Jayne Belnap
Over the past 30 years, Dr. Belnap’s work has focused on dryland and rangeland ecosystems. Because many types of land uses can reduce the fertility and stability of these ecosystems, her research focus on how these lands can be managed sustainably. Specifically, her work highlights the central role biological soil crusts play in dryland ecosystems.
Biography
She has also been actively engaged in studies on how climate change will affect drylands ecosystems and in developing adaptation options for people using and managing these lands. Dr. Belnap has been involved in many creative, successful, and cost-effective restoration efforts aimed at reducing soil erosion and restoring plant productivity using local materials and labor. Her research efforts have been conducted around the world, including Iceland, Australia, China, Mongolia, Antarctica, the western U.S., Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. She has led many large interdisciplinary teams and excels at bringing people together, having published over 260 peer-reviewed articles and has had over 300 collaborators during her career. She travels extensively throughout the world, training federal, state, and private land managers/pastoralists on best management practices for dryland ecosystems. She has served on National Academy panels and participates in many other professional capacities as well. In 2008, she was recognized by the ESA as one of the most outstanding ecologists in the United States. In 2010 and 2013, she received awards as one of the outstanding women in science award from the US Department of Interior. In 2015, she was elected a Fellow of ESA.
Education
B.A. Biology, U California, Santa Cruz 1980
B.A. Natural History, U California, Santa Cruz 1980
M.S. Ecology, Stanford University 1983
Ph.D. Botany, Brigham Young University 1991
Professional Experience
NSF Fellow, Assistant, Stanford University, 9/80-1/84
Research Associate, Brigham Young University, 1/84-3/87
Research Biologist, USDI, Moab, Utah, 9/88-present
Membership/Participation in Professional Societies
American Bryological and Lichenological Society
American Institute for Biological Sciences
Ecological Society of America (past Chair, Soil Ecology Section)
Ecological Society of America Governing Board
Soil Ecology Society (past President)
Science and Products
Drylands are highly vulnerable to climate and land use changes: what ecosystem changes are in store?
Improper land use during drought has been a major driver of land degradation in drylands globally, especially in the western U.S. Increasing aridity in western U.S. drylands under future climates will exacerbate risks associated with drought and land use decisions. This project provides critical observational, experimental, and modelling evidence to support our DOI partners with decision...
Wind Erosion and Dust Emissions on the Colorado Plateau
Wind erosion of soils and dust emissions are a significant resource management challenge on the Colorado Plateau. Loss of topsoil and associated aeolian sediment (wind-driven sediment) movement can lead to reduced soil fertility as well as abrasion and burial of vegetation. Dust in the atmosphere poses a threat to human health, visual resources, and regional water supplies (due to interactions...
Long-Term Vegetation Change on the Colorado Plateau
Drylands comprise ~35% of Earth’s terrestrial biomes, with over 1 billion people depending on these landscapes for their livelihoods. In the U.S., drylands comprise ~40% of the landmass and 83% of Department of Interior (DOI)-managed lands (excluding Alaska). Due to their vast extent nationally and globally, changes to these landscapes have the potential to affect global climate regulation. A...
Southwest Energy Development and Drought (SWEDD)
Deserts of the southwestern US are replete with oil and gas deposits as well as sites for solar, wind, and geothermal energy production. In the past, many of these resources have been too expensive to develop, but increased demand and new technologies have led to an increase in exploration and development. However, desert ecosystems generally have low resilience to disturbance. More frequent,...
Chronic Drought Impacts on Colorado Plateau ecosystems (Rain-Out Experiment)
In drylands, chronic reductions in water availability (press-drought) through reduced precipitation and increased temperatures may have profound ecosystem effects, depending on the sensitivities of the dominant plants and plant functional types. In this study, we are examining the impacts of moderate, but long-term chronic drought using a network of 40 drought shelters on the Colorado Plateau...
Completing the dryland puzzle: creating a predictive framework for biological soil crust function and response to climate change
Drylands are integral to the Earth system and the present and future of human society. Drylands encompass more than 40% of the terrestrial landmass and support 34% of the world’s human population. Biocrusts are the “living skin” of Earth’s drylands, sometimes dominating the ground cover and figuring prominently in ecosystem structure and function. Biocrusts are a biological aggregate of...
