This Postdoctoral Research Fellowship award to Dr. Stephanie Alexandra Stuart is supported by both the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Office of International Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation. During the 24-month fellowship, Dr. Stuart will work on a project titled, "Why be woody? Costs and benefits of stem construction" under the sponsorship of Dr. Steven Jansen at Ulm University in Germany, and Dr. Mark Westoby and Dr. Linda Beaumont at Macquarie University in Australia.
The goal of this project is to understand how plants grow tall and strong. Plants exhibit a variety of stem sizes and morphology, and this research will examine why plants have this diversity. This project will explore the costs of growing tall and strengthening stems, and how plants balance these costs against the energy they need for other functions such as reproduction. The research will provide answers to: 1) What do plants get out of building a stronger stem, and why are multiple strategies successful? 2) How do variations in stem design contribute to stem strength per unit investment? 3) How do changes in climate interact with costs of stem construction, leading to grassland to forest transitions? A species distribution model will be used as a theoretical framework for the study.
The PI will develop materials for a graduate workshop based on this research. The materials will be presented in the institutions in Germany and Australia, and eventually the US. Drs. Stuart and Jansen will develop a handbook on identifying functional traits at the anatomical level, which will be shared in Promethius wiki. Citizens will also be invited to join the project through a phenology trail on the Macquarie Campus. By visiting this trail, participants will have the opportunity to track the changing seasons by observing blossoming, new leaves, and ripening fruit in different plants.
This award provides a unique opportunity for a US scientist to collaborate with foreign scientists, and utilize the unique facilities, expertise and experimental conditions available abroad.
