New PhytologistVolume 227, Issue 3 p. 680-682 ProfileFree Access Mohammed Armani First published: 30 June 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16279AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Mohammed Armani's poster ‘Early emergence and investment in spines across saplings’ won first prize at the 44th New Phytologist Symposium ‘Determinants of tropical vegetation structure and function’ in Accra, Ghana. See https://www.newphytologist.org/symposia/44. What inspired your interest in plant science? I grew up in a humid-tropical forest region (Enchi, Ghana, West Africa) with a vast diversity of plant species. I also majored in Agricultural science at high school, and Natural Resources Management during my undergraduate studies (BSc). However, I only genuinely became captivated by plants when I took an advanced course in forest ecology (taught by Lourens Poorter) at Wageningen University (the Netherlands). I was fascinated by the diversity of strategies that plants employ to reproduce, compete, or adapt to limiting factors in their environments. This kindled in me a new desire for a greater understanding of plants. Around this time, the theory that forest and savanna represent alternative stable biome states was emerging. For my Master's thesis research, I was interested in establishing whether neighbouring forest and savanna in Ghana contained distinct species and traits (as was being elegantly demonstrated by William Hoffmann for South America). Although I sampled species composition in forest and savanna patches, I could not collect trait data and was unable to tell my ‘own plant strategies’ story. Fortunately, my thesis defence caught the attention of Kyle Tomlinson (Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XTBG-CAS), Menglun, China), who later offered me a PhD position to explore the growth–defence strategies of spiny and nonspiny plants. Why did you decide to pursue a career in research? My past professional experiences were mainly in the field of forest and agricultural certification. However, I have always been broadly interested in nature conservation. My dream was to one day work at the science–policy interface in nature conservation at regional (e.g. with the Economic Community of West Africa, ECOWAS) or international level. I thought that to get a good understanding of the scientific perspectives on nature management and the research processes producing such knowledge was fundamental to achieving this dream, so I decided to pursue a PhD. Four years of learning the research methods, conducting experiments and meeting many researchers from all over the world have changed my perspective a lot! I am finding it exciting to be able to raise and answer fundamental ecological questions (e.g. how will Ghanaian forest and savanna species respond to changes in the Anthropocene). More importantly, the opportunity to speak on contemporary issues affecting nature conservation based on empirical evidence is too appealing for me to ignore. Box 1. Mohammed Armani is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Rhodes University (Grahamstown, South Africa) working with Dr Nicola Stevens (Oxford University, UK) and Prof. Sally Archibald (Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa). Armani holds a PhD in Ecology from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Upon completing his BSc from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana), Armani went to Wageningen University and Research Centre (the Netherlands), where he graduated with distinction in MSc Forest and Nature Conservation. His MSc thesis research focused on investigating whether contrasting recruitment barriers lead to compositional decoupling of the overstorey and understorey woody communities in forest and savanna vegetations within the forest–savanna boundary in Ghana. For his PhD research, Armani extended Agrawal's ‘defence syndrome’ framework – by integrating different ecological trait axes and theories; defence, growth, leaf economic spectrum, and biomass allocations – to study the growth–defence strategies of spiny and nonspiny plants. He found that distinct whole-plant strategies characterize not only spiny and nonspiny plants, but also spiny plants with different spine types (leaf-spine, stipular spines, prickles, and thorns). Armani hopes to continue investigating covariations among plant traits (from leaf to whole-plant level) and how trait-trait co-expression (e.g. fire, herbivory, and drought traits) constrain or facilitate adaptations to changing resource and disturbance regimes. For more information on Mohammed, visit https://mohammedarmani.com/, or contact him at moaramani@outlook.com ORCID: Mohammed Armani https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1297-0296 What motivates you on a day-to-day basis? This is a tough one! I think I have a deep-seated desire to learn and also to complete every project I get involved in. My parents did not receive any formal education and thus I had to chart my own academic and professional path. However, I was taught, at an early age, to see every task to its logical end and this has been one of my principles in life. Fortunately, I am never bored with reading and figuring new ways of doing things. I think this innate trait makes the process of science very appealing to me. During the past four years, I have gone through the excitement of coming up with ideas, the task of extensively reviewing the available literature, the necessity of designing robust experiments, the glee and surprises of data analysis and the long winding road to