In polar regions tolerance of low moisture conditions is likely as important for terrestrial organisms as cold hardiness. Overwintering larvae of the chironomid midge,Belgica antarctica,must endure months of continuous subzero temperatures and encasement within an icy substrate without access to free water.  Our recent studies have examined physiological and molecular mechanisms of stress tolerance in this polyextremophilic species. 

Plants rely on metabolic networks to cope with changing environmental conditions. This research uses metabolomic techniques that paint a picture of the functional status of a plant, to investigate whether wild populations differ in their ability to adapt to stresses in their natural environment and show plasticity when faced with new climatic conditions.

Plant populations growing at the margin of their range may exhibit traits that indicate genetic adaptation to their local abiotic environment. I investigated the metabolic responses of an arctic-alpine plant species to temperature change in laboratory and field studies. Metabolomic phenotypes associated with temperature stress explain observed distribution patterns across Europe.

Virtually all temperate insects utilise diapause as their overwintering strategy. Associated with diapause is an increased cold tolerance ability. Climate change threatens to expose adults to warmer late-autumn temperatures, while diapausing larval progeny will still experience periods of severe mid-winter cold. Experimental evidence indicates the result of this will be a cross-generational loss of cold tolerance mechanisms.

Standardized quantification of gradients in water availability is a fundamental prerequisite for accurately interpreting the patterns of plant community functional structure under climate change. We identified relevant metrics to unravel the effects of contrasting soil water resource and plant response on ecosystem processes such as biomass productivity in Mediterranean grasslands.

The risk of biological invasions is increasing in Antarctica. Studies of a detritivorous chironomid midge introduced accidentally in the 1960s highlight some of these risks. Where the midge occurs, it may be responsible for as much breakdown as the entire native soil faunal community, while its ecophysiologial tolerances suggest it has the potential to spread widely along the Antarctic Peninsula.

Extensive woody encroachment has occurred in savannas, but drivers of this are uncertain. To determine the relative importance of fire and CO2 enrichment, we examined changes (1954-2012) in woody biomass in plots subjected to various frequencies of controlled burning. We show that woody biomass is lower in frequently burnt plots, but the relative impact of burning has changed through time.

The 2011 Texas Drought killed approximately 10% of the state’s trees.  At our study site, mortality rates for four tree species varied between 1% and 34% and, excluding one conifer, were positively correlated with wood density and with rates of sap flow decline at the onset of drought conditions. We discuss implications for mechanisms of drought mortality in trees.  

The ability to sequence genomes cheaply and quickly has led to a rapid increase in studies using “lab-based evolution”. These involve evolving a population (usually bacterial) over time to become more tolerant of a stress, selecting clones with altered phenotypes, resequencing their genomes and identifying the mutation(s) responsible. I will review some recent studies in field, including our own.

Over five and a half thousand rabbits were collected over a thirty five year period and initially examined for helminth parasites. This research was subsequently broadened to encompass other diseases. The interaction between these diseases, the host and external factors will be discussed to help explain the population dynamics of the helminth parasites.