Plant Optics Lab @ UC Davis

As I wrap up my time at UC Davis this week, I’ve been reflecting on the last five years—what we built, who we built it with, and where my head at was during all of it.

New paper in Carbon Management, written out of a Fluxnet workshop in 2023! This work, "Near-surface remote sensing applications for a robust, climate-smart measurement, monitoring, and information system (MMIS)", suggests ways to use near-surface remote sensing to accompany flux measurement systems to better understand our landscape management strategies. It is in many ways a companion piece to the New Phytologist Tansley Review (Pierrat, Magney et al., 2025).

New review paper out on proximal remote sensing (hyperspectral, lidar, SIF, thermal and microwave). We provide an overview of synergies, opportunities and best practices for using these data to capture fine scale ecosystem processes and inform global ecology. 

This all started with the "Linking Optical and Energy Fluxes" workshop we led in 2023 in Niwot Ridge, Colorado. What a fantastic team effort! (picture below).

Citation: 

Troy and Zoe Pierrat (JPL) wrote a commentary article about how climate projections of tree cover distribution will shape the future of the boreal forest. 

If the boreal forest is indeed headed for an open state, how will tree cover dynamics influence—and be influenced by—climate feedbacks? And how will this impact ecosystem services and the carbon budget of the boreal forest?

Taken together, the boreal forest’s transition to an open state has potentially large implications for climate regulation, biodiversity, and ecosystem services.

New commentary paper written by Troy to help a broad array of scientists understand how to use plant reflectance data to track plant physiology.

Magney, T.S. (2024), Hyperspectral reflectance integrates key traits for predicting leaf metabolism. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20345

In Washington DC, at the annual American Geophysical Union Meeting - Francis Ulep presented his talk "Stressed Out? Zoom in to Investigate: High-resolution tower spectroscopy to understand crop response to water limitation" and Lily Klinek presented her poster: "Physiological Effects of Extreme Heat and High Vapor Pressure Deficit on Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) Photosynthesis"

Congrats to both!

Abstract: The seasonal timing and magnitude of photosynthesis in evergreen needleleaf forests (ENFs) has major implications for the carbon cycle and is increasingly sensitive to changing climate. Earlier spring photosynthesis can increase carbon uptake over the growing season or cause early water reserve depletion that leads to premature cessation and increased carbon loss.

The proportion of these isotopes, sensitive to environmental changes, has allowed the reconstruction of rainfall three centuries ago in the Andes Mountains of South America. These records correspond to climatic memories reflected in the thickness of tree rings, corals in the tropical Pacific and glaciers in the southern tropical Andes.

Franics Ulep, second year PhD student in Ecology, won an Outstanding Student Presentation Award from the Biogeosciences section at the annual American Geophysical Union this year for his poster "Disentangling Plant Structure Complexities and Sun-Sensor Geometry Induced Changes in Tower-based Remote Sensing Signals". Great work Francis!

https://www.agu.org/honors/ospa/past-recipients 

Evergreen needleleaf forests (ENFs) play a sizable role in the global carbon cycle, but the biological and physical controls on ENF carbon cycle feedback loops are poorly understood and difficult to measure. To address this challenge, a growing appreciation for the stress physiology of photosynthesis has inspired emerging techniques designed to detect ENF photosynthetic activity with optical signals. This Overview summarizes how fundamental plant biological and biophysical processes control the fate of photons from leaf to globe, ultimately enabling remote estimates of ENF photosynthesis.