Gabrielle Hartill 'Drought and freezing temperatures impact the evolution of eucalypts'

Gabrielle Hartill PhD Student, University of Tasmania Drought and freezing temperatures impact the evolution of physiological traits in eucalypts ABSTRACT With water being a vital resource for plant success, species inhabiting environments prone to water stress (including climates that periodically experience drought or freezing temperatures) have adapted traits to tolerate such conditions. Resistance to xylem cavitation is one such physiological trait, with cavitation vulnerability (P50) determining when a plant will die from water stress. My focus here is eucalypts, a clade of evergreen species inhabiting a range of climatic niches across Australia. Within a group of Tasmanian eucalypts, those from drier climates have expectedly adapted greater cavitation resistance, while those inhabiting cold climates (regularly below freezing) have adapted in a similar direction, suggesting that freezing may be as detrimental to sustained xylem function as drought. Following these results, I will continue to explore several traits across the broader eucalypt phylogeny, to investigate how species within this group have adapted to tolerate both drought and freezing. This webinar was recorded as part of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture seminar series.