Ecophysiology of Plants and Ecosystems

Dr Schmidt's research focuses on Australian plants and ecosystems with research conducted in Australia and overseas (Brazil, Vietnam, Switzerland, US). Ecological questions are addressed with tools that span from whole system to molecular. Plants are studied in the context of growth environments including pristine and disturbed situations. Research investigates nitrogen as a main driver of plant growth in ecosystems, analyses carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas relations, and links ecological knowledge with production systems to increase sustainability.

Ecology/Ecophysiology
- Nitrogen characteristics of savanna, heathland, and bird-impacted ecosystems
- Role of cluster roots for acquisition of organic nitrogen
- Understanding rarity and weediness in plants

Global change biology
- Genomic and physiological profiling of newly generated polyploid trees
- Greenhouse gas flux from sugarcane and mangrove ecosystems
- Carbon sequestration into forest soils

Sustainable production systems
- Functional aspects of biodiversity: multi-species rainforest plantations for ecological & economic benefits
- Improving nitrogen use efficiency of sugarcane to reduce environmental pollution
- Harnessing soil biology for sustainable agriculture

Selected Publications:

Schmidt S., Dennison W.C., Moss G.J., & Stewart G.R. (2004). Nitrogen ecophysiology of Heron Island, a subtropical coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Functional Plant Biology
31, 517-528.

Rentsch D, Schmidt S, Tegeder M (2007). Transporters for uptake and allocation of organic nitrogen compounds in plants. FEBS Letters, in press.

Richards AE, Dalal RC, Schmidt S (2007). Soil carbon turnover in native subtropical tree plantations. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, in press

Allen D, Dalal RC, Rennenberg H, Meyer RL, Reeves S, Schmidt S (2007). Spatial and temporal variation of nitrous oxide and methane flux between subtropical mangrove sediments and the atmosphere Soil Biology and Biochemistry 39, 622-631.

Schmidt S., Handley L.L., Sangtian T. (2006). Effects of nitrogen source and ectomycorrhizal association on growth and 15N of two subtropical Eucalyptus species from contrasting ecosystems. Functional Plant Biology, 33, 367-379.

Professional Associations:

Australian Society of Plant Scientists

Funded Projects:

Breeding for a changing climate: genomic and physiological profiling of newly generated polyploid trees

ARC, 2007-2010, $1.02 mio

Feasting on protein? Strategies of organic nitrogen acquisition by plant roots

ARC, 2005-7, $220 000

Harnessing soil biology to improve the productivity of the new sugarcane farming system

SRDC, 2007-10, $737 000

Improving nitrogen use efficiency in sugarcane

CRC for Sugar Industry Innovation through Biotechnology, 2007-10, $550 000

Microbial Activity Profiling: a proxy for N2O emissions from subtropical agriculture

AGO, 2006-7, $300 000

Passive sampling of nitrogen gases

AGO, 2007-8, $200 000

Student Projects Available:

Biocontrol and ecophysiology of Lygodium microphyllum, native climbing fern, invasive weed in the Florida Everglades

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 2007 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Breeding for a changing climate: Genomic and physiological assessments of newly generated polyploid trees (with Dr Peer Schenk, 2 PhD stipends available)

Student Level: PhD Start Year: 20078 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Ecophysiology of Wallum Plants

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 2007 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Function of cyclic peptides in plants (with Prof David Craik, IMB)

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 20078 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Funtional attributes of biodiversity: rainforest trees in mixed species plantations

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 2007 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Greenhouse gas emissions ecosytems in south-east QLD

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 2007 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Greenhouse gas emissions from nutrient rich SE QLD ecosystems

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 2007 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Harnessing soil biology: physiological and molecular assessment of microbes involved in nitrogen cycling (with Dr Peer Schenk)

Student Level: PhD Start Year: 2007 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Making sugarcane more resource use efficient

Nitrogen Ecophysiology and Biocontrol of Mimosa pigra in the Northern Territory wetlands

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 2007 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Organic N acquisition by plant roots: role of peptide transporters and exo-enzymes

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 2007 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Secondary compounds of native plants for medicinal uses (with Dr Phil Poronnick)

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 20078 Sem Available: 1 or 2
(nitrogen or water)

Research Collaborators:

SCHENK Peer - Plant functional genomics, plant cell signalling and physiology, molecular plant-microbe interactions and biodiscovery
AITKEN Liz - Molecular and genetic aspects of plant-pathogen interactions
WALTER Gimme - Adaptation and its ecological consequences
CRITCHLEY Christa - Photosynthesis in green leaves (chloroplast ultrastructure and chlorophyll fluorescence)
BUCKLEY Yvonne - Population dynamics, species interactions, evolution and management of invasive plants

Postdoctoral Staff:

ROBINSON Nicole - The University of Queensland
PAUNGFOO-LONHIENNE Chanyarat - The University of Queensland
MCGRATH Ken - The University of Queensland - Analysing the gene expression of mixed microbial communities
GAMAGE Harshi - The University of Queensland

Students:

MORRISON Jocelyn - PhD
LE Buu Thach - PhD
HALL John - PhD
SIDDIQUE Ilyas - PhD
WHAN Alexander - PhD
ALLEN Diane - PhD
RICHARDS Anna - PhD
CLECH-GOODS Celine - PhD
MANSON Daniel - PhD
VINALL Kerry - PhD
FIRN Jennifer - PhD
PHAN Minh - PhD
ANNANDALE Mark - MPhil
BRACKIN Richard - BSc(Hons)
GILLANDERS Andrew - BSc(Hons)
MCMANUS Samuel - BSc(Hons)
EDWARDS Robert - PhD
HURREY Lucy - PhD