Oak Trees Provide Clues to Evolutionary Success

Ecology and Environment

MSI PI Jeannine Cavender-Bares (associate professor, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior) is featured in a new Research Brief on the University’s News website. Professor Cavender-Bares was the lead author on a recently published project that that helps explain how oak trees became so diverse - there are 91 species in North America - and also so dominant. The paper was recently published in American Journal of Botany and can be read on their website: The Role of Diversification in Community Assembly of the Oaks (Quercus L.) Across the Continental U.S.

Read the Research Brief on the University website: Research Brief: New Research Sheds Light on Why Certain Oaks Are Found Together.

Professor Cavender-Bares uses MSI for projects that aim to develop better methods for remotely sensing many dimensions of plant biodiversity. These projects link spectral reflectance data (400-2,300 nm) of plants at multiple scale to their functional traits in an evolutionary context.

 

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