Assistant Professor Pieter Poot
Email: pieterp@plants.uwa.edu.au

Biography

I was born in Maastricht in the extreme SE of the Netherlands, a region that has a foreign feel to it as there are hills and even some vineyards. With a father being a passionate amateur biologist (beetles, birds, plants and all the rest) it did not come as a surprise that I decided to study biology. I completed my Masters Degree at Utrecht University in 1991 (with majors in plant ecology and ecophysiology). I then undertook a PhD at the same University, working on the ecophysiological mechanisms that maintained male sterile individuals in otherwise hermaphroditic populations of the Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata). Thereafter, my PhD supervisor, Professor Hans Lambers moved to Western Australia, and convinced me to join UWA for two years (from 1998). During that time I got fascinated with the extraordinary diversity of plant life in this region. I collaborated with my colleague Dr Erik Veneklaas on a project considering mechanisms that contribute to the coexistence of plant species in the highly diverse Banksia woodlands of SW Australia. Thereafter, I was succesfull in obtaining a ARC-Linkage grant with Kings Park and Botanic Gardens Authority. This project investigated the ecophysiological adaptations of Hakea species endemic to shallow-soil ironstone communities and led to fascinating insights in the importance of root system morphology for species distribution patterns. Then I took up a postdoctoral fellowship researching the possible involvement of climate change (i.e drought) in the crown decline of wandoo (Eucalyptus wandoo). This project mainly involved investigating the water relations of wandoo and tree species that co-occurred with it that seemed to be less affected. Currently I am a lecturer in Plant Conservation Biology (since 2007) and a researcher for the Department of Environment and Conservation.

Key research

I have always had a fascination for the incredible diversity of life forms that inhabit the earth. Each habitat or ecosystem has it own suite of species that seem particularly well adapted to their specific environmental conditions. What are the adaptations that make species thrive in their own particular habitat and how could these adaptations possibly hamper them in establishing in neighbouring habitats (i.e. generalisation, specialisation, trade-offs, phenotypic plasticity)? What mechanisms enable the coexistence of many species? SW Australia, as one of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots, seems particularly well suited to address some of these key evolutionary questions. Therefore my overall research objective is to use my skills in plant ecophysiology to greatly enhance our understanding of plant species distribution patterns. This is especially relevant to the many threatened plant species in SW Australia. Their continued persistence in a much warmer and possibly drier climate is largely dependent on our understanding of these species’ habitat requirements (i.e. biotic and abiotic), threats and evolutionary potential. Therefore my research aims at providing basic knowledge on the evolutionary drivers of plant species rarity and commonness, but is also essential for the conservation of threatened species and communities.

Major research interests

• Ecophysiology of endangered plants
• Ironstone communities
• Plant physiology/ecology
• Root foraging strategies
• Wandoo woodland decline

Publications

View Publications here >>

Current Projects

Endangered Ironstone Communities

Ironstone communities are endangered plant communities that occur in the mediterranean SW of Western Australia. They are winter-wet shrublands that occur on very shallow (10 cm deep), skeletal red soils. Many of the plant species occurring in these communities are endemic or near-endemic to these communities. My research focusses on the reasons for this narrow endemism: why are so many species confined to these communities and apparently not able to adapt and compete in surrounding habitats. What makes them so well adapted to the ironstones (adaptations to summer drought/winter waterlogging), and why do some common species seem to have no problem growing both on ironstone and non-ironstone winter wetlands (phenotypic plasticity/ecotypic differentiation/other tradeoffs)?

Wandoo Woodland Decline

Eucalyptus wandoo occurs over an extensive area, covering a range of climatic regions, in the SW of Western Australia. It ranges from the high rainfall (up to 1200 mm/year) woodlands of the Darling range, several 100 km's inland into the much drier and heavily cleared Wheatbelt region (down to 300 mm/year). Over the last two decades numerous Wandoo stands have shown considerable crown decline. We are currently starting research to investigate the main causes of these decline events by comparing healthy and unhealthy stands of Wandoo over its total range of occurrence (water balance/nutrient disorders/salinity), and by comparing Wandoo trees in unhealthy stands with less affected cooccuring Eucalypt species. Other research will look at the genetic and ecophysiological diversity/differentiation of at least 20 populations covering the different climatic zones in which Wandoo occurs (drought/salinity/waterlogging tolerance).

Centre of Excellence for Climate Change Woodland and Forest Health
School of Plant Biology
University of Western Australia (M084)
35 Stirling Highway CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia

Ph: +61 (8) 6488 2491
Fax: +61 (8) 6488 1108
[ Email Pieter ]

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