UC researchers look into what makes plant communities tick

What makes diverse plant communities like New Zealand's iconic grasslands tick? What allows so many competing species to co-exist? A team of University of Canterbury (UC) scientists and overseas collaborators are working to find out.

To do so, UC Associate Professor Daniel Stouffer says they need to go back to basics.

“We want to change the way people understand how plants compete and how we measure what happens – the models and approaches we've been using haven't really changed for at least 100 years,” he says.

Long-term, with the aid of a Marsden Grant for $795,000, the researchers hope their work will lead to better management and protection of our ecosystems.

“If we want to manage these sorts of ecosystems and avoid their complete collapse, we need to understand the very basic things, and the strategies they're using to solve these problems are usually the best place to start.”

Associate Professor Daniel Stouffer, Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, discusses his research project, Quantifying the Importance of Non-additive Competition in Diverse Plant Communities:

https://youtu.be/axx6fKECoIc

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