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email:  rundel@biology.ucla.edu
phone:  (310) 825-4072
office:  WH 23-160
lab:  

research interests:  Adaptations of plants to environmental stress, focusing on mediterranean, desert, and tropical ecosystems; applications of environmental sensor arrays for ecological research

Research Interests

Our laboratory maintains a breadth of interests centering on aspects of vascular plant adaptation to environmental water and nutrient stress. Within this context we have focused particularly on the interactions of physiological water stress and nutrient availability in limiting net primary production of arid zone plants. We are looking intensively at the relationship of seasonal changes in morphological, architectural and physiological components of plant form and function in woody desert legumes and evergreen shrubs. Our approaches in these investigations involve analysis of components of tissue water relations, photosynthetic capacity, foliar nutrient levels, leaf morphology and canopy architecture. We are very interested in applications of stable isotope ratios to ecological research studies as a means of developing integrated measurements of physiological response to environmental stress. Such measures will help us link physiological process studies to an ecosystem perspective. In addition to our work on desert ecosystems, my laboratory group maintains interests in several other areas. These include the physiological ecology of plant species in Mediterranean-type and tropical ecosystems, parallel with our desert research. We are also investigating the impact of air pollutants on photosynthetic capacity and productivity of coniferous forest trees in California.

Selected Publications

Kleier, C. and P. Rundel. 2009. Energy balance and temperature relations of Azorella compacta, a high-elevation cushion plant of the central Andes Plant Biology 11: 351-358 .

Graham, E.A. E.M. Yuen, G.F. Robertson, W.J. Kaiser, M.P. Hamilton and P.W. Rundel. 2009. Budburst and leaf area expansion measured with a ground-based, mobile camera system and simple color thresholding Experimental and Environmental Botany 65: 238-244 .

Rundel, P.W., E.A. Graham, M.F. Allen, J.S. Fisher, and T. Harmon. 2009. Tansley Review: Environmental sensor networks in ecological research New Phytologist 182: 589-607 .

Rundel, P.W.. 2009. Comparative ecology and hotspots of biodiversity in Egypt and California Egypt: Energy and the Environment: Critical Sustainability Perspectives Adonis and Abbey PublishersLondon 174-176 .

Rundel, P.W. 2009.. 2009. Vegetation in the Mekong Basin Mekong: Biophysical Environment of an International River Basin Elsevier,London 143-160 .

Riordan, E. and P.W. Rundel.. 2009. Modelling the distribution of a threatened habitat, the California sage scrub Journal of Biogeography [link].

Riordan, E.C., P.W. Rundel, C. Brigham, and J. Tiszler.. 2008. Morphological traits and invasion success of the alien Euphorbia terracina (Euphorbiaceae) in coastal Southern California Madroño 55: 52-59 .

Pincetl, S., P.W. Rundel, J.C. De Blasio, D. Silver, T. Scott, J.E. Keeley and R. Halsey. 2008. It’s the land use, not the fuels: fires and land development in southern California Real Estate Review 35: 35-42 .

Hamilton, M.P., E.A. Graham, P.W. Rundel, M.A. Allen, W. Kaiser, M.H. Hansen and D.E. Estrin. 2007. New approaches in embedded networked sensing for terrestrial ecological observatories Environmental Engineering Science 24: 192-204 .

Watkins, J.E, P.W. Rundel and C.L. Cardelús. 2007. The influence of life form on carbon and nitrogen relationships in tropical rainforest ferns Oecologia 153: 225-232 .