\u201cOur findings could serve as a model for adaptive management of arid regions around the world, including the familiar \u201cribbon of green\u201d that accompanies rivers and streams in the western United States,\u201d Allan said.<\/p>\n
This project will use a combination of experimental gardens composed of thousands of Fremont cottonwood trees and the National Ecological Observatory Network\u2019s (NEON) airborne remote sensing technology. The research team will examine the capacity these trees have to tolerate heat stress, drought and habitat disturbance caused by salt cedar, also known as tamarisk. Salt cedar is an invasive species that is a serious threat to riparian ecosystems in the Southwest.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing NEON\u2019s airborne remote-sensing capabilities will allow us to scale measurements taken from greenhouse and common gardens to large parts of the Southwest,\u201d said Chris Doughty<\/strong>, one of the project\u2019s co-principal investigators and assistant professor of ecological and environmental informatics.<\/p>\n The team will build on techniques developed by project co-PI Greg Asner at Arizona State University<\/a>‘s Asner Lab<\/a> to critically evaluate the genetic responses of cottonwoods to environmental changes that occur across the species\u2019 distribution.<\/p>\n Specifically, this study will determine if genetic differences among cottonwoods from warm to cool regions result in differing adaptive responses to a changing environment. For example, the research team will examine differing strategies cottonwoods use for regulating leaf temperature and carbon balance as an adaptive response to heat stress.<\/p>\n The research team also will investigate the ability of cottonwoods to produce naturally occurring hybrids that are better adapted to emerging conditions and the use of beneficial soil fungi to promote cottonwood survival in tamarisk-altered soils. The Desert Botanic Garden<\/a> will develop the project\u2019s public outreach program, led by Kevin Hultine, one of the project\u2019s co-principal investigators.<\/p>\n \u201cThis research is an outgrowth of three decades of work by NAU researchers in the field of community and ecosystem genetics using Fremont cottonwood trees. Cottonwoods support thousands of insects, birds and mammals, making their survival essential across the West,\u201d said Thomas Whitham<\/strong>, Regents\u2019 professor of biological science, a co-principal investigator for this project and a CAWL member. \u201cI am very proud to be part of a research effort that offers potential solutions to climate change in Arizona and beyond for this critical species. I am equally proud that our research group is inclusive, creating opportunities for young female scientists like postdoctoral scholar Hillary Cooper<\/strong> and doctoral student Jaclyn Motyka Corbin,<\/strong> both part of the research team who contributed to the grant\u2019s development.\u201d<\/p>\n CAWL was established as NAU\u2019s newest research center on May 5. CAWL seeks to promote robust scientific research to enhance sustainable management of ecological populations, communities and landscapes and to develop solutions to ecological problems across the American Southwest and Colorado Plateau.<\/p>\n Catherine Gehring<\/strong>, professor of biological science and co-director of CAWL, is also a co-PI on the project.<\/p>\n![\"Mycorrhizal](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Mycorrhizal-fungi-photo.jpg\")
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