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Kaoru Kitajima, Ph.D

Associate Professor of Botany

• Graduate Coordinator
• Plant functional ecology
• 518 Carr Hall
• (352) 392-4234 (Voice)
• (352) 392-3993 (Fax)
• kitajima@botany.ufl.edu
• PERSONAL WEB PAGE

Biography

I lived in Japan until after I graduated from the University of Tokyo. Then, with a help of Sankei Scholarship, I started my graduate-level training at the University of Illinois to study tropical forest ecology with Dr. Carol Augspurger. Since then, my main research explored the functional bases for high species and ecological diversity in tropical forests.  I work on seed and seedling ecology as well as canopy leaf ecophysiology of various tropical trees in Panama, Central America.  My most recent exciting finding is a high accumulation of silicon in leaves of some tropical tree species. Phylogeny, climate, soil type and life-history traits of the species seem to play a role, and affect biogeochemical cycle of silicate in tropical ecosystems. I also study functional ecology of invasive plant species, including Ardisia crenata, an alien evergreen shrub from Japan.  In all of my research, I quantify physiological and morphological traits to understand the nature of "trade-offs" in ecological  strategies of various plant species. 

Education

• Ph.D., University of Illinois (Plant Biology), 1992
• M.S., University of Illinois (Plant Biology), 1987
• B. S., University of Tokyo (Plant Biology), 1984
• M.S. Thesis Title: Seed and seedlings ecology of a monocarpic tropical tree, Tachigalia versicolor
• Ph.D. Dissertation Title: The importance of cotyledon functional morphology and patterns of seed reserve utilization for the ecology of neotropical tree seedlings
  

Academic Positions

• 2004-Present Associate Professor. University of Florida.
• 1997-2004 Assistant Professor, University of Florida.
• 1997 Postdoctoral research associate, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Dr. R. W. Pearcy, Dr. S. J. Wright)
• 1996 Lecturer, University of Missouri - St. Louis.
• 1994 -1996 Postdoctoral research fellow, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Dr. S. J. Wright)
• 1992 -1994 Postdoctoral research associate, the University of Minnesota (Dr. G. D. Tilman)
  

Research Interests / Major Research Achievements:

• Regeneration strategies of tropical tree species
  
• Functional ecology of seed and seedling traits
• Ecophysiology of leaf functional traits
• Ecophysiological basis for invasiveness of plants
• Influence of humans on long-distance plant colonization
• Ecology of plant-silicon interactions

Present Research

• Trade-offs in Tree Seedlings (Panama)
• Ecology of leaf biomechanical strength

Present Students

• PhD - Camila Pizano, Danielle Palow, Martijn Slot, Jared Westbrook, Vincent Medjibe
• MS - Erica Van Etten

Courses Taught:

• Introductory Botany (BOT2010)
• Integrative Principles of Biology II (BSC 2011)
• Plant Ecology (PCB 3601)
• Tropical Ecology (PCB5356)
• Ecology and Natural History of Tropics (BOT3353/6935)
• Seed and Seedling Ecology (BOT6935)
• Physiological Plant Ecology (BOT5655)

Membership in Professional Organizations:

• Ecological Society of America
• Botanical Society of America
• Association of Tropical Biology
• British Ecological Society
• Japanese Society of Tropical Ecology

Grants received

• 2001-6 NSF CAREER Award. Functional bases for the trade-off between growth and survival of tree seedlings.
• 2002-4. Florida DEP. "An evaluation of Ruellia brittoniana in natural areas." Co-PI (PI: Alison Fox, Department of Agronomy, UF)
  

Selected Publications

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