Anna Sala

Faculty/Staff Image Professor

Division of Biological Sciences
College of Forestry and Conservation
University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59812

Office: NATURAL SCIENCES 117A
Phone: (406) 243-6009
Email: sala@mso.umt.edu

Personal Website: View Website

Current Position:

Professor, Division of Biological Sciences

Adjunct Professor, College of Forestry and Conservation

Education:

B.S. University of Barcelona (Spain), 1984
Ph.D. University of Barcelona (Spain), 1992

Research Interests:

I am broadly interested in how environmental and species-specific factors influence plant resource acquisition and allocation, and the subsequent consequences on plant functional and life history traits. Within this general framework, my students, collaborators and I have engaged in different research adventures. First, we have examined the interaction of hydraulic, physiological and structural traits in different conifer species and habitats. We are now interested in exploring the degree to which species-specific life history traits influence age-dependent biomass allocation and resource allocation to different functions (e.g. growth and reproduction). We are also exploring whether and how internal resource dynamics (carbon mobile pools, nitrogen and phosphorous) influence plant life history traits such as mast seeding and prolonged dormancy. Another major focus in our lab has been the analysis of the consequences of fire exclusion and active forest management practices on forest structure, soil resource availability and tree performance in mixed ponderosa pine forests. While the initial focus of this research was to examine the consequences of management-driven alterations in resource availability on tree performance, we have become very interested in how past management has influenced current forest structure.

Field of Study:

Plant physiological ecology

Languages:

Spanish
native/bilingual proficiency

Selected Publications:

Naficy CE, Sala A, Keeling EG, Graham, J, Deluca TH. Strong effects of historical logging: fire exclusion alone does not explain contemporary forest structure. Ecological Applications. Accepted with minor revisions

Crone EE, Miller E, Sala A. 2009. How do plants know when other plants are flowering? Resource depletion, pollen limitation and mast-seeding in a perennial wildflower. Ecology Letters In press

Sala A. 2009. Lack of direct evidence for the carbon-starvation hypothesis to explain drought-induced mortality in trees. PNAS 106 (26) E68. doi:10.1073/pnas.0904580106

Sala A, Hoch G. 2009. Height-related growth declines in ponderosa pine are not due to carbon limitation. Plant, Cell and Environment. 32:22-30.

Peters GD, Sala A. 2008. Ponderosa pine reproductive output is sensitive to thinning and burning treatments. Can. J. For. Res. 38: 844-850

Kolb TE, Agee JK, Fulé PZ, McDowell NG, Pearson K, Sala A, Waring RH. 2007. Perpetuating old ponderosa pine. Forest Ecol. Manage. 249:141-157.2

Sala A, Verdaguer D, Vilà M. 2007. Sensitivity of the invasive geophyte Oxalis pes-caprae to nutrient availability and competition. Ann. Bot. 99: 637 - 645

Keeling EG, Sala A, DeLuca TH. 2006. Effects of fire-exclusion on forest structure and composition in unlogged ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forests. Forest Ecol. Manage. 237:418-428.

DeLuca TH, Sala A. 2006. Frequent fire alters nitrogen transformations in natural Ponderosa Pine stands of the Inland Northwest. Ecology 87: 2511-2522

Sala A. 2006. Hydraulic compensation in Northern Rocky Mountain conifers: does successional position and life history matter? Oecologia 149:1-11

MacKenzie MD, DeLuca TH, Sala A. 2006. Fire exclusion and nitrogen mineralization in ponderosa pine ecosystems. Soil Biology and Biogeochemistry 38:952-961

Sala A, Peters GD, McIntyre LR, Harrington MG. 2005. Physiological responses of ponderosa pine in western Montana to thinning, prescribed burning, and burning season. Tree Physiol. 25:339-348.

Stout DL, Sala A 2003. Xylem vulnerability to cavitation in Pseudotsuga menziesii and Pinus ponderosa from contrasting habitats. Tree Physiol. 23:43-50

Sexton JP, McKay JK, Sala A. 2002. Plasticity and adaptive evolution may allow saltcedar to invade cold climates in North America. Ecological Applications 12:1652-1660.

Sala A, Carey EV, Keane RE, Callaway RM. 2001. Water use by whitebark pine and subalpine fir: consequences of fire suppression in subalpine forests. Tree Physiology 21:717-725.

Carey EV, Sala A, Keane RB, Callaway RM. 2001. Are old growth forests underestimated as global carbon sinks? Global Change Biology. 7:339-344.

Sala A, Carey EV, Callaway RM. 2001. Dwarf Mistletoe affects whole tree water relations of Douglas-fir and western larch primarily through changes in biomass allocation. Oecologia 126:42-52.

Piñol J, Sala A. 2000. Ecological implications of xylem embolism of several Pinnaceae of NW United States. Functional Ecology 14:538-545.

Callaway RM, Sala A, Keane RE. 2000. Succession may maintain high leaf area:sapwood ratios and productivity in old subalpine forests. Ecosystems 3:254-268.

Sala A, Smith SD, Devitt DA. 1996. Water use by Tamarix ramosissima and associated phreatophytes in a Mojave Desert floodplain. Ecological Applications 6: 888-898.

Sala A, Tenhunen JD. 1996. Simulation of net canopy photosynthesis and transpiration in Quercus ilex L. under the influence of seasonal drought. Agricultural and Forest Meteorolology 78: 203-222.

Sala A, Tenhunen JD. 1994. Site-specific stomatal response and water relations in Quercus ilex in a Mediterranean watershed. Tree Physiology 14: 601-617.