US-India Cooperative Research: The Effect of Light Quantity and Quality on the Developmental Ecology of Indian Tropical Forest Trees

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9712753 Lee Description: This proposal is for a US-Indo collaboration between biological scientists David Lee, Florida International University and Kailash Paliwal, Madurai Kamaraj University. The research is: The Effect of Light Quantity and Quality on the Developmental Ecology of Indian Tropical Forest Trees. The researchers will study seedlings of 16 native South Asian tropical forest trees to determine how they respond to changes in light quantity and quality as they grow in spectrally neutral and altered shade conditions. Plants will be examined for growth rate, morphology, leaf anatomy, and physiological response over a 10-15 month period. Results will improve understanding of the ecological responses of the species in natural conditions, their sylviculture, and their establishment in nurseries. The research will increase fundamental knowledge about the effect of light quality and quantity to the development of trees in natural light conditions. Scope: This study will be conducted almost entirely at the Madurai Kamaraj University by Indian researchers in close collaboration with US PI David Lee who will spend part of his sabbatical there. The approach is novel and should lead to significant advances in fundamental knowledge about tree regeneration in tropical forests. The research is basic and applied. It will greatly strengthen US science by focusing on a region little studied by US researchers. As a new collaboration that will involve young scientists, this project supports INT objectives. The project will strengthen research links between the US and India. The interaction is mutually beneficial. ***