Test run of the new electronics for our next generation of hotter-drought experiments on #WhatKillsTrees. This coffee tree seedling (Coffea arabica) was a handy test case as we prepare to delve into mechanisms of heat-induced #PlantDeath in the #Anthropocene.

#Drought kills #forests, but in 2019 we wanted to know WHAT puts some trees at risk more than others.
We used #lidar to understand #WhatKillsTrees during #drought, mapping ~2 million individual tree crowns.
More than any other factor, tree height was the single greatest risk factor #forest #mortality!
Check out the paper here 👉 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12380-6
NOW.. #3D #visualization for the work from the Lidar data 👇
https://youtu.be/8kDQl-7WfoE

Hi Mastodon, time for my #introduction post!
I’m a plant ecophysiologist and global change ecologist studying #WhatKillsTrees. Broadly, I’m interested in how plant vascular systems react to extreme environmental conditions—especially regarding plant function, dysfunction, and the limits of survival. I teach about #PlantDeath in the #Anthropocene. More about me and my lab at the university of Florida can be found on the lab webpage, at https://ecophyslab.com.

Some trees are starting to die in central Spanish mountain range after a record-breaking hot and dry spring and summer. #FieldPhotoFriday First picture Pinus pinaster, second one Pinus sylvestris. Both were still alive in early September #WhatKillsTrees #ForestDecline