Lloyd Stark
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Expertise
Ecological Desiccation Tolerance of Bryophytes, Reproductive Biology and Life History of Bryophytes, Desert Bryophytes
Additional Information
Desiccation tolerance is the ability of an organism or structure to dry out entirely while retaining viability throughout this dried state. My research focuses on the ecology of tolerating desiccation in the mosses. It includes assessments of constitutive (native) vs. inducible (stimulated) desiccation tolerance, the desiccation tolerance of vegetative and reproductive phases, and phenomena such as hardening and dehardening to desiccation tolerance (becoming increasingly or decreasingly desiccation tolerant). Specifically, my laboratory is investigating how the three components of desiccation tolerance, (i) the rate of drying, (ii) the duration spent in the dried state, and (iii) the equilibrium relative humidity reached, affect the capacity of a species or species structure to tolerate desiccation. We focus on desert mosses.
