Climate shapes how oaks evolve leaf traits to survive
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Dec-2025 10:11 ET (24-Dec-2025 15:11 GMT/UTC)
A study in Forest Ecosystems reveals that two closely related evergreen oaks (Quercus aquifolioides and Quercus spinosa) in the Himalayan-Hengduan Mountains adapt to different climates through adjustments in leaf trait integration and modularity, with the high-altitude species having flexible traits for harsh conditions and the lowland one showing tightly coordinated traits for efficiency. It also notes the findings’ value for conservation and understanding species’ responses to climate change.
LIFE SCIENCES
Daniele Canzio, PhD, University of California, San Francisco (Neuroscience)
Kaiyu Guan, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Agriculture & Animal Sciences)
Philip J. Kranzusch, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Harvard Medical School (Microbiology)
Elizabeth Nance, PhD, University of Washington (Biomedical Engineering & Biotechnology)
Tomasz Nowakowski, PhD, University of California, San Francisco (Neuroscience)
Samuel H. Sternberg, PhD, Columbia University/Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Molecular & Cellular Biology)
CHEMICAL SCIENCES
Song Lin, PhD, Cornell University (Organic Chemistry)
Joseph Cotruvo, Jr., PhD, The Pennsylvania State University (Biochemistry & Structural Biology)
Frank Leibfarth, PhD, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Polymer Chemistry)
Ryan Lively, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology (Chemical Engineering)
Leslie M. Schoop, PhD, Princeton University (Inorganic & Solid-State Chemistry)
Yogesh Surendranath, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Inorganic & Solid-State Chemistry)
PHYSICAL SCIENCES & ENGINEERING
Charlie Conroy, PhD, Harvard University (Astrophysics & Cosmology)
Nathaniel Craig, PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara (Theoretical Physics)
Matthew McDowell, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology (Materials Science & Nanotechnology)
Prateek Mittal, PhD, Princeton University (Computer Science)
Elaina J. Sutley, PhD, University of Kansas (Civil Engineering)
Zhongwen Zhan, PhD, California Institute of Technology (Physical Earth Sciences)
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