Howdy #ESA2026 folks! Hit the hay early and check out tomorrow morning’s 8AM aboveground-belowground interactions session in Room 250D. I’ll be talking about mechanisms driving AM fungal-mediated impacts of garlic mustard on native plant physiology at 9AM. See you there!

Nick Smith@nickgregsmith.bsky.social · last wk.

The PhUnFETTy Lab will have a large showing at this week's #ESA2026. Come check out the cool work we've been doing!

The PhUnFETTy Lab will have a large showing at this week's #ESA2026. Come check out the cool work we've been doing!

Trying to finish up my #ESA2026 talk. Here's the current version of the last slide for anyone interested. Talk is Thursday at 8:30 in 255A.

📰Published📰The negative effects of an allelopathic invader on native plant photosynthesis are amplified after tree canopy closure🌳 buff.ly/0rixAsC 🧪🌍️

The negative effects of an allelopathic invader on native plant photosynthesis are amplified after tree canopy closure

Evan A. Perkowski, Kieran Carroll, Jessie Mutz, Snehanjana Chatterjee, Xianyu Yang, Lalasia Bialic-Murphy, Stephanie N. Kivlin, Susan Kalisz, Nicholas G. Smith This is a plain language summary of a…

buff.ly

🚨 Article alert! 🚨 Happy to share that our new paper, titled "The negative effects of an allelopathic invader on native plant photosynthesis are amplified after tree canopy closure" is now available at @funecology.bsky.social! Link (Open Access): besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The negative effects of an allelopathic invader on native plant photosynthesis are amplified after tree canopy closure

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

🎉Congrats to @stineb.bsky.social et al whose @newphyt.bsky.social Tansley Review on C + N cycles has been recognised as one of the Top 10 most viewed papers of 2024! Check out our blog on why it resonated, and how we continue to build on this work 👇 research.reading.ac.uk/lemontree/le...

LEMONTREE in the Tansley Review’s Top 10 Most Viewed: Reflecting on Our Carbon–Nitrogen Synthesis - Lemontree

LEMONTREE recognised as one of the top 10 most viewed papers published in New Phytologist in 2024 for our review paper: Empirical evidence and theoretical understanding of ecosystem carbon and nitroge...

research.reading.ac.uk

New paper alert🔔My last PhD chapter is published📣 Our new study explains how the ratio of sapwood to leaf area🌿varies with hydraulic traits and climate on a global scale. Our theoretical model can capture almost 60% of trait variation. Stay tuned! Blog is on the way

New Phytologist@newphyt.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Global variation in the ratio of sapwood to leaf area explained by optimality principles Xu et al. @huiyingxu.bsky.social @lemontree-uofr.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/QQQWKU...

📢New paper in @aobp.bsky.social led by LEMONTREE PhD Student Jan Lankhorst: Nutrient availability increases photosynthetic capacity without altering the cost of resource use for photosynthesis. Check it out👇 doi.org/10.1093/aobp... @eaperkowski.bsky.social et al.

Nutrient availability increases photosynthetic capacity without altering the cost of resource use for photosynthesis

Abstract. Eco-Evolutionary Optimality (EEO) theory predicts that plants maximize resource investment in photosynthetic capacity at the lowest costs of acqu

doi.org

🌳 Sugar maples sacrifice nitrogen use efficiency for greater water use efficiency while keeping photosynthesis steady. This field test of least-cost theory has big implications for land carbon models. Blog 👇 research.reading.ac.uk/lemontree/tr... @eaperkowski.bsky.social @nickgregsmith.bsky.social

🚨New paper alert! 🚨 “Increasing nitrogen availability increases water use efficiency and decreases nitrogen use efficiency in Acer saccharum” is now in press at Tree Physiology! @nickgregsmith.bsky.social @lemontree-uofr.bsky.social academic.oup.com/treephys/adv...

Increasing nitrogen availability increases water use efficiency and decreases nitrogen use efficiency in Acer saccharum”

Abstract. Photosynthesis links terrestrial carbon, water, and nutrient cycles. Photosynthetic least-cost theory suggests that plants optimize photosynthesi

academic.oup.com

Our annual meeting hosted this year by @youngryel.bsky.social at Seoul National University, brought together our international team to share research updates, plan our next steps and train our ECRs in remote sensing. A very successful week. Read more 👇 research.reading.ac.uk/lemontree/annu…

At 5pm today at #esa2025, @alissarcheaib.bsky.social will present her poster: 'The satisfaction of leaf nitrogen demand under drought is modulated by soil nitrogen availability and drought severity". This research highlights that water-nutrient interactions must be jointly considered in models.

This pm at #esa2025, @snehanjanac.bsky.social will present her work: "The influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on plant resource use economics" in session COS-Mycorrhizae 2 (3.30-5pm). This work examins how AMF affect plant resource use strategies under different water & nutrient regimes👌🌿

Thursday, August 14: I will present a poster titled "The power of traits: How population growth rate is shaped by leaf and plant traits across global environmental gradients" in LB 18-239 at 17:00 in the Exhibit Hall (poster)

Wednesday, August 13: @alissarcheaib.bsky.social will present "The satisfaction of leaf nitrogen demand under drought is modulated by soil nitrogen availability and drought severity" in PS 29-039 at 17:00 in the Exhibit Hall (poster)

Wednesday, August 13: @snehanjanac.bsky.social will present "The influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on plant resource use economics" in COS 122-02 in BCC 339

Come check out my talk this afternoon where I’ll try to make sense of N and P effects on leaf and whole plant traits! Starts at 14:00 in BCC 349. See ya there!

