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SenPEP stands for Sensory Photobiology and Ecophysiology of Plants. The group is not new, it was born in Suonenjoki in the early 1990's, but it has existed for 15 years without a name... This web page gives it a name, and presents us and our research interests.
Sensory ecology: Plants are capable of sensing their physical, chemical and biological environment. They perceive signals containing information. This information is used by plants to adjust growth and morphology, and to trigger development. We are interested not only on the physiology of these processes (how they are implemented in the plant) but in their role in the adaptation and acclimation of individual plants, and especially in their role in plant-plant interactions such as competition and facilitation.
Sensory photobiology: Light is both a source of energy and a source of information for plants. Through photosynthesis plants capture solar energy. This energy is absorbed by chlorophylls and accessory pigments. Through other pigments that are in very small quantities in the plant, small amounts of energy are absorbed. This energy is not important as such but rather as a source of information about the environment. This is "light sensing" like that done by our eyes. This can be thought as a very different kind of vision than ours, but anyway a light sensory mechanism to acquire information about the environment.
Resources: Not everything is information, resources are also strong modulators of plant growth. However, we contend that resource availability is not always the only and direct driver of all plant-plant interactions.
Physiological ecology: One definition is that it is the use of physiological methods to study ecological problems. We are interested in the interactions between plants and their environment (physical, chemical and biological), including, but not limited to, plant-plant interactions.
We have been studying for about 11 years the effects of UV-B and UV-A on the growth and secondary metabolism of forest trees. Initially we focused on direct effects and herbivory. Currently we are studying effects on leaf litter decomposition and soil fauna. We are also doing an assessment of the suitability of different action spectra for describing different responses measured outdoors in mature trees and tree seedlings. Initially we focused on simulating ozone depletion and enhancing UV with lamps. Lately we have been studying natural UV using filters to attenuate or remove from daylight.
P. Aphalo started doing research on this subject before arriving in Finland. This was the first research subject of the group and it has continued to be one of its focuses. There have been periods of more intense activity, and produced papers that had high impact on the ecophysiological and ecological research community. Currently one of its focuses is on applications of management of light quality in forest tree nursery conditions.
This is at the moment an idea in search of funding. It is a very current and interesting subject related to work that P. Aphalo did at the start of his career. New equipment is being acquired by our department that makes research along this line possible. It has important implications for understanding acclimation of plants to different growing conditions, and also for crop and tree breeding and management.
Our research philosophy is to look at interactions in addition to effects of single variables. We mainly work with whole plants, either indoors or in the field. We do manipulative experiments. We are very careful about experimental design and statistics as a way of obtaining reliable data. Sometimes we develop simulation models to study the coherence and implications of the results we obtain from our experiments.
In you are a student looking for a M.Sc. thesis project, or you want to start your doctoral studies in a subject fitting with our group's broad area of interest you are very welcome to come to discuss the possibilities. BSc students are also welcome to discuss as it is good to start early looking at the literature and getting familiar with the subject of a possible M.Sc. thesis. We do not have funding for other new salaries at the moment, but there are possibilities for applying for money. Contact us in good time because getting money may take some time.
Author: Pedro J. Aphalo.