Photo of BassiriRad, Hormoz

Hormoz BassiriRad, PhD

Professor

Biological Sciences

About

Deceased: 1958-2020

Please visit his Memorial Page, or direct inquiries to Suzanne Harrison

 

I am a physiological plant ecologist who uses experimental and observational approaches to understand how plants respond to natural stresses and environmental pollutants. My research focuses on below ground activities, root biology, water relations, gas exchange and nutrient cycling. There are three major components in my current research, all of which focus largely on physiological mechanisms that control plant response to global climate change. These are: 1) plant and ecosystem responses to elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 concentration; 2) plant and ecosystem responses to increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition, and; 3) importance of extreme events (episodic drought and extreme heat) as an agent of natural selection in plant communities. These subject areas are closely linked as they cover the core components of environmental issues related to global warming and climate change.

Selected Publications

(Complete list of publications on Google Scholar)

  1. Liang X, Zhang T, Lu X, Ellsworth DS, BassiriRad H, You C, Wang D, He P, Deng Q, Liu H, Mo J, Ye Q. (2020). Global response patterns of plant photosynthesis to nitrogen addition: A meta‐analysis. Global Change Biology: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15071
  2. Hao GH, Zwieniecki MA, Holbrook NM, Gutschick VP, BassiriRad H (2018) Coordinated responses of plant hydraulic architecture with the reduction of stomatal conductance under elevated CO2 concentration. Tree Physiology doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpy001
  3. BassiriRad H (2015) Consequences of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in terrestrial ecosystems: old questions, new perspectives. Oecologia 177:1–3. DOI 10.1007/s00442-014-3116-2
  4. BassiriRad H, Lussenhop JF, Sehtiya HL, Borden KK (2015) Nitrogen deposition contributes to oak regeneration failure in the Midwestern temperate forests of the USA: implications for changes in species composition. Oecologia 177:53–63. DOI 10.1007/s00442-014-3119-z
  5. Marty M and BassiriRad H (2014) Seed germination and rising atmospheric CO2 level: a meta-analysis of parental and direct effects. New Phytologist 202: 401–414.
  6. Gebauer T and BassiriRad H (2011) Effects of high atmospheric CO2 concentration on root hydraulic conductivity of conifers depend on species identity and inorganic nitrogen source. Environmental Pollution 159 (12): 3455-3461.
  7. Gutschick VP and BassiriRad H (2010) Biological extreme events – theoretical and practical challenges. Trans Am Geophys Union 91(9): 84-85.
  8. Trueman RJ, Taneva L, Gonzalez-Meler MA, Oechel WC, BassiriRad H (2009) Carbon Losses in soils previously exposed to elevated atmospheric CO2 in a Chaparral ecosystem: potential implications for a sustained biospheric C sink. Journal of Geochemical Exploration 102: 142-148.
  9. Lussenhop J and BassiriRad H (2005) Collembola Density Changes Nitrogen Acquisition by Ash Seedling (Fraxinus pennsylvanica). Soil Biology and Biochemistry 37:645-650.
  10. BassiriRad H et al. (2003) Widespread foliage δ15N depletion under elevated CO2: inferences for the nitrogen cycle. Global Change Biology 9:1582-1590.
  11. Gutschick VP and BassiriRad H (2003) Extreme events as shaping physiology, ecology, and evolution of plants: Toward a unified definition and evaluation of their consequences. New Phytologist 160(1):21-42.
  12. Bassirirad H (2000) Kinetics of nutrient uptake by roots: Responses to global change New Phytologist 147(1):155-169.

Education

PhD, University of Arizona, Tucson

MS, University of Arizona, Tucson

BS, University of Massachusetts Amherst