How do trees decide how to use the resources available to them? Just like any economy, plants face trade-offs. They must balance investments of nutrients and water to maintain photosynthesis….Read More >
Blogs
IMFIREDUP 2025 – Second Meeting of the Consortium
The IMFIREDUP (Improved Modelling of FIRE: Development, Understanding and Prediction) consortium came together once again in September 2025 (see here for the blog on our original meeting last year) for…Read More >
Annual LEMONTREE meeting in Seoul: Science, Strategy and Sea cucumbers
LEMONTREE is an international collaboration, with researchers based in the USA, the UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, China, and South Korea. Every month we meet online to share science updates—but while…Read More >
What can we learn by studying past climates and ecosystems? By Colin Prentice
Anthropogenic climate change brings many challenges for society, and for science. But without knowledge of past climate changes and their impacts, we are flying blind. Climate changes, with diverse causes,…Read More >
The Land Carbon Sink: Why Plant Nutrient Strategies Hold the Key
A new study published in Nature Climate Change—Plant nutrient acquisition under elevated CO₂ and implications for the land carbon sink—offers fresh insight into a long-standing climate science puzzle: how nutrient…Read More >
Leaf Nitrogen Declines: What European Forests Reveal About CO₂ Acclimation and Ecosystem Resilience
One of the biological signals emerging from our changing climate is a decline in leaf nitrogen concentrations (LNC) across ecosystems worldwide. For years, this trend has raised concern: Are forests…Read More >
LEMONTREE at ESA 2025: Exploring Trait-Based Ecology, Resource Economics & Global Change
From August 10th–15th, four members of the LEMONTREE project from Nick Smith’s Lab (Texas Tech University) will be presenting their research at the Ecological Society of America’s 2025 Annual Meeting…Read More >
What rain pulses reveal about carbon losses in dryland ecosystems
Drylands are sprawling regions that cover one-third of the Earth’s land surface. In these regions, rain is infrequent, but when it comes, it doesn’t just nourish plants, it also sparks…Read More >
Exploring Functional Diversity Through Traits: Updates from Working Group D
Understanding how vegetation responds to environmental change is one of the most pressing challenges in Earth system science. Working Group D of the LEMONTREE Science Project is tackling this problem…Read More >
Testing Eco-Evolutionary Theory: How Tropical Forest Traits vary with Dryness
By Huanyuan Zhang-Zheng We have seen many global analyses of plant traits. Admittedly, many of them are intriguing and insightful. However, there is a reoccurring issue evident in most…Read More >
