Elsa Cleland

About

Professor Elsa Cleland leads research that evaluates ecological and evolutionary responses to global change at multiple scales, ranging from individual plants to ecosystem-level processes. Her work is grounded in the unifying concept of plant functional traits, which reflect trade-offs in ecological and evolutionary strategies. These traits integrate species' responses to their environment as well as their impact on ecosystem processes. The research primarily focuses on native and invasive plants in Southern California ecosystems. The lab employs diverse methods including field experiments, laboratory studies, data synthesis, and observations along natural gradients. A particular trait of interest in Professor Cleland's research is phenology, or seasonal timing, which influences many aspects of plant ecology and evolution. Recent projects under her leadership include community-engaged science initiatives addressing climate change adaptation and studies on how competition influences selection on germination timing. Her work also encompasses conservation efforts that aim to understand adaptive mechanisms to maximize species persistence amid accelerating climate change and habitat loss.

Research topics

• Environmental science
• Biology
• Ecology
• Chemistry
• Agronomy
• Environmental chemistry
• Agroforestry
• Mathematics
• Geography
• Atmospheric sciences

Selected publications

• Nutrient availability controls the impact of mammalian herbivores on soil carbon and nitrogen pools in grasslands

  Global Change Biology · 2020 · 87 citations

  Grasslands are subject to considerable alteration due to human activities globally, including widespread changes in populations and composition of large mammalian herbivores and elevated supply of nutrients. Grassland soils remain important reservoirs of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). Herbivores may affect both C and N pools and these changes likely interact with increases in soil nutrient availability. Given the scale of grassland soil fluxes, such changes can have striking consequences for atmos…

  DOI

• Climate and local environment structure asynchrony and the stability of primary production in grasslands

  Global Ecology and Biogeography · 2020 · 72 citations

  Abstract Aim Climate variability threatens to destabilize production in many ecosystems. Asynchronous species dynamics may buffer against such variability when a decrease in performance by some species is offset by an increase in performance of others. However, high climatic variability can eliminate species through stochastic extinctions or cause similar stress responses among species that reduce buffering. Local conditions, such as soil nutrients, can also alter production stability directly o…

  DOI

• Nitrogen increases early‐stage and slows late‐stage decomposition across diverse grasslands

  Journal of Ecology · 2022 · 43 citations

  Abstract To evaluate how increased anthropogenic nutrient inputs alter carbon cycling in grasslands, we conducted a litter decomposition study across 20 temperate grasslands on three continents within the Nutrient Network, a globally distributed nutrient enrichment experiment We determined the effects of addition of experimental nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium plus micronutrient (K μ ) on decomposition of a common tree leaf litter in a long‐term study (maximum of 7 years; exact deploy…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nutrient addition drives declines in grassland species richness primarily via enhanced species loss

  Journal of Ecology · 2022-11-22 · 36 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Declines in grassland diversity in response to nutrient addition are a general consequence of global change. This decline in species richness may be driven by multiple underlying processes operating at different time‐scales. Nutrient addition can reduce diversity by enhancing the rate of local extinction via competitive exclusion, or by reducing the rate of colonization by constraining the pool of species able to colonize under new conditions. Partitioning net change into extinction and…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Effects of Phenology on Plant Community Assembly and Structure

  Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics · 2024-11-04 · 23 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Phenology—the timing of critical stages of growth and reproduction and the transitions between them—determines environmental conditions and biotic interactions. Hence, phenology is a key functional trait influencing organisms’ survival and fitness; however, the role of phenology in community assembly processes has been less considered. Here we review the importance of phenology in environmental and biotic filtering, structuring priority effects, and species coexistence in the context of the asse…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• The influence of plant functional traits on ecosystem responses to altered rainfall

  NSF · $466k · 2012–2018

Frequent coauthors

• Scott L. Collins

  University of New Mexico

  46 shared

• Katharine N. Suding

  Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research

  44 shared

• W. Stanley Harpole

  Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research

  41 shared

• Steven C. Pennings

  University of Houston

  39 shared

• Christopher B. Field

  Palo Alto Institute

  38 shared

• Katherine L. Gross

  38 shared

• Eric W. Seabloom

  University of Minnesota

  36 shared

• Elizabeth T. Borer

  University of Minnesota

  35 shared

Similar researchers at University of California, San Diego

• Jonathan Shurinh-59
• Dominik Wodarzh-55
• Kaustuv Royh-54