Collaborative Research: RUI: Will Climate Change Lead to System Shifts on Tropical Mountains? The Interplay of Epiphyte Losses on Host Tree Function, Microclimate, and Hydrology

Department of Forestry and Natural Resources 105 T. P. Cooper Building University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40546-0073 P: 859-257-7596 F: 859-323-1031 NSF (IOS) Collaborative Research: RUI: Will climate change lead to system shifts on tropical mountains?: the interplay of epiphyte losses on host tree function, microclimate, and hydrology DESCRIPTION OF WORK TO BE PERFORMED IN SUBAWARD The sole purpose of this subaward is to provide additional salary for the project post-doctoral research associate, Dr. Damon Vaughan, who works under the primary mentorship of Dr. Sybil Gotsch in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Vaughan has taken the lead in data analysis on our project and given the large number of sensors that have been taking data continuously over the last 2.5 years, additional time will be needed for him to completed his work in data analysis and manuscript preparation. We were delayed at the beginning of our research project due to Covid-related manufacturing delays for many of our microclimate sensors as well as a faulty batch of soil moisture sensors. PI-Gotsch was unsuccessful in securing supplemental funds from NSF to support Dr. Vaughan but thankfully, PI-Dawson is able to allocate funds to extend Vaughan’s project by a few months.