Seminar: Alice Orme

As we face growing challenges related to climate change, a sound understanding of the natural world is becoming increasingly important. Ecosystems on earth are in a delicate balance, and disturbances to this balance can influence how they function. Changes in ecosystem functioning affect not only the ecosystems directly, but also us humans who rely upon them. One disturbance to ecosystems is drought, which is expected to become increasingly frequent and severe in the future. By studying the effect of drought on ecosystems, we can better understand its impact on ecosystem functioning, and improve our predictions of the effect this will have in the future. The research presented in this talk shows that plant matter inputs into soils are suppressed during years of extreme drought, alongside reduced carbon fixation rates. This suppression of plant matter release during years of extreme drought, particularly during the rewetting period, may negatively impact the ability of ecosystems to recover from drought, as well as alter the ecosystem carbon dynamics. Further, it presents a novel method to measure metabolic activity in plants using stable isotopes and high resolution mass spectrometry.