Recent Graduate Dr. Melissa Whitman Featured in Rhododendron Research Network Newsletter

by Joel Stranberg Tue, 01/15/2019 - 11:24

The School of Biological Sciences would like to congratulate Dr. Melissa Whitman on having her research being featured in the Rhododendron Research Network Newsletter. As the name implies, the research network is dedicated specifically to Rhododendron research, reaching fields such as "plant physiology, pathology, ecology, evolutionary biology, plant breeding, genetics, horticultural sciences, conservation biology, ethnobotany, and medicinal chemistry." 

The following is the feature from the newsletter:

"Rhododendron Research Network member Dr. Melissa Whitman recently defended her dissertation at the University of Nebraska (UNL), under the supervision of Dr. Sabrina E. Russo, investigating how tropical Rhododendron leaf traits varied with habitat association along an elevation gradient. In contrast to other tropical woody plant species, for 169 Rhododendron species, the mean and variance of their functional trait values was remarkably constant across elevation (e.g. specific leaf area in cm2/g shown above, solid line indicates a significant decline; dashed line indicates non-significant). In addition, trait values varied little among species with different growth forms or edaphic associations. Such stability may be facilitated by associating with habitat types with low resource availability, or by opportunistic flexibility of growth form, especially within lower elevation areas.

This research was made possible by funding from the American Rhododendron Society, the National Science Foundation, and UNL School of Biological Sciences and collaboration with the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh, Rhododendron Species Foundation, and Bovees Rare Plant Nursey. "

Dr. Whitman completed her Ph.D. program and graduated in December of 2018.