Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Elemental combustion analysis using a CHNS-O elemental analyzer allows for the quantification of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen in minute quantities of tissue or other compounds of interest. My research program focuses on the determinants of temperate and tropical tree distributions in relation to local and regional resource gradients. In this context the equipment will be used to quantify changes in plant nutritional status, nutrient reabsorption from senescing tissue and within-plant allocation of carbon and nitrogen. These three plant functions can contribute substantially to tree species distributions across light and nutrient gradients. Data from these analyses will be used to further our understanding of tree species distributions in relation to local resource gradients, regional changes in resource availability, and plant allocational and nutritional responses to stress factors such as flooding and drought. Understanding species resource requirements and their tolerance of changes in these resources is crucial in predicting responses to environmental change and in assessing species suitability for restoration efforts. The requested elemental analysis system will see substantial use, as it will also contribute to the research programs of 9 other faculty members from 4 departments at Mount Allison University with a wide diversity of exciting research questions.