Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment

• Selected Publications
• Conference and Poster Presentations
• Contact

Dr Kristine Crous began research at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment as a postdoctoral research fellow in April 2012, coming to UWS from the Australian National University. Her research in plant physiological ecology has focussed on the long-term effects of elevated CO₂ on grasses, forbs and pines, both at the leaf-level and canopy scale. She developed highly honed gas exchange measurement and analysis skills while participating in the Duke Forest FACE experiment, and the BIOCON grassland FACE experiment in the USA.  Currently, she is investigating how nutrient availability affects the responses of photosynthesis and leaf respiration to global environmental change such as drought, elevated CO₂ and increased temperature. Moreover, she is pursuing the temperature responses of photosynthesis and respiration at the Hawkesbury Forest Experiment. Her principal work at HIE involves studying the processes controlling net primary production of Eucalyptus woodland and how phosphorus availability limits tree growth, photosynthesis, and their responsiveness to elevated atmospheric CO₂ (at EucFACE).

Areas of research

Leaf-level ecophysiology and biochemistry; photosynthesis and respiration; elevated CO2; ozone; nutrient cycling; climate change; Plant-soil interactions; sapflow

Teaching expertise

• Field Laboratory Instructor at the Hawkesbury Forest Experiment, Australia
• Graduate Student Instructor in Introductory Biology and Plant physiological Ecology, University of Michigan, USA
• Certification and training for high school teaching in Biology and other sciences. University of Antwerp, Belgium

Awards and recognition

• Rackham Dissertation Award
• Samuel Graham Award for excellent writing

Grants

• Philips Fellowship of the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF), support for a full academic year including tuition and stipend
• Wheeler Family Memorial Scholarship, recruitment fellowship including tuition and stipend
• Travel grants to attend conferences

Selected publications

De Kauwe MG, Medlyn BE, Zaehle S, Walker AP, Dietze MC, Hickler T, Jain AK, Luo Y, Parton WJ, Prentice IC, Smith B, Thornton PE, Wang S, Wang Y-P, Wårlind D, Weng E, Crous KY, Ellsworth DS, Hanson PJ, Seok Kim H, Warren JM, Oren R, Norby RJ, (2013) 'Forest water use and water use efficiency at elevated CO₂: A model-data intercomparison at two contrasting temperate forest FACE sites', Global Change Biology, vol.19, no.6, pp 1759-1779

Barton CVM, Duursma RA, Medlyn BE, Ellsworth DS, Eamus D, Tissue DT, Adams M, Conroy JP, Crous KY, Liberloo M, Löw M, Linder S, McMurtrie R, (2012) 'Effects of elevated [CO₂] on instantaneous transpiration efficiency at leaf and canopy scales in Eucalyptus saligna', Global Change Biology, vol.18, pp 585-595

Crous KY, Zaragoza-Castells J, Ellsworth DS, Duursma RA, Löw M, Tissue DT, Atkin OK, (2012) 'Light inhibition of leaf respiration in field-grown Eucalyptus saligna in whole-tree chambers under elevated atmospheric CO₂ and summer drought', Plant, Cell and Environment, vol.35, pp 966-976

Ellsworth DS, Thomas R, Crous KY, Palmroth S, Ward E, Maier C, DeLucia EH, Oren R, (2012) 'Elevated CO₂ affects photosynthetic responses in canopy pine and subcanopy deciduous trees over 10 years: a synthesis from Duke FACE', Global Change Biology, vol.18, pp 223-242

Medlyn BE, Duursma RA, Eamus D, Ellsworth DS, Colin Prentice I, Barton CVM, Crous KY, de Angelis P, Freeman M, Wingate L, (2012) 'Corrigendum: Reconciling the optimal and empirical approaches to modelling stomatal conductance', Global Change Biology, vol.18, no.11, p 3476

Crous KY, Zaragoza-Castells J, Löw M, Ellsworth DS, Tissue DT, Tjoelker MG, Barton CVM, Gimeno TE, Atkin OK, (2011) 'Drought accentuates acclimation of leaf respiration to summer heat: a comparison of Eucalyptus saligna trees growing under ambient and elevated atmospheric CO₂', Global Change Biology, vol.17, pp 1560-1576

Medlyn BE, Duursma RA, Eamus D, Ellsworth DS, Barton CVM, Prentice C, Crous KY et al, (2011) 'Reconciling the optimal and empirical approaches to modelling stomatal conductance', Global Change Biology, vol.17, pp 2134-2144

Crous KY, Hunter MD, Reich PB, Ellsworth DS, (2010) 'Leaf N controls the photosynthetic CO₂ response of grassland species exposed to nine years of free-air CO₂ enrichment', Global Change Biology, vol.16, pp 2076-2088

Franklin O, McMurtrie RE, Iversen CM, Crous KY, Finzi A, et al, (2009) 'Forest fine-root production and nitrogen use under elevated CO₂: Contrasting responses in evergreen and deciduous trees explained by a common principle', Global Change Biology, vol.15, pp 132-144

Crous KY, Walters MB, Ellsworth DS, (2008) 'Changes in leaf photosynthesis-N relationships over time in Pinus taeda exposed to long-term elevated CO₂ and N fertilization in FACE', Tree Physiology, vol.28, pp 607-614

Crous KY, Vandermeiren K, Ceulemans R, (2006) 'Physiological responses to cumulative ozone uptake in two white clover (Trifolium repens L. cv. Regal) clones with different ozone sensitivity', Environmental and Experimental Botany, vol.58, pp 169-179

Crous KY, Ellsworth DS, (2004) 'Canopy position affects photosynthetic adjustments to long-term CO₂ enrichment (FACE) in a mature Pinus taeda L. forest', Tree Physiology, vol.24, pp 961-970

Conference and poster presentations

• Drought accentuates acclimation of leaf respiration to summer heat: a comparison of Eucalyptus saligna trees growing under ambient and elevated atmospheric CO₂. Presentation at COMBIO 2009, Christchurch, New Zealand and Poster at 24th New Phytologist Symposium, Oxford, UK
• Does N addition alter photosynthetic responses to elevated CO₂? Presentation at the Funct. Ecology Group 2009, ANU, Canberra
• Changes in leaf photosynthesis-N relationships over time in Pinus taeda exposed to long-term elevated CO₂ and N fertilization in FACE. Poster presented at COMBIO07 and at ECOFIZZ07, Sydney
• How is the relationship between photosynthesis and nitrogen affected by long-term elevated CO₂? Invited presentation at the Modelling Workshop, Australia
• Nitrogen addition affects the photosynthetic capacity of loblolly pine to elevated CO₂ in FACE. Poster presented at the IUFRO Canopy Processes Workshop: “Regional forest responses to environmental change”, Boston, USA
• Introductory presentation at ARC-NZ Vegetation Synthesis Network: “Linking species level scale with whole vegetation scale”, Sydney, Australia
• Nitrogen addition affects the photosynthetic response of C3 grasses to elevated CO₂ in FACE. Poster presented at the Ecological Society of America, Montréal, Canada
• Gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence responses of ozone-sensitive (NC-S) and resistant (NC-R) clover clones in relation to ozone uptake and light intensity. Poster presented at 36th Annual Air Pollution Workshop, Rhinelander, WI, USA
• Is forest tree functioning enhanced by elevated CO₂? Presentation at the Terrestrial Ecosystems Forum, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA