About Dr. BassiriRad's Research

I am a physiological plant ecologist who uses experimental and observational approaches to understand how plants respond to natural stresses and environmental pollutants. My research focuses on belowground activities, root biology, water relations, gas exchange and nutrient cycling. There are three major components in my current research, all of which focus largely on physiological mechanisms that control plant response to global climate change. These are: 1) plant and ecosystem responses to elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 concentration; 2) plant and ecosystem responses to increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition, and; 3) importance of extreme events (episodic drought and extreme heat) as an agent of natural selection in plant communities. These subject areas are closely linked as they cover the core components of environmental issues related to global warming and climate change.

Representative Publications

Newingham B, Callaway MR, BassiriRad H (2007) Allocating nitrogen away from an herbivore: A novel compensatory response to root herbivory. Oecologia, 153: 913-920.

BassiriRad (2006) Root characteristics and control of plant nitrogen uptake. Journal of Crop Improvement. 15(2):25-52.

Lussenhop J and BassiriRad H (2005) Collembola Density Changes Nitrogen Acquisition by Ash Seedling (Fraxinus pennsylvanica). Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 37:645-650.

Lane D.R. and BassiriRad H (2005). Diminishing spatial heterogeneity in soil organic mater across a prairie restoration chronosequence. Restoration Ecology, 13(2) 403-412.

BassiriRad H et al. (2003). Widespread foliage 15N depletion under elevated CO2: inferences for the nitrogen cycle. Global Change Biology. 9:1582-1590.

Gutschick VP and BassiriRad H (2003) Extreme events as shaping physiology, ecology and evolution of plants: toward a unified definition and evaluation of their consequences. New Phytologist, Tansley review. 160:21-42.