Ilaine Silveira Matos

Ilaine Silveira Matos

School of Biological Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Dr Ilaine is a Lecturer of Botany at the North Terrace Campus, University of Adelaide. She is a plant eco-physiologist with research interests in plant hydraulics, functional ecology and global change biology. She is passionate about understanding and predicting how native and cultivated vegetation respond to climate change events, such as extreme droughts, heatwaves, and fires.

As the world, and particularly South Australia, becomes hotter, drier and more fire-prone, understanding how plants cope with these novel and extreme environmental conditions is critical for ensuring the long-term persistence of our native vegetation and the profitability of our agricultural sector.

Ilaine's research group is focused on unravelling the different strategies that plants can exhibit to deal with adverse and stressful conditions. By combining fieldwork, greenhouse and laboratory experiments, functional trait assessment and process-based modeling, they have advanced our capacity to identify which plant species are more tolerant to stress, and which are more likely to be lost as the climate changes.

Currently, Ilaine is working on several projects related to:
(1) Modelling the physiological responses of plant species (threatened, native, urban trees, crops, and forestry plant species) to multiple and interactive environmental stressors (i.e. drought, fire and heat);
(2) Identifying the environmental factors affecting the fecundity of arid plant species used in post-mining regeneration;
(3) Examining temporal and spatial dynamics in the functional strategies of response to drought in arid land vegetation; and
(4) Discovering the links between form, function, and evolution in leaf venation networks to optimize human-made transportation networks.

Beyond research, Ilaine has actively contributed to educate and inspire the next generation of ecologists, plant scientists and environmentalists via both teaching and outreach activities. By merging science and arts, Ilaine's group has led several engagement events with local communities, schools, and visitors of protected natural areas to increase awareness of the serious environmental and societal consequences of climate and land-use changes.

As a Latina woman, mother, and first-generation college student from a rural and underprivileged community in Brazil’s poorest region, Ilaine has experienced many of the social and institutional barriers that under-represented groups have to overcome to succeed in academia. She is committed to creating an inclusive, collaborative, and nurturing environment in every dimension of her work and to guiding students along the challenging scientific path.

Ilaine's research applies a multiscale eco-physiological approach, from the cell up to the biome level, to understand the mechanisms underlying plants’ resilience to droughts and other abiotic (e.g. heatwaves, fires) and biotic events (e.g. herbivory). She is particularly interested in investigating how plants respond when exposed to multiple and co-occurring stresses. This knowledge is critical for predicting the impacts of climate and land-use changes on terrestrial vegetation, and for the long-term conservation of our native and cultivated plant species.  

You can read more about Ilaine's research on her website.

The Plant Ecophysiology research lab is currently recruiting students at all levels (undergraduate student summer scholarships, undergraduate honours, master's and PhD) to work on research projects on the following (or related) topics:

  • Interactive effects of drought and heat waves on the performance of Australian native vegetation;
  • Vulnerability of Eucalyptus and other threatened Australian tree species to climate change;
  • Eco-physiological strategies in desert species;
  • Plant resistance and resilience to herbivory and drought damages.

Please get in touch (send an email to ilaine.matos@adelaide.edu.au) if you would like to discuss doing your Honours or PhD in the Plant Ecophysiology lab group.

The Plant Ecophysiology Lab research usually involves: 

  • Climate and plant physiological data collection and analysis;
  • Laboratory, greenhouse, and fieldwork activities;
  • Mechanistic modeling;
  • Machine learning and image processing.

In addition to:

  • Outreach activities in public schools and protected areas;
  • Activities blending art and science.

  • Appointments
    Date Position Institution name
    2025 - ongoing Lecturer University of Adelaide
    2024 - 2025 Visiting researcher University of Adelaide
    2020 - 2024 Postoctoral Research Associate University of California, Berkeley
    2019 - 2020 Postdoctoral Research Associate Arizona State University
    2018 - 2018 Visiting researcher University of Oxford

  • Awards and Achievements
    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2019 Award Best Ph.D. thesis of the Postgraduate Program in Ecology and Evolution State University of Rio de Janeiro Brazil -
    2011 Distinction Student Merit Medal (highest GPA) Federal University of Sergipe Brazil -

  • Language Competencies
    Language Competency
    English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
    Portuguese Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
    Spanish - Latin American Can read and understand spoken

