Wright Lab | Plant FAM lab

Plant FAM Lab (Facilitation & Microclimate)

We are a plant ecology lab at the University of Minnesota in the EEB department, and California State University in Los Angeles. We study how plants benefit one another, particularly via microclimate manipulation. This is called facilitation. We also study emergent facilitation effects in higher diversity communities and how biodiversity may help protect against some of the most negative impacts of drought. When plants are photosynthesizing they lose water, and this cools and humidifies the air around them due to evaporative cooling. This can improve the microclimate conditions of their neighbors.

We ask questions like: can drought resistant species modify the microclimate in a way that improves performance of neighbors during drought? Can microclimate amelioration help explain the positive relationship between biodiversity and productivity? Will facilitation be a more dominant plant-plant interaction as the climate changes? Are facilitation and microclimate amelioration more important in hot urban areas? Can microclimate amelioration be used to grow healthier crops?

Contact us

University of Minnesota - EEB

[email protected]