9731118 Zobel Description: This award is for the US-Nepal Collaborative Research: The Role of Water Relations in Controlling the Leaf Life Cycle of Himalayan Trees. The investigators, Donald Zobel of Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR and Pramod K. Jha of Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal will address fundamental questions in plant biology concerning Himalayan tree species. The primary goals are-- 1) to determine the role of water relations in governing leaf development and leaf senescence of trees in the central Himalaya, and 2) examine possible mechanisms by which Himalayan trees generate sufficient turgor to expand leaves during the dry season. Scope: This project will be a major boost for water relations research in Nepal. In addition to training of young Nepalese scientists and providing essential equipment to conduct botany research at Tribhuvan University, this project will develop an important regional link with botanists at Kumaun University, India who have collaborated with the US PI on the same topic. While both Indian and Nepalese groups have made substantial contributions to Himalayan ecology, there has been little coordination of effort and expertise. For US science, this project will produce a large volume of currently unavailable data on water relations, vegetation, and ecosystem processes in Himalayan forests and will improve analysis and prediction at the scale of the biosphere. ***
