About me
I'm an undergrad at the University of Utah, studying Biology and minoring in Physics. I have been doing research under Luiza Aparecido in plant ecophysiology for almost three years, and I'm interested in conservation and environmental policy. Outside of school and research, I also like to play the piano and read lots of sci-fi!
Contrasting Thermotolerances Between Conifers and Broadleaved Trees in the Intermountain West
As anthropogenic climate change progresses, the frequency and intensity of heatwave and drought events are projected to increase, particularly in the Western United States where desert summer temperatures can exceed 45 °C. These conditions elevate plant water loss through the stomata, increasing dehydration risk and likelihood of vascular damage and permanent thermal leaf damage. Hence, being able to rapidly acclimate traits and tolerance to these conditions is crucial for plant survival. However, the extent to which leaf traits correlate to heat tolerance capacity across species and functional groups occurring in a high-elevation semiarid ecosystem, marked by strong seasonality, remains unclear. Here, we evaluated the relationships between leaf morphological traits and thermotolerance across 13 tree species from the University of Utah campus (Salt Lake City, UT, USA), including evergreen conifers and deciduous broadleaved trees. Morphological traits (leaf thickness, Lth; leaf area, LA; leaf dry matter content, LDMC; specific leaf area, SLA) and thermotolerance (critical temperatures, Tcrit; maximum daily leaf temperature, Tmax; thermal safety margins, TSM=Tcrit-Tmax) parameters were measured over the 2024 and 2025 summer months (June-August) and analyzed using multivariate approaches.
