Location: 405 Alderman Hall & Zoom
Join us as Jake Grossman, Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at St. Olaf, presents Phenological Patterns in Tree Physiology.
Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Summary: In a warming and more chaotic climate, temperate trees have a secret weapon: their ability to acclimate to environmental stress. Though we often think of particular tree species as being drought tolerant or cold hardy, the physiological processes that confer stress tolerance on trees are shifting all year long, allowing the same individuals to survive freezing winters, sweltering summers, and periods of low soil and atmospheric moisture year after year. Can the same capacity to survive annual shifts in environmental stress confer some resistance to climate change? The all-undergraduate Grossman Lab studies this question as part of our mission to understand phenological physiology, the seasonality of key processes related to how trees survive and thrive in temperate environments. In this seminar, Jake will share research from his group addressing seasonal patterns of drought tolerance and cold hardiness in temperate trees, including maples, lindens, birches, hollies, magnolias, and more!