final publication. I have found all these processes fulfilling. However, it is not always smooth sailing even with my fierce personal determination. Luckily, I have always received the constant support and encouragement of my supervisor, lab-mates and colleagues from my institute and beyond. Is there anyone that you consider to be a role model? I have been inspired by many scientists, some of whom I only recently (at the 44th New Phytologist Symposium) met in person. Kyle W. Tomlinson (my PhD supervisor) has been a great source of inspiration and support. His ability to continuously identify gaps in the literature and come up with exciting research ideas has influenced my thinking. Lourens Poorter (Wageningen University and Research Centre) has always been, to me, a role model to follow. I hope that one day I will be as comprehensive in my understanding of tree species strategies as him. For people that I have not directly worked with, I consider Philip Grime (for his insights on adaptive strategies), William Bond (for his vast understanding and teaching of savanna ecology) and Peter Grubb (for his in-depth treatment of the evolution and ecology of spinescence) as my favourite ecologists. Then there is Tristan Charles-Dominique, a young, talented and affable individual who has inspired me even beyond science. What are your favourite New Phytologist papers of recent years, and why? The recent research review by Archibald et al. (2019), who present a unifying conceptual framework for understanding plant strategies enabling tolerance and persistence to fire and herbivory, is a great piece! Another cool study is presented by Charles-Dominique et al. (2018), who elegantly demonstrated how savanna, thicket and forest tree species create favourable conditions – by casting different amounts of shade and thus selecting for distinct grass functional composition and fire regimes – for the recruitment of their respective juveniles. The Viewpoint paper by Osborne et al. (2018), who extensively discuss how human impacts on African savannas are likely mediated by plant functional traits, is definitely one of my favourites. Given my interest in growth–defence strategies at the whole-plant level, being able to integrate different ecological trait axes (e.g. defence, leaf economic spectrum, etc.) into a single coherent framework is fundamental. In this respect, I find the two impressive Tansley reviews by Poorter et al. (2009, 2012) quite helpful. The first paper considers how different leaf-level traits are linked to variations in leaf mass per area (LMA) whereas the second paper deals with interspecific variations and environmental controls on biomass allocation to leaf, stem and root. What is your favourite plant, and why? This is easy – Ceiba pentandra, a majestic common tree in West Africa with huge buttresses (Fig. 1)! This tree is on top of my ‘prickly giants’ list. But it wasn't always this way. As a kid, I dare not approach even its saplings given that the two gigantic individuals in my hometown were incidentally the shrines of the two ‘supposedly powerful river gods’. Worse, the main season in which it disperses its seeds also coincided with the peak outbreak of conjunctivitis (the seed floss of the tree is irritating to the eyes), annoyingly preventing my peers and me from enjoying our routine football matches. However, I now admire this tree for being one of the excellent examples for understanding the ecology of spinescence (i.e. possession of spines, thorns and prickles). Like many other spiny plants, its saplings are formidably prickly, especially when found outside forest (potentially due to higher risk of defoliation and perhaps greater light supply). However, it does not stop producing prickles even when it beautifully towers above all other trees (it can be as high as 60 m) and out of reach of any ground-based herbivores, suggesting that it actively limits climbing mammals from accessing its nutrient-rich foliage. Figure 1Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) in Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary, Kumasi, Ghana (with Benjamin Wigley and Corli Wigley-Coetsee). Photograph courtesy of Mohammed Armani. References Archibald S, Hempson GP, Lehmann C. 2019. A unified framework for plant life-history strategies shaped by fire and herbivory. New Phytologist 224: 1490– 1503. Wiley Online LibraryPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar Charles-Dominique T, Midgley GF, Tomlinson KW, Bond WJ. 2018. Steal the light: shade vs fire adapted vegetation in forest–savanna mosaics. New Phytologist 218: 1419– 1429. Wiley Online LibraryPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar Osborne CP, Charles-Dominique T, Stevens N, Bond WJ, Midgley G, Lehmann CER. 2018. Human impacts in African savannas are mediated by plant functional traits. New Phytologist 220: 10– 24. Wiley Online LibraryPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar Poorter H, Niinemets Ü, Poorter L, Wright IJ, Villar R. 2009. Causes and consequences of variation in leaf mass per area (LMA): a meta-analysis. New Phytologist 182: 565– 588. Wiley Online LibraryCASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar Poorter H, Niklas KJ, Reich PB, Oleksyn J, Poot P, Mommer L. 2012. Biomass allocation to leaves, stems and roots: meta-analyses of interspecific variation and environmental control. New Phytologist 193: 30– 50. Wiley Online LibraryCASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar Volume227, Issue3August 2020Pages 680-682 FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation