Michal Shuldman

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    Research Interests

 California is a biodiversity hotspot with a unique flora.  Current and future climate change will affect plants on physiological and ecological levels. I use comparative ecophysiology of closely related species found in different environments to elucidate some possible outcomes of climate change. My research is focused on California native Arctostaphylos and Ceanothus species, as well as Heteromeles arbutifolia.

If plants currently found in climatically stable environments (e.g. coastal) are adapted to constant environments, they may be under greater threat from increases in climatic extremes, such as heatwaves. There have been numerous studies examining the effects of increased average temperatures on plants in California and elsewhere but, we know much less about the impact of increased extreme temperatures on the terrestrial biosphere. My research examines the effect of extreme heat events on closely related Arctostaphylos and Ceanothus species endemic to different environments as well as multiple populations of the wide spread shrub Heteromeles arbutifolia.

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