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

O'Brien Sarah L., Jastrow JD., Grimley DA and MA Gonzàlez-Meler (2010) Moisture and vegetation controls on soil organic carbon and total nitrogen accumulation in restored grasslands. Global Change Biology 16: 2573-2588.

Gonzagrave;lez-Meler MA, Blanc-Betes E, Flower C, Ward J, Gomez-Casanovas N (2009) Plastic and adaptive responses of plant respiration to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration. Physiologia plantarum, 137: 473-484.

DeLucia EH, Drake JE, Thomas RB, Gonzagrave;lez-Meler MA (2007) Forest Carbon Use Efficiency: Is Respiration a Constant Fraction of Gross Primary Production? Global Change Biology, 13:1157-1167.

Gomez-Casanovas N, Blanc E, Azcon-Bieto J and Gonzagrave;lez-Meler MA. (2007) Acclimation of respiration to elevated CO2 in the Mediterranean invasive Opuntia Ficus-Indica. Plant Physiology, 145: 49-61.

Trueman RJ, Gonzagrave;lez-Meler MA (2005) Accelerated below ground C cycling in a managed agriforest ecosystem exposed to elevated carbon dioxide concentration. Global change Biology. 11, 1258-1271.

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

Gonzagrave;lez-Meler MA, Ribas-Carbo M, Giles L and Siedow JN (1999). The effect of growth and measurement temperature on the activity of the alternative respiratory pathway. Plant Physiology 120: 765-772.

Drake BG, Gonzagrave;lez-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.