Kali Middleby
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kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby
@kalimiddleby.bsky.social
1.4K followers 280 following 30 posts

Postdoc at AMAPlab, Montpellier. Interested in forest ecology, plant physiology, heat stress, and rainforest conservation 🌿

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Environmental science 63%
Geography 16%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Kali Middleby

aunz.theconversation.com
The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · Sep 5
In full sun, tropical leaves can become much hotter than the surrounding air. Their ability to cope can be a matter of life or death.

👉 Read the full story: theconversation.com/some-tr...

Reposted by Kali Middleby

jcuofficial.bsky.social
James Cook University @jcuofficial.bsky.social · Sep 4
New research reveals some rainforest tree species use self-cooling strategies to withstand rising temperatures, but others are more at risk.
Full story: shorturl.at/piQ5B
Some Rainforest Trees Can Beat the Heat
New research reveals some rainforest tree species use self-cooling strategies to withstand rising temperatures, but others are more at risk.
shorturl.at

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Sep 4
Big thanks to all the support from coauthors @drrebeccajordan.bsky.social @awcheesman.bsky.social @martinbreed.bsky.social @mrossettorecer.bsky.social @dcrayn.bsky.social @lucascernusak.bsky.social

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Aug 14
What a wonderful time sharing ideas with fellow plant nerds 💚
newphyt.bsky.social New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · Aug 7
Thank you to our brilliant delegates, mentors, speakers, the organising committee and our hosts at the University of Birmingham for making New Phytologist next generation scientists 2025 a great success!
Large group of diverse scientists and researchers gathered outside a modern building for a New Phytologist next generation scientists symposium.

Reposted by Francis Martin, Billur Bektaş, Kali Middleby

newphyt.bsky.social
New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · Aug 7
Thank you to our brilliant delegates, mentors, speakers, the organising committee and our hosts at the University of Birmingham for making New Phytologist next generation scientists 2025 a great success!
Large group of diverse scientists and researchers gathered outside a modern building for a New Phytologist next generation scientists symposium.

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn, Seth M. Munson, Kali Middleby

wkolby.bsky.social
Bill Smith @wkolby.bsky.social · Jan 27
Happy to share a new paper, "Effects of Hot Versus Dry Vapor Pressure Deficit on Ecosystem Carbon and Water Fluxes," led by the amazing Miriam Johnston w/ @mallorybarnes.bsky.social and others agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Jun 26
Link to our session and more information on our speakers here:

www.xcdsystem.com/atbc/program...

Reposted by Matthias Cuntz, Sami W. Rifai, María Poca , and 3 more

lucascernusak.bsky.social
Lucas Cernusak @lucascernusak.bsky.social · Jun 17
I have an opportunity for a new PhD student in tropical tree ecophysiology in my lab. Some more details at the link below. Please pass along!

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Responses of tropical forest trees to rising carbon dioxide - conifers versus angiosperms at James Cook University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Responses of tropical forest trees to rising carbon dioxide - conifers versus angiosperms at James Cook University, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Jun 13
Proud to have my thermal image on the cover of this fantastic issue - now time to check out the research inside!
science.org Science Magazine @science.org · Jun 12
As the world warms, plants in natural ecosystems and agricultural settings find ways to respond to the heat.

In a new special issue of Science, researchers examine how heat affects plants at multiple scales, from the molecular level to the biosphere. scim.ag/44cSw3Z
Infrared imaging shows heat levels in sun-exposed leaves of Alstonia scholaris from the Australian Wet Tropics. As climate change increases temperatures and the severity of heat waves, both natural ecosystems and agricultural plants are increasingly affected by heat. Examining heat responses at cellular, genetic, physiological, and ecosystem scales, this special issue explores how plants sense and respond to high temperatures.

Reposted by Matthias C. Rillig, Joel A. Thornton, Ian J. Wright , and 4 more

science.org
Science Magazine @science.org · Jun 12
As the world warms, plants in natural ecosystems and agricultural settings find ways to respond to the heat.

In a new special issue of Science, researchers examine how heat affects plants at multiple scales, from the molecular level to the biosphere. scim.ag/44cSw3Z
Infrared imaging shows heat levels in sun-exposed leaves of Alstonia scholaris from the Australian Wet Tropics. As climate change increases temperatures and the severity of heat waves, both natural ecosystems and agricultural plants are increasingly affected by heat. Examining heat responses at cellular, genetic, physiological, and ecosystem scales, this special issue explores how plants sense and respond to high temperatures.

