Dissertation Defense: Nicole Fiore
Title: Ecosystem resilience to global environmental change
Abstract: Global environmental change is impacting ecosystems. Drought, nitrogen deposition, and invasion by annual grasses (GL) are causing extensive loss of Southern California's coastal sage scrub (CSS) community. Warmer temperatures, changes in precipitation, and altered fire regimes are impacting interior Alaska’s boreal forest function and productivity. In this dissertation, I explore these two contrasting ecosystems with the goal of developing a mechanistic understanding of how ecosystems respond to multiple global environmental change drivers.