We study the ecophysiology of plants, with emphasis on understanding the evolution and adaptation of Australian plants to environmental factors, and how such adaptations relate to the structure and function of vegetation along complex environmental gradients.
Current Research
Our major strength is the combination of laboratory and field-based research where we use state-of-the-art techniques to study fundamental physical and physiological processes underpinning plant responses to multiple environmental factors. We seek to integrate:
Stress physiology: understanding how attributes associated with increasing stress tolerance relate to inter-specific differences in growth and morphology of plants along complex environmental gradients.
Whole plant bioenergetics: understanding how respiration and carbon balance vary in response to environmental stresses, and how they relate to inter-specific variation in growth and structure of plants along complex environmental gradients.
Functional plant morphology: understanding the integration of transport processes with the structure and function of vegetation along complex environmental gradients.
The Functional Ecology Group offers a range of research opportunities for students studying for Honours and Postgraduate Degrees and programs for Summer Vacation Scholars.
The Functional Ecology Group has a unique collection
of field-portable equipment for ecophysiological imaging enabling
spatially explicit studies of chlorophyll fluorescence, temperature
and reflected light, the latter at wavelengths ranging from
350 to 928 nm at 1.8 nm steps. The lab maintains a field-based
climate change laboratory at Bungendore, NSW. The laboratory
includes a weather station equipped for detailed monitoring
of spatial and temporal variation in above and below ground
temperature, open-topped chambers for study of plant responses
to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations
under natural weather conditions, and a FATI system of infra-red
lamps to study plant responses to altered temperature regimes
under naturally varying field conditions. Expertise in the Functional Ecology Group include measurement and analysis
of growth, photosynthetic gas exchange and fluorescence characteristics,
ecophysiological imaging, water relations and special skills
in microscopy.
Atkin OK, Evans JR, Ball MC, Lambers H and Pons TL (2000) Leaf respiration of snow gum in the light and dark. Interactions between temperature and irradiance. Plant Physiology122: 915-923.
Egerton JJG, JCG Banks, A Gibson, RB Cunningham and Ball MC (2000)
Facilitation of seedling establishment: reduction in irradiance enhances
winter growth of Eucalyptus pauciflora. Ecology81: 1437-1449.
Atkin OK and Tjoelker MG (2003) Thermal acclimation and the dynamic response of plant respiration to temperature. Trends in Plant Science8: 343-351.
Armstrong AF, Logan D, Tobin AK, O’Toole P and Atkin OK (2006) Heterogeneity of plant mitochondrial responses underpinning respiratory acclimation to the cold in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves. Plant, Cell and Environment29: 940-949.
Ball MC, Canny MJ, Huang CX, Egerton JJG and Wolfe J (2006) Freeze-induced embolism depends on nadir temperature: the heterogeneous hydration hypothesis. Plant, Cell and Environment29: 729-745.
Lovelock CE, Ball MC, Choat B, Engelbrecht BMJ, Holbrook NM and Feller IC (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 Environment29: 793-802.
Atkin OK, Scheurwater I and Pons TL (2007) Respiration as a percentage of daily photosynthesis in whole plants is homeostatic at moderate, but not high, growth temperatures New Phytologist 174: 367-380.
Stuart SA, Choat B, Martin KC, Holbrook NM and Ball MC (2007) The role of freezing in setting the latitudinal limits of mangrove forests. New Phytologist173: 576-583.
Woldendorp G, Hill MJ, Doran R and Ball MC (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 Biology14: 294-308.
Zaragoza-Castells J, Valladares F, Sánchez-Gómez D, Hartley IP, Lloyd J and Atkin OK (2008). Climate-dependent variations in leaf respiration in a dry-land, low productivity Mediterranean forest: the importance of acclimation in both high-light and shaded habitats. Functional Ecology22: 172-184.
