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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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