Survival
Mosses live where water is unpredictable, light can be intense, temperatures shift quickly, and survival often depends on small-scale physiological strategies.
In this world, we study how mosses function under drought, cold, high light, UV radiation, fog, seasonal change, and other environmental stressors. Much of this work focuses on dryland and high-elevation mosses, where plants must tolerate extremes while remaining ready to take advantage of brief windows of water and favorable conditions.
Some of our questions include:
- How do mosses survive drying and rehydration?
- How do they use fog, vapor, and other non-rainfall water sources?
- How do light, UV radiation, temperature, and seasonal cues affect photosynthesis?
- What physiological traits allow mosses to persist in deserts, alpine habitats, and biological soil crusts?
- How have stress-tolerance traits evolved across moss lineages?
This world connects plant physiology, climate adaptation, trait evolution, and environmental stress.
Papers in this research area:
Ongoing projects in this research area:
Fog, atmospheric moisture, and epiphytic cryptogams
How does coastal atmospheric moisture shape mosses, lichens, and their microbial partners?
Mosses under snow
How do alpine mosses survive winter conditions, and are they dormant or active beneath snow?
Variation in biocrust photosynthesis
How do desert mosses adjust photosynthetic function across seasons, climates, and water-availability regimes?