  • Education
    Date Institution name Country Title
    2017 - 2011 Federal University of Sergipe Brazil Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biology
    2015 - 2019 Rio de Janeiro State University Brazil Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Ecology and Evolution
    2012 - 2014 Research Institute of Rio de Janeiro Botanical Gardens Brazil Master of Science (MSc) in Botany

  • Research Interests
    Plant Biology & Botany Plant Physiology Terrestrial Ecology Global Change Biology Anatomy & Morphology Ecological Physiology Climatological hazards (e.g. extreme temperatures, drought and wildfires)

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2025 Matos, I. S., Boakye, M., Antonio, M., Carlos, S., Chu, A., Duarte, M. A., . . . Blonder, B. W. (2025). Investigating the Functional and Architectural Diversity of Leaf Venation Networks. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 106(1), e02206-1-e02206-4.
    DOI
    2025 Niewiadomski, I., Antonio, M., Aparecido, L. M. T., Boakye, M., Carlos, S., Echevarria, A., . . . Blonder, B. W. (2025). A comprehensive illustrated protocol for clearing, mounting, and imaging leaf venation networks. Applications in Plant Sciences, 13(2), 9 pages.
    DOI Scopus1
    2025 Roland, H., Silveira Matos, I., H. P. Rosado, B., & Oliveras Menor, I. (2025). Non-Additive effects on plant mixtures flammability in a tropical mountain ecosystem. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 34(5), WF24168-1-WF24168-12.
    DOI
    2025 Zorger, B. B., Matos, I. S., & Rosado, B. H. P. (2025). Leaf Traits Explain Shrubs' and Herbs' Functional Composition Shifts in a Climate-Impacted Tropical Montane Grassland. Austral Ecology, 50(5), 12 pages.
    DOI
    2025 Matos, I. S., Vu, B., Mann, J., Xie, E., Madhavan, S., Sharma, S., . . . Blonder, B. W. (2025). Leaf venation network evolution across clades and scales.. Nature Plants, 11(6), 1-25.
    DOI
    2024 Matos, I. S., Rifai, S. W., Gouveia, W. F., Oliveras, I., Mantuano, D., & Rosado, B. H. P. (2024). A causal trait model for explaining foliar water uptake capacity. Journal of Vegetation Science, 35(3), 13 pages.
    DOI
    2024 Matos, I. S., McDonough, S., Johnson, B. C., Kalantar, D., Rohde, J., Sahu, R., . . . Blonder, B. W. (2024). Negative allometry of leaf xylem conduit diameter and double-wall thickness: implications for implosion safety. New Phytologist, 242(6), 2464-2478.
    DOI Scopus4 Europe PMC2
    2024 Matos, I. S., Boakye, M., Niewiadomski, I., Antonio, M., Carlos, S., Johnson, B. C., . . . Blonder, B. W. (2024). Leaf venation network architecture coordinates functional trade-offs across vein spatial scales: evidence for multiple alternative designs. New Phytologist, 244(2), 407-425.
    DOI Scopus4 Europe PMC1
    2024 Matos, I. S., Boakye, M., Antonio, M., Carlos, S., Chu, A., Duarte, M. A., . . . Blonder, B. (2024). Leaf architecture and functional traits for 122 species at the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley. Ecology, 105(12), 2 pages.
    DOI Scopus1
    2023 Vandvik, V., Halbritter, A. H., Althuizen, I. H. J., Christiansen, C. T., Henn, J. J., Jónsdóttir, I. S., . . . Enquist, B. J. (2023). Plant traits and associated data from a warming experiment, a seabird colony, and along elevation in Svalbard. Scientific Data, 10(1), 21 pages.
    DOI Scopus4 Europe PMC2
    2023 Matos, I. S., Rifai, S. W., & Rosado, B. H. P. (2023). 2015/16 El Niño increased water demand and pushed plants from a Mesic tropical montane grassland beyond their hydraulic safety limits. Austral Ecology, 49(1), 17 pages.
    DOI Scopus3
    2022 Matos, I. S., Binks, O., Eller, C. B., Zorger, B. B., Meir, P., Dawson, T. E., & Rosado, B. H. P. (2022). Revisiting plant hydrological niches: The importance of atmospheric resources for ground-rooted plants. Journal of Ecology, 110(8), 1746-1756.
    DOI Scopus14 Europe PMC2
    2021 Matos, I. S., Eller, C. B., Oliveras, I., Mantuano, D., & Rosado, B. H. P. (2021). Three eco-physiological strategies of response to drought maintain the form and function of a tropical montane grassland. Journal of Ecology, 109(1), 327-341.
    DOI Scopus24 Europe PMC2
    2021 Christmann, T., Rosado, B. H. P., Delhaye, G., Matos, I. S., Drummond, J. S., Roland, H. L., . . . Oliveras Menor, I. (2021). Functional assembly of tropical montane tree islands in the Atlantic Forest is shaped by stress tolerance, bamboo presence, and facilitation. Ecology and Evolution, 11(15), 10164-10177.
    DOI Scopus5 Europe PMC2
    2020 Blonder, B., Both, S., Jodra, M., Xu, H., Fricker, M., Matos, I. S., . . . Malhi, Y. (2020). Linking functional traits to multiscale statistics of leaf venation networks. New Phytologist, 228(6), 1796-1810.
    DOI Scopus22 Europe PMC5
    2020 Eller, C. B., Rowland, L., Mencuccini, M., Rosas, T., Williams, K., Harper, A., . . . Cox, P. M. (2020). Stomatal optimization based on xylem hydraulics (SOX) improves land surface model simulation of vegetation responses to climate. New Phytologist, 226(6), 1622-1637.
    DOI Scopus113 Europe PMC28
    2020 Matos, I. S., Flores, B. M., Hirota, M., & Rosado, B. H. P. (2020). Critical transitions in rainfall manipulation experiments on grasslands. Ecology and Evolution, 10(5), 2695-2704.
    DOI Scopus6 Europe PMC1
    2020 Matos, I. S., Menor, I. O., Rifai, S. W., & Rosado, B. H. P. (2020). Deciphering the stability of grassland productivity in response to rainfall manipulation experiments. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 29(3), 558-572.
    DOI Scopus39 WoS22
    2016 Rosado, B. H. P., Matos, I. S., & Amorim, T. D. A. (2016). A matter of scale and traits: a comment on 'On the need for phylogenetic "corrections" in functional trait-based approaches' by de Bello et al. (2015). FOLIA GEOBOTANICA, 51(4), 383-387.
    DOI
    2016 Matos, I. S., & Rosado, B. H. P. (2016). Retain or repel? Droplet volume does matter when measuring leaf wetness traits. ANNALS OF BOTANY, 117(6), 1045-1052.
    DOI
    2015 Landim, M. F., Barnes Proenca, C. E., Sales, A. B., & Matos, I. S. (2015). Floristic characterization of an Atlantic Rainforest remnant in Southern Sergipe: Crasto forest. BIOTA NEOTROPICA, 15(1), 16 pages.
    DOI
    - Matos, I. S., & Landim, M. F. (n.d.). Ecologia morfofuncional de plântulas de 15 espécies da Floresta Atlântica Sergipana. Scientia Plena, 12(9).
    DOI

