This recently funded project is in collaboration with David Westion (ORNL), Nate Sanders (UT), Greg Crutsinger (Berkeley) and Lara Souza (UT).

This research is funded by the University of Tennessee Joint Directed Research and Development program

Developing a systems biology approach for linking genetic and environmental constraints to primary productivity

Little is known about how changes in the amount and type of root exudate might alter the function of the associated soil microbial community. In a project lead by Marie-Anne de Graaff and Chris Schadt (ORNL), we are investigating specific linkages between microbial diversity and function, and root exudates.

The role of root exudation and rhizosphere microbial community structure and function in regulating ecosystem carbon flow 

In collaboration with Aaron Ellison (Harvard), Nick Gotelli (UVt), and Nate Sanders (UT), we established an experiment to determine if observed changes in ecosystem processes can be accounted for directly by changes in faunal biodiversity, or if there is there a unique interaction between the loss of Hemlock trees and the compositional shifts in associated faunal assemblages.

The role of foundation species and faunal biodiversity in ecosystem structure and function

Climate change in pinyon-juniper woodlands

On a project lead by Melissa Cregger, we are collaborating with Nate McDowell (LANL) and Will Pockman (UNM) on a project at the Sevilleta LTER investigating how soil bacterial and fungal communities respond to experimental changes in precipitation and how they may also influence nutrient cycling and woodland transitions.

What controls fungal communities in decomposing logs?

On a project lead by Emily Austin, we are collaborating with Chris Schadt (ORNL) on a project investigating what factors structure lignocellulolytic fungal communities and how changes in those communities alter wood decomposition rates.

Bridging the gaps in soil carbon and nitrogen cycling: soil microbes as predictors of global climate change?

In collaboration with Alison Buchan and Jennifer Schweitzer (UT), we are examining the relationship between microbial functional gene expression and the processes of carbon and nitrogen cycling in soil.

This research is funded by the Microbiology across Campuses Educational and Research Venture (M-CERV) at UT

Ongoing research in our lab investigates how insect infestation alters the nitrogen and carbon budget of ecosystems. Long-term studies have identified trees that are resistant and susceptible to each herbivore, and because resistance to herbivory has a genetic component, the potential exists for linking population-level variation in plant genetics to key ecosystem processes. We collaborate on this project with Samantha Chapman (Villanova), Tom Whitham (NAU), Steve Hart (UC Merced), and George Koch (NAU).

Herbivore susceptibility and resistance effects on ecosystems

Parasitic plants in CO meadows

In collaboration with Jennifer Schweitzer and Jean-Louis Martin we are investigating the impacts of deer herbivory on the ecosystem function of Islands.

Deer herbivory in the Queen Charlotte Islands

Ant impacts on communities and ecosystems

Effects of small mammal populations on old-field ecosystem function

In collaboration with Chris Habeck, Rick Lindroth (UWI), and Richard Norby (ORNL), we aim to understand how small mammal activity influences the structure, function, and trajectory of a transitional ecosystem.