Dr. Colin M. Orians
Professor
Department of Biology
Tufts University
United States of America
Biography
Vascular plants are the foundation of natural and human altered terrestrial systems. Thus it is critical to understand how plants respond to stressors that vary in space and time. My research group focuses on the dynamic responses of plants to both herbivores and climatic factors. While much is known about how plants respond to specific factors, significant gaps remain. We have limited understanding of how plants respond to multiple herbivores (native and or invasive), the consequence of global change to plants and thir interactions with pests, or how plant responses are integrated at the whole plant level. We combine physiological, chemical and isotope techniques to elucidate patterns and identify mechanisms. As a research group, we are question driven and not system driven.
Research Interest
Ecology and Global Change Biology
Publications
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Kowalsick, A., N. Kfoury, A. Robbat, S. Ahmed, C.M. Orians, T. Griffin, S.B. Cash, J.R. Stepp. 2014. Metabolite profiling of Camellia sinensis by automated sequential, multidimensional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry reveals strong monsoon effects on tea constituents. Journal of Chromatography A, 1370:230-239
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Soltis, N.E., S. Gómez, L. Gonda-King, E.L. Preisser, and C.M. Orians. 2015. Contrasting effects of two exotic invasive hemipterans on whole-plant resource allocation in a declining conifer. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 157:86-97.
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Boehm, R., S.B. Cash, S.B., B.T. Anderson, S. Ahmed, T.S. Griffin, A. Robbat Jr., J.R. Stepp, W, Han , M. Hazel and C.M. Orians. 2016 Association between Empirically Estimated Monsoon Dynamics and Other Weather Factors and Historical Tea Yields in China: Results from a Yield Response Model. Climate, 4:20
