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Research Projects

Ecohydrology and Vegetation Dynamics across scales

My research revolves around studying vegetation dynamics, gas exchange, and wildfire spread as features of a holistic ecohydrological system.

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Plant Hydraulics: from xylem anatomy to branch loss of hydraulic function

What fascinates me is that plants can move hundreds of gallons of water per day without a pumping mechanism. Understanding the functional anatomy of  their conductive tissues is therefore of interest not only to biologists, but to ecologists, physicists, and engineers.

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Featured article: Mrad, A., J.-C. Domec, C.-W. Huang, F. Lens & G. Katul (2018). A network model links wood anatomy to xylem tissue hydraulic behavior and vulnerability to cavitation. Plant, Cell & Environment 41 (12), 2718-2730.

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Ecohydrology

An extension to my work on plant hydraulics is to study how vegetation interacts with its microclimate. For example, how do plant transpiration and carbon assimilation change as a result of drought? Also, how does crop production weight change as a result of groundwater depletion?

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Featured article: Mrad, A., G. G. Katul, D. F. Levia, A. J. Guswa, E. W. Boyer, M. Bruen, D. E. Carlyle-Moses, R. Coyte, I. F. Creed, N. van de Giesen, D. Grasso, D. M. Hannah, J. E. Hudson, V. Humphrey, S. Iida, R. B. Jackson, T. Kumagai, P. Llorens, B. Michalzik, K. Nanko, C. A. Peters, J. S. Selker, D. Tetzlaff, M. Zalewski, B. R. Scanlon (2020). Peak grain forecasts for the US High Plains amid withering waters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 (42) 26145-26150.

Wildfires

Wildfires

This is a new research thrust that I have undertaken during the start of my postdoc in January 2021. I will be studying the emergent features of wildfire spread, such as the probability density of wildfire sizes, as well as the impact of fires on vegetation dynamics.

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Stay tuned for a featured article
Research and Publications: Research

Publications

Mrad, A., D. M. Johnson, D. M. Love, J.-C. Domec (2020). The roles of vessel redundancy and connectivity in angiosperm hydraulic function. Submitted

Mrad, A., G. G. Katul, D. F. Levia, A. J. Guswa, E. W. Boyer, M. Bruen, D. E. Carlyle-Moses, R. Coyte, I. F. Creed, N. van de Giesen, D. Grasso, D. M. Hannah, J. E. Hudson, V. Humphrey, S. Iida, R. B. Jackson, T. Kumagai, P. Llorens, B. Michalzik, K. Nanko, C. A. Peters, J. S. Selker, D. Tetzlaff, M. Zalewski, B. R. Scanlon (2020). Peak grain forecasts for the US High Plains amid withering waters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 (42) 26145-26150.

Mrad, A., S. Manzoni, R. Oren, G. Vico, M. Lindh, & G. Katul (2020). Recovering the metabolic, self-thinning and constant final yield rules in mono-specific stands. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 3, 62.

Katul, G., A. Mrad, S. Bonetti, G. Manoli, and A. Parolari (2020). Global convergence of COVID-19 basic reproduction number and estimation from early-time SIR dynamics. medRxiv. Major revisions: PLOS ONE.

Cardoso, A., L.-M. Billon, A. Fanton Borges, L. Fernández-de-Uña, J. Gersony, A. Güney, K. Johnson, C. Lemaire, A. Mrad, Y. Wagner, G. Petit (2020). New developments in understanding plant water transport under drought stress. New Phytol, 227, 1025-1027.

Mrad, A., S. Sevanto, Y. Liu, J.-C. Domec, M. Nakad & G. Katul (2019).  A dynamic optimality principle for water use strategies explains isohydric to anisohydric plant responses. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 2, 49.

Mrad, A., J.-C. Domec, C.-W. Huang, F. Lens & G. Katul (2018). A network model links wood anatomy to xylem tissue hydraulic behavior and vulnerability to cavitation. Plant, Cell & Environment 41 (12), 2718-2730.

Research and Publications: Publications
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