EAPSI: Understanding Plant Responses to Global Change Through the Lens of Evolutionary History

Wooliver R C, Knoxville TN

Investigators

Abstract

Global change, including nitrogen (N) eutrophication, represents a primary threat to biodiversity worldwide, yet we lack the ability to accurately predict which species will fare well, and which will decline, in rapidly changing environments. The goals of the proposed research are to determine whether species responses to increasing rates of N eutrophication of soils are associated with variation in functional traits, and to uncover past evolutionary mechanisms that have shaped the evolution of these traits. This work will be conducted using the group of 30 functionally unique Eucalyptus tree species that are native to the island state of Tasmania, Australia, in collaboration with Professor Brad Potts (University of Tasmania), a world authority on eucalypt ecology and evolution. This project will be the first attempt to test a long-standing theory in plant functional ecology, the ?worldwide economics spectrum,? in a global change framework. This theory postulates that environments with higher resource levels have selected for leaf, stem, and root functional traits that increase the capacity for resource use. First, the researchers will use recently developed phylogenetic comparative methods to model the multivariate evolution of functional traits within the Tasmanian eucalypt group according to soil- and climate-based selective gradients across their natural ranges. The researchers will then quantify species growth responses to predicted rates of N eutrophication of soils using a controlled greenhouse experiment to determine whether evolved variation in functional traits predicts responses to simulated global change. Ultimately, results from this research will serve a dual role of integrating the fields of evolutionary ecology and global change biology while taking the first steps to predict the performances of endangered or agriculturally important plant species in rapidly changing environments. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Australian Academy of Science.