Professor Colin Osborne
School of Biosciences
Professor of Plant Biology
+44 114 222 0146
Full contact details
School of Biosciences
C214
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
葫芦影业
S10 2TN
- Profile
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Head of Plants, Photosynthesis and Soil (2021-present)
Departmental Director for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (2018-2021)
Associate Director, Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures (2014-2018)
- Research interests
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Our research aims to understand the environmental and evolutionary causes of physiological diversity in wild plants and crops. We study how these physiological characteristics influence plant behaviour in wild ecosystems and cultivated fields.
Following a long tradition in plant environmental physiology, our work spans scales ranging from genes to the globe, and utilizes a broad spectrum of approaches. Right now, we have a particular emphasis on comparative experiments in controlled environments.
Current projects look at the evolution and physiological ecology of C4 plants, the domestication and diversification of crops, the impacts of rising atmospheric CO2 on savanna trees and grasses, and the optimisation of strategies for combining photovoltaics with agriculture.
- Publications
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Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
- . Plant, Cell & Environment.
- . New Phytologist.
- . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 321, 105039-105039.
- . Annals of Botany, 133(3), 413-426.
- . Plant, Cell & Environment.
- . Science of The Total Environment, 904.
- . Annals of Botany.
- . Plant, Cell and Environment.
- . Pakistan Journal of Botany, 55(3).
- . New Phytologist.
- . Nature Geoscience, 15(8), 671-676.
- . Quaternary Science Reviews, 288.
- . Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 37(9), 749-758.
- . Plant, Cell & Environment, 45(5), 1398-1411.
- . Ecology and Evolution, 12(2).
- . New Phytologist, 233(2), 995-1010.
- . Scientific Data, 8(1).
- . People and Nature, 3(5), 978-989.
- . Functional Ecology.
- . Nature Plants, 7(5), 598-607.
- . Nature, 592(7853), 242-247.
- . Molecular Ecology.
- . Functional Ecology, 11(7), 3300-3312.
- . Ecological Informatics, 61.
- . Ecology and Evolution.
- . Journal of Archaeological Science, 125.
- . New Phytologist.
- . Ecology Letters, 22(2), 302-312.
- . Nat Ecol Evol, 2(11), 1808-1817.
- . New Phytologist, 220(1), 10-24.
- . Ecology Letters, 21(3), 376-383.
- . Journal of Ecology, 106(3), 1286-1297.
- . Evolution Letters, 1(2), 64-72.
- . Functional Ecology, 31(2), 387-397.
- . Global Change Biology, 23(1), 380-393.
- . Plant, Cell & Environment, 39(9), 1874-1885.
- . Nature Plants, 2(5).
- . Journal of Experimental Botany, 67(1), 31-45.
- . Journal of Ecology, 104(1), 138-148.
- . Ecology Letters, 18(10), 1021-1029.
- . New Phytologist, 207(3), 905-913.
- . Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 30(8), 463-469.
- . Plant, Cell & Environment.
Preprints
All publications
Journal articles
- . Plant, Cell & Environment.
- . New Phytologist.
- . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 321, 105039-105039.
- . Annals of Botany, 133(3), 413-426.
- . Plant, Cell & Environment.
- . Science of The Total Environment, 904.
- . Annals of Botany.
- . Plant, Cell and Environment.
- . Pakistan Journal of Botany, 55(3).
- . New Phytologist.
- . Nature Geoscience, 15(8), 671-676.
- . Quaternary Science Reviews, 288.
- . Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 37(9), 749-758.
- . Plant, Cell & Environment, 45(5), 1398-1411.
- . Ecology and Evolution, 12(2).
- . New Phytologist, 233(2), 995-1010.
- . Scientific Data, 8(1).
- . People and Nature, 3(5), 978-989.
- . Functional Ecology.
- . Nature Plants, 7(5), 598-607.
- . Nature, 592(7853), 242-247.
- . Molecular Ecology.
- . Functional Ecology, 11(7), 3300-3312.
- . Ecological Informatics, 61.
- . Ecology and Evolution.
- . Journal of Archaeological Science, 125.
- . New Phytologist.
- . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1938).
