US-Zimbabwe Dissertation Enhancement: Understanding the Role that Carbon Plays in Leaf Flush and the Implications for African Savannas

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0115396Bazzaz This dissertation enhancement grant supports a US graduate student, Ms. Renee Richer, working under the guidance of Professor Fakhri Bazzaz, with the Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, to conduct a study in Zimbabwe on the mechanisms that control the timing of leaf emergence.The timing of leaf flush and fall (leaf phenology) can have significant impacts on rural economies, groundwater supplies, the global carbon budget, and plant and animal diversity. But in tropical savannas the cues that regulate leaf phenology are not that well understood. Dry tropical woodlands are a source of food for humans and domestic livestock and are also home to some of the world's most endangered wildlife, which may be significantly impacted by changes in seasonal forage. Ms. Richer is testing a novel hypothesis that fluctuating levels of stored carbohydrates regulate patterns of leaf flush in the dry woodlands of Zimbabwe. She will also test whether changes in the carbohydrates, as a result of elevated atmospheric carbon, induce phenological change. Dr. Robson Mhuriro, in the Indigenous Resources Department with the Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe, will provide guidance on this project to Ms. Richer.The results of this study will increase the current knowledge about the basic dynamics of dry woodlands and the potential effects of global change. This project will also support an international research experience very early in the career of an outstanding graduate student.