Human alteration of natural landscapes leads to biodiversity loss, often from a combination of area effects and fragmentation effects. Smaller habitat patches support fewer species than large ones and incur additional consequences from isolation. Efforts to preempt biodiversity loss from insular habitat fragments are complicated by individualistic species responses and...
National Forest management in the Pacific Northwest is shifting
from a focus on commodity production to ecosystem management, in which
the health of the entire forest ecosystem is considered, rather than that
of a few key species. Ecosystem management includes retention of some
live trees following timber harvest (green-tree retention)...
Mat-forming ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungi represent a prevalent constituent of many temperate forest ecosystems and create dramatic changes in soil structure and chemistry. EcM mat soil have been shown to have increased microbial respiration rates and have been hypothesized to harbor unique assemblages of fungi and bacteria. The objectives of this...
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Joseph W. Spatafora
Mat-forming ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungi represent a prevalent
Fire is a fundamental disturbance that drives terrestrial and atmospheric carbon dynamics. Previous studies have quantified fire effects on carbon cycling from local to global scales but have focused nearly exclusively on high-severity, stand-replacement fire. Since 2002, variable-severity wildfires have burned more than 65 000 ha across the east slope...
The vast majority of terrestrial plant species live in symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). AMF and plants live in complex networks, with roots of individual plants hosting multiple AMF, and single AMF colonizing multiple plants concurrently. Through the exchange of resources, the two partners of this symbiosis can have...
Over recent decades, the marine ecosystems of Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska have experienced the concurrent effects of a major anthropogenic disturbance, the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS), and a dynamic atmospheric-oceanic environment. Studies of top marine consumers can provide insights into processes of ecosystem change. Using data collected...
For tuberizing crops like potato (Solanum tuberosum), the geocaulosphere, or the zone of soil in contact with and influenced by the tuber, is a distinct sphere of microbial life and represents an important interface between the potato crop and the soil environment. Upon potato harvest, specific geocaulosphere soil called tare...
Changes in ocean conditions influenced by climatic fluctuations have lead to changes in individual species distributions, which alter the diversity, communities and species interactions across marine ecosystems worldwide. Assessing the species composition and identifying regions and habitats that can safeguard the persistence of biota are critically important. In this dissertation,...