- . New Phytologist, 228(4), 1306-1315.
- . Global Change Biology, 26(12), 7128-7143.
- . Environmental Research Letters, 15(10).
- . New Phytologist, 228(1), 15-23.
- . Journal of Ecology, 108(5), 1899-1909.
- . PLOS ONE, 15(6).
- . Journal of Biogeography, 47(3), 553-565.
- . Current Biology, 29(22), 3921-3927.e5.
- . Science, 366(6463).
- . Systematic Biology.
- . Oecologia, 191(1), 25-38.
- . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286(1909).
- . Nature Communications, 10(1), ---.
- . in silico Plants (isP), 1(1).
- . Journal of Experimental Botany, 70(12), 3255-3268.
- . Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 7.
- . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(10), 4416-4425.
- . Ecology Letters, 22(2), 302-312.
- . Functional Ecology.
- . Journal of Archaeological Science, 28(4), 449-463.
- . Plant Direct, 2(11), e00094-e00094.
- . Journal of Experimental Botany.
- . Nat Ecol Evol, 2(11), 1808-1817.
- . New Phytologist, 220(1), 10-24.
- . Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 6.
- . Environmental Research Letters, 13(3), 033003-033003.
- . Ecology Letters, 21(3), 376-383.
- . Journal of Experimental Botany, 69(8), 1967-1980.
- . Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35(1), 94-106.
- . Biological Reviews, 93(2), 1125-1144.
- . Journal of Ecology, 106(3), 1286-1297.
- . The Plant Journal, 92(6), 981-994.
- . Science, 358(6365), eaao1309-eaao1309.
- . Functional Ecology, 31(11), 2108-2117.
- . Evolution Letters, 1(2), 64-72.
- . Evolution.
- . Functional Ecology, 31(2), 387-397.
- . Molecular Ecology, 25(24), 6107-6123.
- . Global Change Biology, 23(1), 380-393.
- . Nature Plants, 2.
- . Plant, Cell & Environment, 39(9), 1874-1885.
- . Ann Bot.
- . Plant, Cell and Environment.
- . Ecology and Evolution, 6(15), 5246-5255.
- . Functional Ecology.
- . Nature Plants, 2(5).
- . Journal of Experimental Botany, 67(1), 31-45.
- . Journal of Ecology, 104(1), 138-148.
- . Ecology, 96(10), 2679-2691.
- . Ecology Letters, 18(10), 1021-1029.
- . New Phytologist, 207(3), 905-913.
- . Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 30(8), 463-469.
- . Molecular Biology and Evolution, 32(4), 846-858.
- . Journal of Experimental Botany, 66(3), 761-773.
- . Global Ecology and Biogeography, 24(3), 304-313.
- . New Phytologist, 204(4), 765-781.
- . J Exp Bot, 65(13), 3579-3593.
- . Glob Chang Biol, 20(6), 1992-2003.
- . J Exp Bot, 65(13), 3357-3369.
- . Proc Biol Sci, 281(1783), 20133355.
- . J Exp Bot, 65(13), 3609-3621.
- . Syst Biol, 63(2), 153-165.
- . PLoS One, 9(1), e87586.
- . The Paleontological Society Special Publications, 13, 135-136.
- . New Phytologist, 204(3), 441-446.
- . The Plant Journal, 76(6), 914-929.
- . Genome Biol Evol, 5(11), 2174-2187.
- . Journal of Experimental Botany, 64(13), 4021.
- . J Exp Bot, 64(13), 4101-4108.
- . Photosynth Res, 117(1-3), 163-175.
- . Ecol Evol, 3(5), 1262-1265.
- . JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY, 64(8), 2183-2191.
- . PLoS ONE, 8(1).
- . Global Ecology and Biogeography.
- . Journal of Experimental Botany, 64(2), 385-390.
- . Global Change Biology.
- . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 110(4), 1381-1386.
- . New Phytol, 196(1), 200-211.
- . New Phytol, 195(3), 653-666.
- . Oecologia, 170(3), 835-845.
- Photosynthetic and anatomical acclimation by the C-3 and C-4 subspecies of Alloteropsis semialata in low CO2 atmospheres. SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 79, 208-208.
- . Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 367(1588), 583-600.
- . JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, 39(2), 232-246.
- . Ecology, 93(6), 1283-1289.
- . New Phytologist, 195(3), 653-666.
- . Current Biology, 22(5), 445-449.
- . New Phytologist, 193(2), 304-312.
- . New Phytologist, 193(2), 387-396.
- . New Phytol, 193(2), 387-396.
- . J EXP BOT, 62(9), 3171-3181.
- Understanding geographical patterns of grass species richness - The global and local context. S AFR J BOT, 77(2), 565-566.
- GrassPortal: An online ecological and evolutionary data facility for the grasses. S AFR J BOT, 77(2), 566-566.
- The response of grasses to future climates of elevated CO2 and temperature: What research questions are important for southern Africa?. S AFR J BOT, 77(2), 555-555.
- New grass phylogeny resolves deep evolutionary relationships and discovers C4 origins. New Phytologist.
- . Annals of Botany, 107(2), 321-325.
- . Plant Cell Environ, 34(1), 65-75.
- . Am Nat, 176(6), E152-E161.
- . J ECOL, 98(5), 1196-1203.
- . Trends Ecol Evol, 25(7), 403-409.
- . SCIENCE, 328(5978), 587-591.
- . New Phytol, 185(3), 780-791.
- . Environmental Archaeology, 15(2), 113-123.
- . Ann Bot, 104(1), 179-188.
- . Proc Biol Sci, 276(1663), 1753-1760.
- . Ann Bot, 103(1), 127-136.
- . J EXP BOT, 59(15), 4161-4170.
- . Plant Cell Environ, 31(7), 1038-1050.
- . S AFR J BOT, 74(2), 377-377.
- . GLOBAL CHANGE BIOL, 14(3), 576-587.
- . J Exp Bot, 59(7), 1743-1754.
- . J Ecol, 96(1), 35-45.
- . Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 146(4), S274-S274.
- . J EXP BOT, 58(6), 1351-1363.
- . GLOBAL CHANGE BIOL, 12(11), 2023-2031.
- . AGRON J, 98(2), 354-381.
- . Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 361(1465), 173-194.
- . GLOBAL CHANGE BIOL, 11(12), 2177-2195.
- Contrasting seasonal patterns of carbon gain in evergreen and deciduous trees of ancient polar forests. PALEOBIOLOGY, 31(1), 141-150.
- . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 101(28), 10360-10362.
- Adaptive role of leaf habit in extinct polar forests. INT FOREST REV, 6(2), 181-186.
- , 197-215.
- . Plant Physiol, 133(2), 803-812.
- . Nature, 424(6944), 60-62.
- Is stimulation of leaf photosynthesis by elevated carbon dioxide concentration maintained in the long term? A test with Lolium perenne grown for 10 years at two nitrogen fertilization levels under Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE). PLANT CELL ENVIRON, 26(5), 705-714.
- High CO2 increases the freezing sensitivity of plants: Implications for paleoclimatic reconstructions from fossil floras. GEOLOGY, 30(11), 963-966.
- . GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEM CY, 16(4).
- . Ann Bot, 89(3), 329-339.
- . Journal of Biogeography, 29(2), 295-295.
- Do drought-hardened plants suffer from fever? Response. TRENDS PLANT SCI, 6(11), 507-508.
- Biological mechanisms underlying recent increases in the NDVI of Mediterranean shrublands. INT J REMOTE SENS, 22(10), 1895-1907.
- . Nature, 410(6826), 352-354.
- Olive phenology as a sensitive indicator of future climatic warming in the Mediterranean. PLANT CELL ENVIRON, 23(7), 701-710.
- The representation of root processes in models addressing the responses of vegetation to global change. NEW PHYTOL, 147(1), 223-232.
- Modelling the recent historical impacts of atmospheric CO2 and climate change on Mediterranean vegetation. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOL, 6(4), 445-458.
- Stomatal responses of the 'living fossil' Ginkgo biloba L. to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. J EXP BOT, 49(326), 1603-1607.
- . Plant Physiology, 117(3), 1037-1045.
