We are investigating the interactions of salinity, herbivory and temperature variation on Tamarix using a set of greenhouse trials in a greenhouse facility at UC Santa Barbara. Plants were propagated from a site at the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge on the lower Colorado River where there exists a salinity gradient that increases from very low salinity (less than 2 ppt) to high salinity (12 ppt) over a distance of less than one kilometer. The goals of the trials are to determine if there are adaptations to the local environmental conditions over a small spatial scale. Further, these trials address what role carbon allocation patterns to growth and storage play in mortality rates in response to episodic herbivory. Check back as these experiments are ongoing.
For questions, please contact Randy Long (email).
Funding support provided by the US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (Award number 2015-67013-23138)