About Dr. Gonzalez-Meler's Research

My research interest areas are in physiological and ecosystem ecology, global change and stable isotope ecology. My laboratory focuses on the study of plant and ecosystem functioning in different global change scenarios and in ecosystem feedbacks on biosphere-atmosphere interactions. My specific interests are: 1) role of plant and ecosystem respiration in the global carbon cycle; 2) effects of environmental change on plant and ecosystem respiration; 3) understanding the mechanisms of physiological acclimation and adaptation of plants to the environment; 4) use of stable isotopes for understanding physiological and ecosystem processes. My research is an interdisciplinary effort aim to scale up mechanisms of environmental acclimation and adaptation of plants to ecosystem process and function. Mechanistic understanding is crucial when predicting the effects and roles of terrestrial ecosystems to global environmental change scenarios.

Some of the research sites include restoration prairies in the Chicago area to understand the potential of ecosystems to mitigate environmental change; crop fields in Illinois to understand the effects of elevated CO₂ and ozone on plant productivity; and coniferous forests in North Carolina to understand the effects of elevated CO₂ on forested ecosystems.

Representative Publications

Trueman RJ, Gonzalez-Meler MA (2005) Accelerated soil C cycling in a managed agriforest ecosystem exposed to elevated carbon dioxide concentration. Global Change Biology, In press.

Gonzalez-Meler MA, Taneva L (2005) Integrated Effects of Atmospheric CO₂ Concentration on Plant and Ecosystem Respiration. In, Lambers H., Ribas-Carbo M (eds.), Plant Respiration. Kluwer-Academic Publishers. Dordrecht. In press.

Gonzalez-Meler MA, Taneva L Trueman RJ (2004) Plant respiration and increased atmospheric CO₂: Cellular Responses and Global Significance. Annals of Botany 94: 647-656.

Matamala R, Gonzalez-Meler MA, Jastrow JD, Norby R, Schlesinger WD (2003). Slow root C turnover in forests: implications for carbon sequestration. Science 302: 1385-7

Pataki DE, Ellsworth DW, Evans RD, Gonzalez-Meler MA, King JS, Leavitt SW, Lin G, Matamala R, Pendall E, Siegwolf R, van Kessel C, Ehleringer JR. (2003). Tracing changes in ecosystem function under elevated CO₂. Bioscience. 53(9): 805-818.

Gonzalez-Meler MA, Giles L, RB Thomas, Siedow JN (2001). Metabolic regulation of leaf respiration and alternative pathway activity in response to phosphate supply. Plant, Cell & Environment, 24:205-215

Gonzalez-Meler MA, Siedow JN (1999). Inhibition of respiratory enzymes by elevated CO₂: Does it matter at the intact tissue and whole plant levels? Tree Physiology 19: 253-259.

Drake BG, Gonzalez-Meler MA, Long SP (1997) More efficient plants: a consequence of increased atmospheric CO₂. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology, 48: 609-639.

Drake BG, Meuhe M, Peresta G, Gonzàlez-Meler MA, Matamala R (1996). Acclimation of photosynthesis, respiration and ecosystem carbon flux of a wetland on Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, to elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration. Plant and Soil, 187: 111-118.