I am interested in the functioning of forest ecosystems and how this varies with species composition, climate and soil resources. My main focus has been the ecophysiology of plants and soil although my work, and that of my team, has ranged from investigating plant and soil processes to vegetation modelling and remote sensing. I have led analysis of the impacts of drought on the Amazon rainforest carbon cycle through use of a large-scale field-experimental approach and associated modelling collaborations. Understanding responses to warming and drought is critical to our assessment of rainforests as key elements of the Earth system, and I am now extending some of these studies in SE Asia and Australia.
