Beth A Middleton, Ph. D.
Beth Middleton is a Research Ecologist at the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.
Wetland function may be altered in the future because of dynamic shifts in droughts, water extraction, water fluctuation, salinity intrusion, CO2 levels, and storm intensity. Populations of species can be extirpated especially by drought, and tree mortality is especially common at the edges of species diestribution ranges during drought. Beth Middleton examines patterns of ecosystem function along latitudinal gradients in baldcypress swamps, monsoonal wetlands, mangrove swamps, northern peatleands, prairie fens, and floodplain wetlands. She has organized symposia, written three books, and edited three special journal volumes, which support multidisciplinary comparisons and research analysis of wetland function. Other research topics include the effects of hurricanes on coastal wetlands, flood pulsing in restoration, and biodiversity loss in fens of Europe, Asia and North America. Middleton maintains a research network of baldcypress swamps (North American Baldcypress Swamp Network) and invites other researchers to work in these study sites dedicated to the study of long term function of swamps in the southeastern US.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Botany, Iowa State University, 1989
Advisors: van der Valk/DavisM.S., University of Minnesota Duluth, 1983
B.S., University of Wisconsin Madison, 1978
Science and Products
Foreword: Hurricanes and the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
Seed flotation and germination of salt marsh plants: The effects of stratification, salinity, and/or inundation regime
Seed dispersal and seedling emergence in a created and a natural salt marsh on the Gulf of Mexico coast in Southwest Louisiana, U.S.A
Satellite optical and radar data used to track wetland forest impact and short-term recovery from Hurricane Katrina
Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the forest structure of taxodium distichum swamps of the Gulf Coast, USA
Regeneration of coastal marsh vegetation impacted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Regeneration potential of Taxodium distichum swamps and climate change
Landscape pattern of seed banks and anthropogenic impacts in forested wetlands of the northern Mississippi River Alluvial Valley
Characteristics of mangrove swamps managed for mosquito control in eastern Florida, USA
Temperate freshwater wetlands: Response to gradients in moisture regime, human alterations and economic status
Fen management and research perspectives: An overview
Non-USGS Publications**
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-100X.1995.tb00099.x/abstract
www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2559700.pdf OR www.journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5248088
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Foreword: Hurricanes and the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
Seed flotation and germination of salt marsh plants: The effects of stratification, salinity, and/or inundation regime
Seed dispersal and seedling emergence in a created and a natural salt marsh on the Gulf of Mexico coast in Southwest Louisiana, U.S.A
Satellite optical and radar data used to track wetland forest impact and short-term recovery from Hurricane Katrina
Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the forest structure of taxodium distichum swamps of the Gulf Coast, USA
Regeneration of coastal marsh vegetation impacted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Regeneration potential of Taxodium distichum swamps and climate change
Landscape pattern of seed banks and anthropogenic impacts in forested wetlands of the northern Mississippi River Alluvial Valley
Characteristics of mangrove swamps managed for mosquito control in eastern Florida, USA
Temperate freshwater wetlands: Response to gradients in moisture regime, human alterations and economic status
Fen management and research perspectives: An overview
Non-USGS Publications**
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-100X.1995.tb00099.x/abstract
www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2559700.pdf OR www.journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5248088
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.