  • Book Chapters
    Year Citation
    2013 Silveira Matos, I., & Silva Santos, L. A. (2013). Orchidaceae: Habenaria Willd. In A. P. do Nascimento Prata, M. D. C. Estanislau do Amaral, M. C. Vieira Faria, & M. V. Alves (Eds.), Flora de Sergipe (Vol. 1, 1 ed.). Gráfica e Editora Triunfo.

  • Preprint
    Year Citation
    2023 Matos, I., McDonough, S., Johnson, B. C., Kalantar, D., Rohde, J., Sahu, R., . . . Blonder, B. (2023). Leaf conduits grow wider than thicker and are potentially vulnerable to implosion.
    DOI

Global Partnership Engagement Fund, Developing an Australia/UK research alliance to understand tree dieback from extreme heatwaves (GE051-25), University of Adelaide. $9,200 

Environment Institute Research Funding Scheme, University of Adelaide (2025). $14,183 

The Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority Fellowship, Gordon Research Conference and Seminar series (2024). $2,390

The Rufford Foundation Grant 18749-1 (2015-2019): Vulnerability of plant communities to climate change: the role of alternative sources of water and functional diversity in plant response to drought. $15,409

I contribute to teaching in:

Botany 2

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2025 Co-Supervisor Evaluating the resilience of emerging winegrape cultivars in Australian vineyards to multiple abiotic stresses Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Caoyang Wang
    2025 Co-Supervisor An examination of the morphological and physiological response to drought of the Australian genus Acacia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Sumit .
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