“Can you imagine you have little to no nitrogen and you put all the nitrogen that you have in these young leaves that are just doomed? That’s not very smart. Plants are smarter than that!”

In this episode of Ecology Matters, meet University of New South Wales PhD candidate Giancarlo Chiarenza. Gian is investigating the mechanisms behind delayed greening in plants.

Delayed greening occurs when plants withhold chlorophyll from leaves until they’re mature, resulting in the young expanding leaves being a myriad of colours, from red and pink to purple. Delaying the input of chlorophyll in this way may help the plant to reduce its loss of nutrients to herbivores. This makes sense when you consider that young leaves are often more tender, and therefore more appealing to herbivores than the tougher mature leaves. Gian plans to look at whether the withholding of chlorophyll from young leaves is linked to soil fertility, a question particularly pertinent in Australia, where many regions are known for their nutrient-poor soils.

His research received the 2021 Wiley Fundamental Ecology Award.

Over the next few weeks, meet ecologists from around Australia, discover more about their work, what their hopes and fears are for the future of our natural world, and why they think that ecology matters.

Find Ecology Matters wherever you get your podcasts or play it directly from our website.