Shuangxi Zhou[1]

My research project aims to establish a synthesis of field experimental data on the response of different plant functions to environmental changes and to study the relationships between plant traits, processes and key environmental factors. By incorporating recent advances in plant ecophysiology and biophysics and rapid accumulation of quantitative data on plant functional traits into current vegetation dynamics models, the project can contribute greatly to the evaluation and improvement of dynamic global vegetation models. The first paper, "How should we model plant responses to drought? An analysis of stomatal and non-stomatal responses to water stress", is in press now in the Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. Two glasshouse drought experiments in Sydney and Barcelona, and two transect field projects in south Australia and southwest China will be completed this year (for more details please click here).

As the only research student attendant, it has been a great pleasure to participate in the pro-iBiosphere meeting held in Berlin on 21st to the 23rd of May 2013. The meeting offered me many brainstorming opportunities to grasp advanced scientific and technical knowledge.

The meeting also allowed me to reflect on how my research is connected with other activities and used by various stakeholders. My research pursues the generic trends of trait and physiology variation in the context of key environmental factors and the translation of that variation into improved process representation in vegetation models. Discussion with other workshop participants, for instance, Jens Kattge (TRY Database Initiative) and Henry Ford (Ecological Flora of the British Isles, Bath University), made me aware of how my research work is connected to their database and being used by other disciplines. In my view, fundamental work on data collection and data quality control with specific standards is very important but easily ignored.