U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research: Convergence and Divergence in Leaf Traits

9814047REICH美国-澳大利亚合作研究：叶片性状的趋同与分化加深对植物性状趋同与分化的理解是生态学的核心问题之一。叶片性状变异预测能力的增强对全球变化建模具有重要意义。对应的研究人员将沿着区域和洲际尺度的气候和土壤梯度研究叶片特征。他们还将通过评估叶片性状与水分和肥力梯度、功能分组和系统发育的关系的变化，综合来自40个地点的全球尺度数据，并将开发性状作为气候、土壤和系统发育函数的预测方程。澳大利亚的同行是悉尼麦考瑞大学生物科学学院的Mark Westoby教授。

9814047REICH U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research: Convergence and Divergence in Leaf TraitsImproved understanding of convergence and divergence in plant traits is one of ecology's central questions. An enhanced capacity to predict variation in leaf traits would be valuable for global change modeling. The counterpart researchers will examine leaf traits along regional- and intercontinental-scale climate and soil gradients. They will also synthesize global-scale data from forty sites by evaluating variation in leaf traits in relation to moisture and fertility gradients, functional groupings, and phylogeny and will develop predictive equations for traits as a function of climate, soils, and phylogeny. The Australian counterpart is Prof. Mark Westoby, School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney.