This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology, totaling $122,698, will fund research into the effects of climate change on sex ratios in dioecious plant populations. The award was made on September 1, 2022 under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) to support basic biological research strengthening the scientific enterprise.
Specifically, the University of Georgia Research Foundation will conduct collaborative research with scientists in China to compare the responses of female and male plants to climate change in North America and Asia. The research team will study how climate change may cause an overabundance of one sex and a shortage of the other in dominant tree and shrub species. They will test the consequences of potential sex ratio shifts on biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and population viability. The funding will also support development of molecular markers, DNA barcoding, and assays furthering understanding of sex-specific ecosystem impacts. Project results may help predict responses of important food and landscaping plants like spinach, pistachio, holly and willow to future climate change.
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