Ecosystem Succession and Nutrient Retention: Vitousek and Reiners' Hypothesis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116356/1/bes22014953234.pd

Dispersal limitation structures fungal community assembly in a long‐term glacial chronosequence

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107360/1/emi12281.pd

Ectomycorrhizal fungi and the enzymatic liberation of nitrogen from soil organic matter: why evolutionary history matters

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139921/1/nph14598.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139921/2/nph14598_am.pd

Soil microbial communities are shaped by plant‐driven changes in resource availability during secondary succession

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116975/1/ecy201596123374.pd

Initial colonization, community assembly and ecosystem function: fungal colonist traits and litter biochemistry mediate decay rate

Priority effects are an important ecological force shaping biotic communities and ecosystem processes, in which the establishment of early colonists alters the colonization success of later‐arriving organisms via competitive exclusion and habitat modification. However, we do not understand which biotic and abiotic conditions lead to strong priority effects and lasting historical contingencies. Using saprotrophic fungi in a model leaf decomposition system, we investigated whether compositional and functional consequences of initial colonization were dependent on initial colonizer traits, resource availability or a combination thereof. To test these ideas, we factorially manipulated leaf litter biochemistry and initial fungal colonist identity, quantifying subsequent community composition, using neutral genetic markers, and community functional characteristics, including enzyme potential and leaf decay rates. During the first 3 months, initial colonist respiration rate and physiological capacity to degrade plant detritus were significant determinants of fungal community composition and leaf decay, indicating that rapid growth and lignolytic potential of early colonists contributed to altered trajectories of community assembly. Further, initial colonization on oak leaves generated increasingly divergent trajectories of fungal community composition and enzyme potential, indicating stronger initial colonizer effects on energy‐poor substrates. Together, these observations provide evidence that initial colonization effects, and subsequent consequences on litter decay, are dependent upon substrate biochemistry and physiological traits within a regional species pool. Because microbial decay of plant detritus is important to global C storage, our results demonstrate that understanding the mechanisms by which initial conditions alter priority effects during community assembly may be key to understanding the drivers of ecosystem‐level processes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113681/1/mec13361.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113681/2/mec13361_am.pd

Chronic nitrogen deposition alters the structure and function of detrital food webs in a northern hardwood ecosystem

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116377/1/eap20132361311.pd

Dispersal limitation and the assembly of soil Actinobacteria communities in a long‐term chronosequence

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90536/1/ECE3_210_sm_suppmat.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90536/2/ece3.210.pd

Atmospheric Co2 And O3 Alter The Flow Of 15n In Developing Forest Ecosystems

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116984/1/ecy200788102630.pd

Phosphorus Efficiency Of Bornean Rain Forest Productivity: Evidence Against The Unimodal Efficiency Hypothesis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117012/1/ecy20058661548.pd

Plant species richness, elevated CO 2 , and atmospheric nitrogen deposition alter soil microbial community composition and function

We determined soil microbial community composition and function in a field experiment in which plant communities of increasing species richness were exposed to factorial elevated CO 2 and nitrogen (N) deposition treatments. Because elevated CO 2 and N deposition increased plant productivity to a greater extent in more diverse plant assemblages, it is plausible that heterotrophic microbial communities would experience greater substrate availability, potentially increasing microbial activity, and accelerating soil carbon (C) and N cycling. We, therefore, hypothesized that the response of microbial communities to elevated CO 2 and N deposition is contingent on the species richness of plant communities. Microbial community composition was determined by phospholipid fatty acid analysis, and function was measured using the activity of key extracellular enzymes involved in litter decomposition. Higher plant species richness, as a main effect, fostered greater microbial biomass, cellulolytic and chitinolytic capacity, as well as the abundance of saprophytic and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Moreover, the effect of plant species richness on microbial communities was significantly modified by elevated CO 2 and N deposition. For instance, microbial biomass and fungal abundance increased with greater species richness, but only under combinations of elevated CO 2 and ambient N, or ambient CO 2 and N deposition. Cellobiohydrolase activity increased with higher plant species richness, and this trend was amplified by elevated CO 2 . In most cases, the effect of plant species richness remained significant even after accounting for the influence of plant biomass. Taken together, our results demonstrate that plant species richness can directly regulate microbial activity and community composition, and that plant species richness is a significant determinant of microbial response to elevated CO 2 and N deposition. The strong positive effect of plant species richness on cellulolytic capacity and microbial biomass indicate that the rates of soil C cycling may decline with decreasing plant species richness.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72693/1/j.1365-2486.2007.01313.x.pd