- . Plant Physiology, 114(1), 337-344.
- . Plant, Cell & Environment.
- . Nature Precedings.
Chapters
- The Geologic History of C-4 Plants, C4 PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND RELATED CO2 CONCENTRATING MECHANISMS (pp. 339-357).
- , C4 Photosynthesis and Related CO2 Concentrating Mechanisms (pp. 339-357). Springer Netherlands
- , The Evolution of Plant Physiology (pp. 197-215). Elsevier
Conference proceedings papers
- . JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY, Vol. 59(7) (pp 1705-1714)
- Feeling the cold: atmospheric CO2 enrichment and the frost sensitivity of terrestrial plant foliage. PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY, Vol. 182(1-2) (pp 3-13)
- Sensitivity of tree growth to a high CO2 environment: consequences for interpreting the characteristics of fossil woods from ancient 'greenhouse' worlds. PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY, Vol. 182(1-2) (pp 15-29)
Preprints
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Authorea, Inc..
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Research group
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Research Group
Postdocs- Dr Kim Simpson (postdoc, 2019-present) 'How do global change and functional traits influence savanna woody plant encroachment?' NERC
- Dr A.N. Other (postdoc, 2023-) 'AgriPV system with climate, water and light spectrum control for safe, healthier and improved crop production' Horizon Europe.
PhD students
- Mohammed Lashram (2021-present) 'Drought adaptation of C4 savanna grasses' Saudi government scholarship
- Yanmin Zhou (2020-present) 'Dynamic behaviour of stomata under fluctuating light'. Chinese Scholarship Council.
- Yixiang Shan (2019-present) 'Domestication effects on wheat morphology and production'. Chinese Scholarship Council.
- Kanyanat Kasetsuntorn (2019-present) 'Cold adaptation of C4 grasses'. Thai government scholarship.
- Bong Salazar (2019-present) 鈥楻ising temperature impacts on apple crop productivity鈥. Philippines government scholarship.
- Suma Mani (2018-present) 鈥業mpacts of planting trees and rewilding on carbon sequestration and livelihoods in the Peak District鈥. Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures.
- Teaching activities
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I lead the Climate Change and Sustainability theme in our undergraduate teaching. My lectures in the APS 11008 Climate Change and Sustainability module at level 1 provide an introduction and grounding to the key concepts in these areas. At level 2, my lectures in BIS 222 focus on the interactions and feedbacks between ecosystems, atmosphere and climate.
At level 3 in APS 31006, the emphasis turns to social, political and cultural dimensions of sustainability, looking at the historical development of the food system, natural resource exploitation and human impacts on climate. The module considers how to achieve social justice and a good life for all, while sustainably exploiting natural resources and achieving net zero. Masters teaching in APS 61017 Global Sustainability develops these themes in greater depth.
My teaching aims to place scientific work within its social, political and cultural contexts, and draws on a diversity of scientific perspectives. I am co-author of a guide that discusses why this is important and outlines aspects to consider within ecology and evolution.
Level three and four undergraduate research projects in my lab look at functional aspects of plant biology, and typically take a comparative approach to investigate the mechanisms underpinning diversity in plant form and function.
- Professional activities and memberships
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- External Examiner, BSc Plant Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin (2018-2022)
- External Examiner, BSc Ecological Sciences, University of Edinburgh (2012-2016)
- Convenor of the Plant Environmental Physiology group of the SEB and BES (2012-2016)
- Editorial Board, Proceedings of The Royal Society, Series B (2012-2017)
- Origins of Grasslands Working Group Coordinator, National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent), USA (2011-2012)
- Advisory Group Member, Royal Society Global Science Report (2010-2011)
- Grass Phylogeny Working Group Member, NESCent, USA (2010-2011)
- Plants Committee Member, Society for Experimental Biology, UK (2010-2013)
- Catalysis Meeting Coordinator, NESCent, USA (2009)
- Co-Chair, British-German Frontiers of Science Symposium, Potsdam (2008)
- Selection Panel Member, Royal Society Summer Studentships (2005)
- Co-organizer, Departmental Seminar Programme (2004-2014)
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