Answering longstanding plant ecology questions with new technology: the effects of changes in leaf proteins with age. Total leaf nitrogen is important for major processes in ecosystems. It is used as a predictor for carbon fixation because photosynthesis proteins are a large fraction of leaf nitrogen. Yet leaf nitrogen may also be allocated to stress-response and defense-related proteins at the expense of photosynthesis proteins. Our working hypothesis might explain two important ecological patt ....Answering longstanding plant ecology questions with new technology: the effects of changes in leaf proteins with age. Total leaf nitrogen is important for major processes in ecosystems. It is used as a predictor for carbon fixation because photosynthesis proteins are a large fraction of leaf nitrogen. Yet leaf nitrogen may also be allocated to stress-response and defense-related proteins at the expense of photosynthesis proteins. Our working hypothesis might explain two important ecological patterns: the decline of photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency with leaf age; and, low and variable nitrogen recovery levels from senescent leaves across species and habitats. New quantitative proteomics methods together with protein functional categorisation can answer these questions across dozens of Australian native plant species.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100301
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$440,000.00
Summary
Reducing uncertainty in prediction of leaf respiration in a changing world. This project aims to advance our understanding of responses of carbon dioxide (CO2) release by leaf (leaf respiration) to sustained changes in CO2 and temperature. Leaf respiration in terrestrial forests releases yearly CO2 that is two to four times higher than CO2 emitted by human activities, but its response to climate change is not well understood. The project expects to generate new knowledge on mechanisms underlying ....Reducing uncertainty in prediction of leaf respiration in a changing world. This project aims to advance our understanding of responses of carbon dioxide (CO2) release by leaf (leaf respiration) to sustained changes in CO2 and temperature. Leaf respiration in terrestrial forests releases yearly CO2 that is two to four times higher than CO2 emitted by human activities, but its response to climate change is not well understood. The project expects to generate new knowledge on mechanisms underlying responses of leaf respiration to these climate change variables, separately and combined. Expected outcome is to deliver criteria that enable dynamic changes in leaf respiration to be predicted in climate models. Results should benefit improved forecast of feedback between Australian forests' carbon cycling and climate.Read moreRead less