Prof Marilyn Ball

Functional Ecology Group
Research School of Biological Sciences
GPO Box 475
Canberra ACT 2601
ph: +61 (02) 6125 5057
fax: +61 (02) 6125 5095

email: marilyn.ball@anu.edu.au

Information for prospective students

Current position

Professor and Group Leader

Research Interests:

Ecophysiology of salinity and freezing tolerance are studied under field conditions to understand:

• how plant responses to irradiance in combination with salinity or temperature stress relate to vegetation structure and dynamics along environmental gradients

• water use in relation to carbon gain: linking hydraulic architecture with structure and function of leaves along gradients in salinity and temperature

• responses of vegetation to global climate and atmospheric change, particularly how elevated atmospheric concentrations of CO2 affect regeneration under natural and altered microclimates

Selected Publications

Egerton JJG, JCG Banks, A Gibson, RB Cunningham and MC Ball (2000) Facilitation of seedling establishment: reduction in irradiance enhances winter growth of Eucalyptus pauciflora. Ecology 81: 1437-1449.

Gilmore AM and MC Ball (2000) Protection and storage of chlorophyll in over wintering evergreens. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 97: 11098-11101.

Ball MC, JJG Egerton, JL Lutze, VP Gutschick and RB Cunningham (2002) Mechanisms of competition: thermal inhibition of tree seedling growth by grass. Oecologia 133: 120-130.

Choat B, MC Ball, JG Luly and JAM Holtum (2003) Pit membrane porosity and water stress-induced cavitation in four co-existing dry rainforest tree species.  Plant Physiology 131: 41-48.

Nicotra AB, M Hofmann, K Siebke and MC Ball (2003) Spatial patterning of pigmentation in evergreen leaves in response to freezing stress. Plant, Cell and Environment 26: 1893-1904.

Ball MC, MJ Canny, CX Huang and RD Heady (2004) Structural changes in acclimated and unacclimated leaves during freezing and thawing.  Functional Plant Biology 31: 29-40.

Barker DH, BR Loveys, JJG Egerton, H Gorton, WE Williams and MC Ball (2005) CO2 enrichment predisposes foliage of a eucalypt to freezing injury and reduces spring growth. Plant, Cell and Environment 28: 1506-1515.

Ball MC, MJ Canny, CX Huang, JJG Egerton and J Wolfe (2006) Freeze-induced embolism depends on nadir temperature: the heterogeneous hydration hypothesis.  Plant Cell and Environment 29: 729-745.

Loveys BR, JJG Egerton and MC Ball (2006) Higher daytime leaf temperatures contribute to lower freeze tolerance under elevated CO2.  Plant Cell and Environment 29: 1077-1086.

Lovelock CE, MC Ball, B Choat, BMJ Engelbrecht, NM Holbrook and IC Feller (2006) Linking physiological processes with mangrove forest structure: phosphorus deficiency limits canopy development, hydraulic conductivity and photosynthetic carbon gain in dwarf Rhizophora mangle.  Plant, Cell and Environment 29: 793-802.

Stuart SA, B Choat, KC Martin, NM Holbrook and MC Ball (2007) The role of freezing in setting the latitudinal limits of mangrove forests.  New Phytologist 173: 576-583.

Bruhn D, JJG Egerton, BR Loveys and MC Ball. (2007)  Evergreen leaf respiration acclimates to long-term nocturnal warming under field conditions.  Global Change Biology 13: 1216-1223.

Woldendorp G, MJ Hill, R Doran and MC Ball (2008) Frost in a future climate: modelling interactive effects of warmer temperatures and rising atmospheric [CO2] on the incidence and severity of frost damage in a temperate evergreen (Eucalyptus pauciflora). Global Change Biology 14: 294-308.

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