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · May 5
We didn't record it unfortunately - but I would be happy to share the slides with you

Reposted by Kali Middleby

umramap.bsky.social
UMR AMAP @umramap.bsky.social · Apr 14
#AMAPwebinar april 29th, 11:00 (CET)
Kali Middeby, post-doc, AMAPlab, Montpellier
"Patterns and drivers of leaf thermoregulation in rainforest trees of the Australian Wet Tropics"
amap.cirad.fr/fr/edit-even...
UMR AMAP - botAnique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des végétations
amap.cirad.fr

Reposted by Hervé Cochard, Kali Middleby

pmenezes-silva.bsky.social
Paulo Menezes-Silva @pmenezes-silva.bsky.social · Feb 11
🔥Can heatwaves leave a thermal leaky legacy?🔥

Check out our latest paper on gmin dynamics during and after thermal stress🍃📄

Extremely proud of my student Viviane!

Special thanks to @hcochard.bsky.social @torresruizjm.bsky.social @martijnslot.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/plph...
Leaf minimum conductance dynamics during and after heat stress: Implications for plant survival under hotter droughts
Temperatures above a critical threshold can increase leaf minimum conductance after cooling, evidencing a “thermal leaky legacy effect” that can reduce pla
doi.org

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 8
Just updated it!

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 8
Could I please be added?

Reposted by Ghislain Vieilledent, Olivier Jean Leonce Manzi

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 8
How do tropical rainforest trees respond to warming? 🌡️🌿We experimentally warmed canopy leaves by 4°C for 8 months and found significant declines in photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, with no shift in Topt. Read the new paper, led by Kristine Crous here: shorturl.at/AVTOk
Surrounded by lush vegetation in a tropical forest canopy, three take-away containers have been customised to warm leaves continuously A density plot shows the distribution of observed leaf temperatures for one example species - Myristica globosa. The graph shows that warmed leaves surpass their optimum temperature far more frequently than control leaves, and are close to their critical temperature threshold

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 7
I remember that paper - I was actually speaking with Lucas about it recently, definitely have some ideas that could be fun to explore!

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 6
Key finding? Intraspecific variation in leaf traits plays a crucial role in preventing exposure to damaging temperatures. However, broader assessments across more species are needed to determine whether patterns emerge across phylogeny, functional types, or biomes.

Reach out if you’d like to chat!

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 6
To see how physiological and morphological acclimation to treatments affected thermoregulation, I then monitored leaf temperature & water use. Air temperature was ramped up from 18 to 38°C, and VPD was lowered from 4 to 1.5 kPa. This revealed some very complex responses - watch this space!

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 6
Temperature and vapour pressure deficit are highly correlated, complicating efforts to assess their impact on trait variation. I disentangled the effects of these variables on sapling growth, physiology, and leaf traits in a glasshouse experiment shorturl.at/kb87b @newphyt.bsky.social

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 6
Although intraspecific variation led to enhanced leaf cooling at warmer sites for some species - this was not always the case. Diverse species thermoregulation strategies were also observed when comparing lowland vs upland origin trees grown in a provenance trial for 2 years shorturl.at/sjdtV

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 6
After this, most of my time/life was spent in the forest measuring heat tolerance & leaf traits across elevation gradients. This was used to paramaterise a leaf energy balance model to predict leaf-air temperature variation, & combined with genomic data to assess local adaptation shorturl.at/lDr2U
Local adaptation drives thermoregulation in tropical rainforest trees
AbstractGlobally, the increasing frequency of heatwaves and droughts are impacting tropical forests, which are vital for maintaining biodiversity, carbon sequestration and climate regulation. But vuln...
shorturl.at

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 6
Early in my PhD, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Kristine Crous and others on an insitu leaf warming experiment assessing thermal acclimation of mature trees shorturl.at/eJA9Q. This project, among others, revealed that tropical leaves can reach high temperatures shorturl.at/W2wIs.

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 6
Time to introduce myself! Recently, I defended my thesis titled "Patterns and Drivers of Leaf Thermoregulation in Rainforest Trees of the Australian Wet Tropics" where I focused on the role of within-species acclimation and adaptation on leaf temperature. Here’s a little summary of what went on…

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Dec 5
Congrats!

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Nov 19
Emailed it to you!

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Nov 17
yes please!

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Nov 16
Could I please be added? Thanks!

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Nov 12
Link to the radio interview with ABC here:

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

kalimiddleby.bsky.social
Kali Middleby @kalimiddleby.bsky.social · Nov 12
Why am I a plant ecophysiologist?

7 years ago, I sat above the trees in a mature tropical rainforest and enter an entirely new world. Thanks to the Daintree Rainforest Observatory's canopy access crane.

Now our much loved research station is under financial threat
www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11...
Rainforest research station and rare 47m-high canopy crane face closure
James Cook Univeristy says its Daintree Rainforest research station is "severely under-utilised", even though the canopy crane is one of only six in the tropics worldwide.
www.abc.net.au