Research Horizons: Lluvia Flores-Rentera's California Flora Research
The É«ÇéÊÓƵ ecologist explores how climate change is affecting California plant life.
This question is at the very center of É«ÇéÊÓƵ professor Lluvia Flores-RenterÃa’s life work.
She studies how plants interact with fungi and microbes, and how those interactions are influenced during episodes of extreme climate, such as drought or high temperatures.
Flores-RenterÃa is part of a funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to digitize specimen samples of California flora at 19 universities, museums and botanical gardens. This will make it easier for scientists to track changes in plants over time and measure the impact of forces like climate change.
Her research that high temperatures and drought have a negative impact on pinyon pines’ ability to reproduce.