Global warming is driving climate change that is resulting in large scale forest mortality events that are increasing in frequency and extent, worldwide. Plant ecophysiologist Dr Richard Hammond of the University of Florida presented a special seminar “What kills trees?” in FABI on 21 January. Dr Hammond was visiting the Institute as part of a planned collaborative research effort to study the impact of climate change on plantation trees in South Africa.

Living organisms are facing very complex, compound threats, but the primary threats are intensifying due to heat and drought stress driving mass tree mortality events. This has important implications for forestry operations where plantation-grown trees will need to survive until the time they are harvested; which may be two or more decades after planting. Dr Hammond’s research focusses on methods to identify and measure stress in trees. Importantly, how to identify trees that are more resilient to heat and drought stress. Broadly phenotyping for climate resilient growth and survival traits that will have important implications for the breeding programmes of forestry companies including those contributing to the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) and other projects in FABI.