Department of Atmospheric Sciences Graduate Student and PCC Graduate Student Representative, Greg Quetin, recently published a paper in the Journal of Climate on the interaction of vegetation and global climate. The study found that the composition of ecosystems can be shaped by climate in order to take advantage of local environmental conditions. Moreover, the interaction between photosynthesis and temperature can respond to different climatological states. The combination of these two factors determines ecological-climate interaction and the pattern can provide a functional constraint for process-based models, helping to improve predictions of the global-scale response of vegetation to a changing climate.