Stella Copeland, Doctoral Student
Research interests
I am broadly interested in the abiotic and biotic factors that determine plant distribution across spatial scales. My current research focuses on the factors that control plant species distribution across topographic microclimate gradients in the Klamath-Siskiyou mountains (NW California and SW Oregon). My research interests and experience range from ecosystem ecology in the Brazilian Cerrado, to restoration science in temperate rainforests (Washington State), and orchid diversity and conservation in Neotropical cloud forests (Ecuador & Peru).
For my dissertation I am studying how topographic microclimates interact with biotic factors, like competition and mycorrhizal facilitation, to determine plant distribution across broad spatial scales. In particular, I would like to know, can topographic microclimates serve as microrefugia for plant biodiversity in the face of climate change? To address my research questions I use a combination of field experiments and distribution models. I am also involved in a related project which asks how microclimate and climate change might be affecting the distribution of rare orchid species - Cypripedium spp. - in SW Oregon.
For my MS at University of Florida with Dr. Emilio Bruna, I studied the effects of nitrogen deposition and precipitation change on co-dominant native grasses of the Brazilian Cerrado (savanna) in collaboration with Prof. Heraldo Vasconcelos and Laura Vivian Barbosa M.Sc., Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, and Dr. Michelle Mack, University of Florida.
My work proceeds through an ever-expanding network of academic and non-academic collaborators - please contact me (scopelandATucdavis.edu) if you share my research interests.