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Doctor Manjunatha H Chandregowda

Manju Chandregowda I am an ecosystem ecologist studying the interface of plants and soil. In particular, I am interested in the mechanisms that enable plants to adjust to changes in their environment. Additionally, I am interested in how plant communities mediate climate and global change impacts on ecosystem processes.

With the prospect of increasing variations in precipitation regimes and atmospheric warming, understanding ecosystem (many times species-specific) strategies to adjust these changes have drawn particular interest in developing a framework for sustainable plant production practices in a future climate. As a research fellow in the Pastures and Climate Extremes project, I work to understand forage plant responses to predicted climate changes using mesocosm and field scale experiments. In particular, I use trait-based and eco-physiological approaches to understand plant strategies to adjust to changes in their environment.

Besides, my research also involves understanding plant-plant and plant-soil-microbe interactions in a future warmer and drier climate.

Awards and recognition

  • HIE Research Symposium “Best poster” award, WSU 2022 (second place)
  • HIE HDR Symposium “Best speaker” award, WSU 2021 (second place)

Publications

Chandregowda MH, Tjoelker MG, Pendall E, Zhang H, Churchill AC, Power SA, (2023) ‘Belowground carbon allocation, root trait plasticity and productivity during drought and warming in a pasture grass’, Journal of Experimental Botany, https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erad021 (in press)

Chandregowda MH, Tjoelker MG, Pendall E, Zhang H, Churchill AC, Power SA, (2022) 'Root trait shifts towards an avoidance strategy promote productivity and recovery in C3 and C4 pasture grasses under drought', Functional Ecology, vol.36, no.7, pp 1754–1771

Chandregowda MH, Tjoelker MG, Power SA, Pendall E, (2022) 'Drought and warming alter gross primary production allocation and reduce productivity in a widespread pasture grass', Plant, Cell & Environment, vol.45, no.8, pp 2271–2291

Churchill AC, Zhang H, Fuller KJ, Amiji B, Anderson IC, Barton CVM, Carrillo Y, Catunda KLM, Chandregowda MH, Igwenagu C, Jacob V, Kim GW, Macdonald CA, Medlyn BE, Moore BD, Pendall E, Plett JM, Post AK, Powell JR, Tissue DT, Tjoelker MG, Power SA, (2022) 'Pastures and Climate Extremes: Impacts of Cool Season Warming and Drought on the Productivity of Key Pasture Species in a Field Experiment', Frontiers in Plant Science, vol.13, Article no.836968

Chandregowda M H, Murthy K, Bagchi S, (2018) ‘Woody shrubs increase soil microbial functions and multifunctionality in a tropical semi-arid grazing ecosystem’, Journal of Arid Environments, vol. 155, pp 65-72