Faculty Research: Bruce Mahall

Since coming to UCSB I have worked with my students and postdocs in a large variety of ecological systems including coastal salt marshes and sand dunes, hard chaparral, oak savanna/woodlands and deserts. Our interests in all these systems have revolved around the simple, fundamental question: What are the determinants of plant distributions in time and in space? Distributions in time have been addressed by detailed, quantitativephenological studies (e.g. Gill and Mahall, 1986). While mostly descriptive, these studies provide powerful insights into the ecology and physiology of the subject plants, and they are among my favorite contributions.Distributions in space have been addressed mostly at the scale of intra-community structure, especially when plant-plant interactions are involved (e.g. Fonteyn and Mahall,1981; Thomson and Mahall,1983; Callaway, Nadkarni and Mahall, 1991; D'Antonio and Mahall, 1991; Holzapfel and Mahall, 1999; Hamilton, Holzapfel and Mahall, 1999). The early work on causes of desert shrub community structure has evolved into studies at the scale of individual roots and has resulted in some of my most exciting work, that on inter-root communications (see review Mahall,1998). In addition, my students and I have done several studies aimed primarily at elucidating certain physiological mechanisms involved with special ecological adaptations such as leaf orientations (Comstock and Mahall,1985), natural pruning and branch autonomy (Mahall and Wilson,1986), and the possible coordination between leaf structure and root architecture (Callaway and Mahall,1996).

Currently, we are heavily involved with various experimental studies of root behaviors, including communications and foraging, distributions in desert plants and with the structure and function of present day oak savanna/woodlands in California, especially with regard to cornerstone species, including the oaks, dominant grasses, and invasive forbs. These pursuits, however, should in no way be seen as boundaries for future studies in our laboratory. I am interested in training scientists, not technicians, and a major part of science is asking new questions.

Bruce Mahall | Research | Publications | Curriculum Vitae

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