ERC Starting Grant · 2016
Leaf phenology is a key component in the functioning of temperate and boreal deciduous forests. The environmental cues for bud-burst in spring are well known, but little is known about the cues controlling the timing of leaf fall in autumn. Leaf fall is the last stage of leaf senescence, a process which allows trees to recover leaf nutrients. We urgently need to understand the controls timing leaf senescence to improve our projections of forest growth and climate change. I propose a new general paradigm of the onset of leaf senescence, hypothesizing that leaf senescence is triggered by the cessation of tree growth in autumn. I expect that: (i) in the absence of growth-limiting environmental…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.