Nick Smith@nickgregsmith.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Today (Monday, August 11): @eaperkowski.bsky.social will present "Global response patterns of plant functional traits to combined nitrogen and phosphorus addition are driven by additive individual effects of nitrogen and phosphorus addition" in COS 009 at 14:00 in BCC 349

Today at #esa2025: @eaperkowski.bsky.social is presenting his talk: "Global response patterns of plant functional traits to combined nitrogen and phosphorus addition are driven by additive individual effects of nitrogen and phosphorus addition" Session: COS – Physiological Ecology 1. 1.30-3pm.

The PhUnFETTy lab will have four presentations at #ESA2025. These will cover plant ecophysiology, trait ecology, eutrophication, water availability, mycorrhizae, demography, theory, modeling, and more! Check out the flyer and replies below for more details. Hope to see you in Baltimore!

See you all at #ESA2025! Finally got a Monday afternoon talk slot 😁

LEMONTREE@lemontree-uofr.bsky.social · 12mo ago

It's almost time for #esa2025 and we've got @nickgregsmith.bsky.social, @eaperkowski.bsky.social @alissarcheaib.bsky.social and Snehanjana Chatterjee heading there to present their LEMONTREE research. For more info on their talks head over to the blog... research.reading.ac.uk/lemontree/le...

The lab has new 2025 pubs on topics including: - CO2 acclimation - C4 trait spectra - Stem respiration - Phosphorus allocation - Predicting plant communities - Acclimation timescales (full links in replies) Check out more in a blog on the lab website here! www.smithecophyslab.com/news#mid2025...

We have a new paper out from our Powell Center C4 working group: "C4 photosynthesis, trait spectra, and the fast-efficient phenotype" The @newphyt.bsky.social Tansley Review led by Russ Monson explores what we know about the C4 trait spectra nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

C4 photosynthesis, trait spectra, and the fast‐efficient phenotype

It has been 60 years since the discovery of C4 photosynthesis, an event that rewrote our understanding of plant adaptation, ecosystem responses to global change, and global food security. Despite six...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

🌿 New research by @giulimeng.bsky.social reveals how plants in arid climates adjust carbon uptake as soil moisture declines. A new empirical function improves predictions of water stress impacts on ecosystems & models!🔗Read more: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @globalchangebio.bsky.social

The Response of Carbon Uptake to Soil Moisture Stress: Adaptation to Climatic Aridity

Written Summary: Plants need water to grow, but plants in arid climates generally use water more conservatively even in wet conditions and adjust their carbon uptake as soil moisture declines. We use...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Check out this blog post summarizing our recent paper on leaf and whole plant responses to elevated CO2!

LEMONTREE@lemontree-uofr.bsky.social · last yr.

🌿 New blog post! How does nitrogen shape plant responses to rising CO₂? In short: leaf-level responses are driven by nitrogen demand, while whole-plant growth is constrained by nitrogen supply. Read more: 🔗 research.reading.ac.uk/lemontree/ho... @eaperkowski.bsky.social @nickgregsmith.bsky.social

Check out our new paper! 2025 has already been quite the productive year for the lab!

LEMONTREE@lemontree-uofr.bsky.social · last yr.

📣📖New paper out in @newphyt.bsky.social🌿 "Soil resource acquisition strategy modulates global plant nutrient and water economics" by @alissarcheaib.bsky.social @nickgregsmith.bsky.social & @eaperkowski.bsky.social 🔗 Read it here: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #EEO #LEMONTREE

Very excited to share that our (Zinny Ezekannagha and @nickgregsmith.bsky.social) new paper, "Nitrogen demand, availability, and acquisition strategy control plant responses to elevated CO2", is now in press at @jxbotany.bsky.social Link: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... (1/6)

Nitrogen demand, availability, and acquisition strategy control plant responses to elevated CO2

Abstract. Plants respond to increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations by reducing leaf nitrogen content and photosynthetic capacity – patterns that corresp

doi.org

To find out why leaf nitrogen demands matter, check out our latest blog! research.reading.ac.uk/lemontree/th... @alissarcheaib.bsky.social @nickgregsmith.bsky.social @eaperkowski.bsky.social

The Crucial Role of Climate and Nitrogen in Leaf Nitrogen Dynamics - Lemontree

A recent publication in Ecology Letters published as part of the LEMONTREE project investigates the dynamics of nitrogen allocation.

research.reading.ac.uk

Really excited to see this out! We show that the responsiveness of leaf #nitrogen to soil nitrogen #fertilization is highest where leaf nitrogen demand is greatest. We put together a short blog on the paper here: www.smithecophyslab.com/news.html#ch... A quick synopsis also in the thread below...

Alissar Cheaib@alissarcheaib.bsky.social · 2y ago

Leaf nitrogen demand matters! Thrilled to share our new paper, just published in Ecology Letters @nickgregsmith.bsky.social. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Omg um… hi everyone?? I log into BlueSky for the first time in a few months and follower list has kind of gone off the charts? Guess I should probably post a bit more frequently then, huh?

Interested in how and where trees move water? I'm hiring a plant ecophys postdoc to study hydraulic redistribution in Indiana forests. If you'll be at AGU and want to discuss, please reach out! jobs.carnegiescience.edu/jobs/postdoc...