DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Community trait responses to environmental variation: assessing the roles of species turnover, genetic differentiation, and phenotypic plasticity

Syracuse University, Syracuse NY

Investigators

Abstract

Climate change and other anthropogenic influences are causing dramatic alterations in the structure and composition of plant communities worldwide. Predicting these changes is a critical challenge for ecologists. How plants respond to changing environmental conditions depends on their ecological features or traits, such as leaf and stem characteristics and height. Changes in the environment may favor plants with different traits than the ones currently present in a given site, and plant communities may respond to these changes in multiple ways. First, there may be increasing presence and relative abundance of species with traits adapted to the new conditions (species turnover). Second, species already present in the site may adapt through genetic changes in their traits (evolution). Third, individuals may be able to adjust their traits in order to fit the new environment (phenotypic plasticity). The goal of this research is to disentangle the roles of species turnover, evolution, and phenotypic plasticity in community responses to environmental change, using old-field plant communities of eastern North America as a study system. The investigators will combine field surveys of old-field communities from southern Ontario to northern Florida with transplant experiments to determine how plant traits respond to variation in climate and soils. The knowledge gained through this research will improve our ability to predict changes in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in response to future climate change, issues of profound importance to society. The project will generate valuable data for climate-vegetation models, which will be shared with research groups worldwide via online databases. The project will also facilitate collaborations with scientists and land managers at research stations and nature preserves across eastern North America and provide ecological data that will inform conservation, education, and future research at these sites. The accessibility of old-field ecosystems will provide excellent opportunities to link research with education. The investigators will lead local middle school students on nature walks through research sites, introducing them to the biodiversity of old-field communities while teaching ecosystem concepts. The study will also allow undergraduate students to participate in research in the field, lab, and greenhouse and develop independent thesis projects.