Grass physiology
Bison grazing and grass drought tolerance
Konza Prairie Biological Station
The American bison is considered an ecological engineer because their grazing and wallowing behavior increases plant diversity, productivity, and nutrient availability. These disturbances increase spatial heterogeneity and alter plant-water dynamics. I worked with an REU student to assess how bison grazing and wallowing affect grass chemistry and drought tolerance, and whether these responses are shaped by grass evolutionary legacies. Our goal is to understand how grass physiological responses to bison grazing may influence grassland resilience to drought.
Collaborators: Taylor Rodriguez-Blash (REU), Jess Nippert (KSU)
Grassland macroecology
Konza Prairie Biological Station and across the Great Plains
Grass-dominated ecosystems cover ~25% of the terrestrial surface, harbor tremendous amounts of biodiversity, and help regulate global carbon and water cycling. Despite their widespread distribution, grasses are underrepresented in trait databases, limiting our ability to synthesize and predict changes in these widely distributed but often overlooked ecosystems. Grasses are typically grouped into C3 or C4 functional types, which ignores important diversity within the C4 functional group. The grassland macroecology group is developing a novel framework to group grass function based on evolutionary lineage, rather than photosynthetic type. This project has connected me with highly collaborative group of grassland ecophysiologists, expanded my understanding of evolutionary ecology, and provided me with mentorship opportunities with MSc students.
Project PIs and students: Dr. Jesse Nippert (KSU), Dr. Dan Griffith (OSU), Dr. Chris Still (OSU), Dr. Brent Helliker (UPenn), Dr. Stephanie Pau (UC-Berkley), Dr. Bill Riley (Lawrence Berkely National Labs), Ryan "the elder" Slapikas (FSU), Ryan "the younger" Donnelly (KSU), Adam Abdullahi (UPenn), Che-Ling Ho (UPenn)