specific experiments and methods to be used in both the U.S. and Australia over the next five years. Intellectual Merit Among the most fundamental issues in ecology today are the genetic basis of community structure and the heritability and evolution of communities. The work of these U.S. and Australian investigators focuses on links between genetic variation in trees, leaf chemical traits, biodiversity and ecosystem processes. They are interested in characterizing the generality of host plant genetics as a driver of community structure and ecosystem processes. The parallel studies they plan on two dominant but phylogenetically and geographically distinct plant species will provide the basis to link plant genetics to community and ecosystem processes. Broader Impacts Comparative long-term experimental research on forests across continents is crucial for testing the generality of key hypotheses about community genetics and evolution. These genetic-based hypotheses have major implications for the fields of conservation biology, land management and the new field of transgenics where the release of modified organisms is likely to have community and ecosystem consequences. The planned common experiments in the U.S. and Australia will involve undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and contribute to their training and international experience. This research will also enhance the global development of the newly emerging discipline of community genetics.