University of Utah

Our research focuses around a central question:

What is the future of ecosystems in a changing climate? Massive forest mortality events of many tree species in the last two decades prompt concerns that drought, insects, and wildfire may devastate forests in the coming decades. We study how drought and climate change affect forest ecosystems, including tree physiology, species interactions, carbon cycling, and biosphere-atmosphere feedbacks. This research spans a broad array of spatial scales from xylem cells to ecosystems and seeks to gain a better mechanistic understanding of how climate change will affect forests around the world.

*********What’s New*********

• 06/2020: Check out our review paper on climate risks to forest carbon in Science and the new Forest Resilience Lab effort we are launching!

• 03/2020: A new paper on trait changes in US forests over time out in PNAS
• 09/2018: A new paper out in Nature from our group on hydraulic diversity of forests (coverage here and here).
• 12/2017: Check out a new paper recently published in Global Change Biology let by postdoc Anna Trugman!!
• 11/2017: We had an excellent visit from Congressman Chris Stewart’s office to the lab to talk about science and Utah’s future.