Individual Listing

4119 BATCHELOR HALL, KEEN HALL
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521

Santiago, Louis S

Asst Prof of Physiological Ecology & Asst. Phys. Ecologist

College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Botany & Plant Sciences


Biography

Research is focused on the connection between plants and their environment employing a variety of plant physiological techniques, stable isotopes, modeling, phylogenetic analyses, and statistical approaches to understand the ecological implications of this connection. One primary area of interest is focused on how plant functional traits are the result of resource availability, and how these traits feed back into ecosystem processes. Currently applying the integration of plant physiological ecology and ecosystem science to understand the contribution of symbiotic nitrogen fixation to the dominance of legumes in dry forest of the Yucatán, Mexico. Another component of research involves the variation in plant strategies along environmental gradients. Currently working along environmental gradients in the Republic of Panama and along the coast of Northern California

Former Institution

 UC Berkleley

Degrees

Ph.D. Botany 2003

University of Florida

M.S. Botany 1998

University of Hawaii

B.A. Integrative Biology 1993

UC Berkeley

Awards

National Science Foundation Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship (9/2003-current) National Science Foundation International Research Fellowship Program (1/2004-12/2004) EPA, Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship (9/2000-8/2003) Smithsonian Ins


Research Area

Employ a variety of plant physiological techniques, stable isotopes, modeling, phylogenetic analyses, and statistical approaches to understand the ecological implications of the connection between plants and their environment

Publications

Santiago, L.S., Kim, S. 2009. Correlated evolution of leaf shape and physiology in the woody Sonchus alliance (Asteraceae: Sonchinae) in Macaronesia. International Journal of Plant Sciences. Vol. 170: 1 p.83-92. 10p. (Refereed, Electronic)

Santiago, L.S., Kim, S. 2009. Correlated evolution of leaf shape and physiology in the woody Sonchus alliance (Asteraceae: Sonchinae) in Macaronesia. International Journal of Plant Sciences. Vol. 170: p.83-92. (Refereed, Electronic)

Ballina-Gómez, H.S., Iriarte-Vivar, S., Orellana, R., Santiago, L.S. 2008. Growth, survival and herbivory of seedlings of Brosimum alicastrum (Moraceae), a species of the neotropical understorey (published in Spanish) . International Journal of Tropical Biology (Revista de Biología Tropical). Vol. 56: 4 p.2055-2067. 13p. (Refereed, Electronic)

Ballina-Gómez, H.S., Iriarte, S., Orellana, R., Santiago, L. 2008. Crecimiento, supervivencia y herbivoría de plántulas de una especie de sotobosque neotropical, Brosimum alicastrum (Moraceae). Revista de Biología Tropical. Vol. 56: p.2055-2067. (Refereed, Electronic)

Cornwell, W.K., Cornelissen, H., Amatangelo, K., Dorrepaal, E., Eviner, V.T., Godoy, O., Hobbie, S.E., Hoorens, B., Kurokawa, H., Perez-Harguindeguy, N., Quested, H.M., Santiago, L.S., Wardle, D.A., Wright, I.J., Aerts, R., Allison, S., vanBodegom, P., Brovkin, V., Chatain, A., Callaghan, T., Díaz, S., Garnier, E., Gurvich, D.E., Kazakou, E., Klein, J.A., Read, J., Reich, P.B., Soudzilovskaia, N.A., Vaieretti, M.V., Westoby, M. 2008. Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide. Ecology Letters. Vol. 11: p.1065-1071. 7p. (Refereed, Electronic)

Santiago LS (2007) Extending the leaf economics spectrum to decomposition: Evidence from a tropical forest. Ecology 88:1126-1131

Santiago LS, Wright SJ (2007) Leaf functional traits of tropical forest plants in relation to growth form. Functional Ecology 21:19-27

Santiago LS, Schuur EAG, Silvera K (2005) Nutrient cycling and plant-soil feedbacks along a precipitation gradient in lowland Panama. Journal of Tropical Ecology 21:461-470

Santiago LS, Goldstein G, Meinzer FC, Fisher JB, Machado K, Woodruff D, Jones T (2004) Leaf photosynthetic traits scale with hydraulic conductivity and wood density in Panamanian forest canopy trees. Oecologia 140:543-550

Santiago LS (2000) Use of coarse woody debris by the plant community of a Hawaiian montane cloud forest. Biotropica 32:633-641