Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Honorary Professor at Macquarie University. Plant functional ecologist. Core topics include:
- Understanding plant ecological strategies via functional traits.
- Trait-environment relationships from local to global scales.
- Optimality theory for plant function, for use in vegetation modelling.
- Consequences of trait variation for ecosystem properties.
- Adaptations to heat and water stress in Australian flora, inclouding crop wild relatives
Wright Lab website | Google Scholar profile
Previous positions: Postdoc, Macquarie U. / U. Minnesota 2002-4; ARC Research Fellow 2005-8; Deputy-Convenor, ARC Vegetation Function Research Network 2005-9; ARC Future Fellow 2011-15.
Macquarie University: Senior Lecturer (2009), Associate Professor (2015), Professor (2019). Deputy-Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Science & Engineering 2017-19.
I was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2019. I am a Node Leader and member of the Executive for the ARC Centre for Plant Success in Nature & Agriculture (2020-2027). In late 2021 I took up the position of Chief Scientist, and Professor Plant Functional Ecology, at Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University.
Education/Academic qualification
Plant ecology, PhD 2002, Macquarie University
Award Date: 1 Feb 2002
Plant ecology & systematics, BSc (Hons) 1995, The University of Melbourne
Award Date: 1 Dec 1995
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture
Beveridge, C. (Chief Investigator), Cooper, M. (Chief Investigator), Brodribb, T. (Chief Investigator), Waterhouse, P. M. (Chief Investigator), Wright, I. (Primary Chief Investigator), Bowman, J. (Chief Investigator), Burrage, K. (Chief Investigator), Donovan, D. (Chief Investigator), Foo, E. (Chief Investigator), Jordan, D. (Chief Investigator), Hammer, G. (Chief Investigator), Henry, R. (Chief Investigator), Holland, B. (Chief Investigator), Ortiz-Barrientos, D. (Chief Investigator), Sherman, B. (Chief Investigator), Smith, S. (Chief Investigator), Weller, J. (Chief Investigator), Bett, K. (Partner Investigator), Holbrook, N. (Partner Investigator), Li, J. (Partner Investigator), Lunn, J. (Partner Investigator), Messina, C. (Partner Investigator), Morris, G. (Partner Investigator), Rieseberg, L. (Partner Investigator), Taylor, J. (Partner Investigator) & Trevaskis, B. (Partner Investigator)
4/12/20 → 3/12/27
Project: Research
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Optimal photosynthetic traits on ecological time-scales
Wright, I. (Primary Chief Investigator), Prentice, I. (Partner Investigator) & MQRES (International), M. (PhD Student)
1/01/17 → …
Project: Research
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THz radiation - a revolution in measuring plant health
Lee, A. (Primary Chief Investigator), Zeppel, M. (Associate Investigator), Wright, I. (Associate Investigator) & Pask, H. (Associate Investigator)
1/01/16 → …
Project: Research
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Adaptive strategies of the Australian flora: unravelling the interplay between climate and soils
Wright, I. (Chief Investigator) & Westerband, A. (Primary Chief Investigator)
1/07/20 → 30/06/23
Project: Research
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Hydraulic drivers of photosynthetic variation in co-occurring plant species in Sydney region: a least-cost theory approach
Chhajed, S. (Primary Chief Investigator) & Wright, I. (Chief Investigator)
4/04/20 → 4/04/21
Project: Research
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A systems modelling approach to predict biological responses to extreme heat
Noble, D. W. A., Mayfield, M. M., Hoffmann, A. A., Chen, Z. H., Lade, S. J., Bai, X., Way, D. A., Medlyn, B. E., Atkin, O. K., Nicotra, A. B., Cook, J. M., Singh, B. K., Bentley, A. R., Wright, I. J. & Kearney, M. R., May 2026, In: Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 41, 5, p. 451-464 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)3 Downloads (Pure) -
Body size predicts ant worker longevity: a hierarchical analysis of field and laboratory survival across phylogenetic lineages
Riskas, H. L., Stodola, K., Leahy, L., Wright, I. J. & Gibb, H., Jan 2026, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 293, 2062, p. 1-12 12 p., 20251907.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile38 Downloads (Pure) -
Evidence for a trade-off between growth rate and xylem embolism resistance in 22 Eucalyptus species
Pan, T., Jacob, V., Britton, T. G., Schrader, J., Peters, J. M. R., Li, J., Zhang, C., Wen, J., Choat, B. & Wright, I. J., 11 Jun 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: New Phytologist. 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Exposure and sensitivity of threatened plant species to changing drought regimes: a global analysis
Everingham, S. E., Wright, I. J., Teckentrup, L., Allen, S. & Gallagher, R. V., Mar 2026, In: Biological Conservation. 315, p. 1-13 13 p., 111684.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Downloads (Pure) -
Global variation in the ratio of sapwood to leaf area explained by optimality principles
Xu, H., Wang, H., Prentice, I. C., Harrison, S. P., Rowland, L., Mencuccini, M., Sanchez-Martinez, P., He, P., Wright, I. J., Sitch, S., Li, M. & Ye, Q., Apr 2026, In: New Phytologist. 250, 1, p. 181-193 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus)
Datasets
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Effects of plant hydraulic traits on the flammability of live fine canopy fuels in 62 Australian plant species
Scarff, F. (Contributor), Lenz, T. (Contributor), Richards, A. (Contributor), Zanne, A. (Contributor), Wright, I. (Contributor) & Westoby, M. (Contributor), Macquarie University, 10 Jun 2022
Dataset