The Hans Merensky Chair in Measuring and Modelling Eucalypt Growth & Wood Formation
Understanding growth in the world's most widely planted hardwoods
EucXylo paper featured by LI-COR
Post authored by Dr Kim Martin This month, LI-COR‘s ‘News and Updates from LI-COR‘ newsletter featured a paper authored by one of EucXylo‘s researchers – Alta Saunders! The paper, titled ‘Stomatal responses of Eucalyptus spp. under drought can be predicted with a gain-risk optimisation model‘…
Precision dendrometers are logging high-quality data for Mpilo’s Ph.D.
Post authored by Ph.D. candidate Mpilo Khumalo Dendrometers are frequently used instruments in ecological and forest science research, and are used to measure the diameter of the trees. High-precision dendrometers are one type of sensor in use in Ph.D. candidate Mpilo Khumalo’s ongoing research….
The EucXylo Team is growing, and so are our trees!
The EucXylo Team is going from strength to strength in 2021: our numbers are growing – with the addition of two new students, and a new member of staff – and the increasingly-instrumented trees that make up our flagship ‘phenomenological trial’ are too! EucXylo…
Attending the second Q-NET workshop
Post authored by Ph.D. candidate Gugu Gama EucXylo members recently attended the second virtual workshop hosted by Q-NET – a network aimed at providing better understanding of Quantitative Wood Anatomy (QWA). The workshop engaged on study design & field work, anatomical sample preparation, measuring…
Effects of water availability on eucalypt xylogenesis
Post authored by Ph.D. candidate Rafael Keret Water availability is a major abiotic component which can drastically influence plant growth and development. Our goal is to determine what differences in stem morphology and cellular features may arise in response to different levels of water…
PhD opportunity in eucalypt wood property variation
EucXylo is currently recruiting for a funded PhD position at Stellenbosch University; the successful candidate will investigate wood property variation in eucalypts as a function of fine-scale growth and ecophysiological responses to environment in the context of an ongoing long-term monitoring study. The study…
In memory of Hans Merensky
Last week marked 68 years since the death of Hans Merensky, founder of the Hans Merensky Foundation – the organisation which supports the EucXylo research programme. He was a talented geologist, passionate advocate for technological progress, and generous benefactor to the country of his…
The beginning of our “phenomenological” trial
Last week we reached a EucXylo milestone: we finally planted the 12 trees which will for our so-called “phenomenological” trial! This is a longitudinal-type experiment in which we’ll be intensively monitoring tree growth and responses to environment in four different Eucalyptus species and hybrids…
When trees get thirsty
Post authored by Ph.D. candidate Alta Saunders An increase in drought due to climate change can have a significant effect on trees. It is important to understand the strategies used by trees to avoid drought-induced mortality. This has become an interesting topic being investigated…
Postdoctoral Fellowship opportunity in advanced imaging of developing xylem!
The EucXylo Research Chair at Stellenbosch University has an exciting opportunity for a Postdoctoral researcher to work on advanced imaging of developing xylem. Interested candidates are invited to apply to lead research into non-destructive methods for observing and quantifying developmental processes in differentiating xylem…