Organized Oral Session
Hybrid Session
Robert Griffin-Nolan
Postdoc
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, California, United States
Brody Sandel, PhD
Associate Professor
Santa Clara University, United States
Plant traits can influence both their responses to environmental change and their effect on climate and ecosystem processes. In the past decade, plant traits have received considerable attention in the ecological literature with large datasets enabling data synthesis and the incorporation of traits into mechanistic global vegetation models. This ESA session will explore recent work on grass traits across spatial, temporal, and taxonomic scales. Grasses (i.e., Poaceae) are a highly successful plant family with > 11,000 species worldwide. They are the dominant growth form of grasslands, which cover 52 million km², or roughly 40% of Earth’s terrestrial land surface, and make a substantial contribution to the terrestrial carbon sink. Humans are heavily dependent on grasses for food (e.g., corn, rice, and wheat), building materials (e.g., bamboo), and forage for livestock. Despite their ecological, economic, and cultural importance, grasses have received relatively little attention in the plant traits literature. The goal of this session is to highlight novel and interesting research on grass traits worldwide, which both provide insight into this important group and advance general ecological understanding. Presentations in this session will integrate perspectives from a wide range of scales, including local studies on intraspecific trait variation, macroecological studies on the entire grass family. The session will open with a presentation on the unique connection between grasses and humans, which has influenced grass traits, their distributions, and their influence on the biosphere. Other presentations will cover key ecological disturbances, such as fire and grazing, which have shaped the evolution of distinct life history strategies of grasses. Lastly, talks will cover contemporary issues in ecology, such as climate change and plant invasions, and how we can use plant traits to conserve and restore grassy ecosystems that are resistant to extreme weather events and invasive species.
Presenting Author: Brody Sandel, PhD – Santa Clara University
Presenting Author: Sally Archibald – University of Witwatersrand
Co-author: Gareth P. Hempson – University of Glasgow
Co-author: Caroline E.R. Lehmann – Edinburgh Botanic Gardens
Presenting Author: Kimberley Simpson – The University of Sheffield
Presenting Author: Ryan Donnelly – Kansas State University
Co-author: Jesse B. Nippert – Kansas State University Division of Biology
Co-author: Stephanie Pau – Florida State University
Co-author: Daniel M. Griffith – Oregon State University
Co-author: Christopher Still – Oregon State University
Co-author: William J. Riley – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Co-author: Brent R. Helliker – University of Pennsylvania
Presenting Author: Robert J. Griffin-Nolan – Santa Clara University
Co-author: Brody Sandel, PhD – Santa Clara University
Presenting Author: Jennifer Funk – UC Davis