Who’s the hottest, who’s the coolest? Plant responses to global change in mountain ecosystems
Details
Full Title
Who’s the hottest, who’s the coolest? – Plant surface temperatures, stress, and related responses to global change in mountain ecosystems
Suggested by
Lisa Capponi
The respective workshop calls for contributions regarding ...
- Plants responses to a stressful environment
- Connecting plant surface temperature changes to plant responses and stress: plant temperature as indicator of stress
- Plant responses to specific and interacting actors of global change
- Telling that a plant is “stressed” – Can we identify thresholds?
- Plant responses consequences through the ecosystem chain
- Importance of plant temperatures for the micro-topography of alpine habitats
- Other related topics to plant temperature or stress connected to drought and global change drivers
Keywords
Mountain ecosystems, global change, plant surface temperatures, plant stress responses, water use, heat stress, ecosystem resilience
Type
Workshop
Description
Mountain ecosystems are currently affected by human-caused global change and the impact will likely increase further in the future. These ecosystems are characterized by high biodiversity and endemism. They are a pillar for local economies, especially for tourism, making them an important natural and human heritage. It is important to understand how mountain ecosystems respond to global change, so that adequate measures can be taken to preserve them.
Plants are at the bottom of the ecosystems, meaning that if they are stressed by global change drivers, this stress will be manifested through the interacting chain among all the actors of the ecosystem. Plants can therefore be considered indicators of the ecosystem health status: monitoring plant responses to a changing climate can help us indirectly monitor the entire ecosystem.
Plant surface temperatures are directly or indirectly key controls over many processes in the plant, such as respiration, photosynthesis, and development, meaning that studying plant surface temperatures will help us understand plant responses to global change, particularly to drought and projected future climate.
During our informal session we will mainly discuss plant surface temperatures changes, but also other possible responses, to drought and main global change drivers, and consequently related physiological processes. From plant temperatures we can disentangle transpiration and water use, heat stress and the consequences on photosynthesis and other vital processes. We can disentangle other drought- and heat- related stress and, at a larger scale, the micro-topography related to the micro-environment of trees, shrubs, and grasses in alpine habitats. Other related topics could be discussed, based on the interests of the participants.
Format
We will start with getting to know each other: all participants will prepare a short presentation (~5 minutes) about themselves and their PhD project and how their work fits in this session. Then we will openly discuss and give examples on how plants can respond to global change and the related stress.
The principle of this workshop is that every participant can openly share their own ideas and experiences, in a friendly environment, so that everyone will have fun and end up enriched by the experience.
We will also approach the methodologies existing, such as thermal infrared (IR) imaging, stomatal conductance assessment, chlorophyll fluorescence, and more. A practical demonstration on the techniques and the instruments used will be given during a common workshop within the biology focus group.
At the end we will have a more extended understanding on plant responses to a changing climate.
