Tolerance of temperature extremes under drought: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function

Frost damage, which is worsened by drought, costs Australian agriculture and forestry hundreds of millions of dollars every year. This multidisciplinary project, spanning biophysics to evolutionary ecology, will investigate mechanisms of freeze tolerance and their expression in structure and function of temperate woody evergreen vegetation along climatic gradients. We will determine the behaviour of water as leaves freeze and thaw, and how reduction in diameter of water transporting conduits reduces loss of hydraulic function from freeze/thaw events, but affects resource utilization and productivity through hydraulic constraints on leaf morphology and the capacity for carbon gain during growing seasons.