Dr. Meghan Blumstein

Forests are facing unprecedented levels of stress due to anthropogenic influences, like climate change and invasive pest introduction. My work explores whether forest tree species have the capacity to adapt to predicted changes. I examine how genes and environment interact to form plant trait phenotypes, and how these phenotypes are subsequently acted upon by selection. In this talk, I will cover some previous work understanding the critical trait of nonstructural carbon storage in trees, then speak more about ongoing work in red oak looking at the eco-evo drivers of trait variation in phenology.