Evidence for shifts in plant species diversity along N deposition gradients: a first synthesis for the United States
The impacts of nitrogen (N) deposition on plant diversity loss have been well documented across N deposition gradients in Europe, but much less so in the U.S. Published N fertilizer studies suggest losses will occur in the US, but many of these were done at levels of N input that were higher than modeled and measured N deposition, and higher than presumed N critical loads. The recent...
Climate change and ecohydrology in temperate dryland ecosystems: a global assessment
Water cycling and availability exert dominant control over ecological processes and the sustainability of ecosystem services in water - limited ecosystems. Consequently, dryland ecosystems have the potential to be dramatically impacted by hydrologic alterations emerging from global change, notably increasing temperature and altered precipitation patterns. In addition, the possibility of...
What could explain δ13C signatures in biocrust cyanobacteria of drylands?
Dryland ecosystems are increasing in geographic extent and contribute greatly to interannual variability in global carbon dynamics. Disentangling interactions among dominant primary producers, including plants and autotrophic microbes, can help partition their contributions to dryland C dynamics. We measured the δ13C signatures of biological soil...
Stricker, Eva; Cain, Grace; Rudgers, Jennifer A.; Sinsabaugh, Robert L; Fernandes, Vanessa; Nelson, Corey; Giraldo Silva, Ana; Garcia-Pichel, Ferran; Belnap, Jayne; Darrouzet-Nardi, Anthony Riparian plant communities remain stable in response to a second cycle of Tamarix biocontrol defoliation
Reduced abundance of non-native Tamarix shrubs in western U.S. riparian systems following biological control by a defoliating beetle has led to concerns that replacement plant communities could be dominated by other invasive species and/or not provide some of the ecosystem services that Tamarix was providing. In previous...
Eduardo Gonzalez; Shafroth, Patrick B.; Lee, Steven R.; Reed, Sasha; Belnap, Jayne The pervasive and multifaceted influence of biocrusts on water in the world’s drylands
The capture and use of water are critically important in drylands, which collectively constitute Earth's largest biome. Drylands will likely experience lower and more unreliable rainfall as climatic conditions change over the next century. Dryland soils support a rich community of microphytic organisms (biocrusts), which are critically important...
Eldridge, David J.; Reed, Sasha; Travers, Samantha K.; Bowker, Matthew A.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Ding, Jingyi; Havrilla, Caroline Ann; Rodriguez-Caballero, Emilio; Barger, Nichole N.; Weber, Bettina; Antoninka, Anita; Belnap, Jayne; Chaudhary, Bala V.; Faist, Akasha M.; Ferrenberg, Scott; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Issa, Oumarou M; Zhao, Y. Seasonal and individual event-responsiveness are key determinants of carbon exchange across plant functional types
Differentiation in physiological activity is a critical component of resource partitioning in resource-limited environments. For example, it is crucial to understand how plant physiological performance varies through time for different functional groups to forecast how terrestrial ecosystems will respond to change. Here, we tracked the seasonal...
Winkler, Daniel E.; Belnap, Jayne; Duniway, Michael C.; Hoover, David; Reed, Sasha; Yokum, Hannah; Gill, Richard Comment on 'Kidron (2018): Biocrust research: A critical view on eight common hydrological‐related paradigms and dubious theses. Ecohydrology, e2061'
Kidron (2018) uses a straw man argument in an attempt to debunk eight putative hydrological‐related paradigms he believes to be “common among hydrologists, ecologists, or microbiologists that investigate biocrusts.” These paradigms relate to the roles of physical crusts and vascular plants in biocrust development, the major drivers (climate,...
Felde, Vincent J. M. N. L.; Rodriguez-Caballero, Emilio; Chamizo, Sonia; Rossi, Federico; Uteau, Daniel; Peth, Stephen; Keck, Hannes; de Philippis, Roberto; Belnap, Jayne; Eldridge, David J.
Using information from global climate models to inform policymaking—The role of the U.S. Geological Survey
This report provides an overview of model-based climate science in a risk management context. In addition, it summarizes how the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will continue to follow best scientific practices and when and how the results of this research will be delivered to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other stakeholders to...
Terando, Adam; Reidmiller, David; Hostetler, Steven W.; Littell, Jeremy S.; Beard, T. Douglas; Weiskopf, Sarah R.; Belnap, Jayne; Plumlee, Geoffrey S. Practices of biological soil crust rehabilitation in China: Experiences and challenges
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are a central component of dryland ecosystems. However, they are highly vulnerable to disturbance and natural recovery may be slow. Therefore, finding ways to enhance the reestablishment of biocrusts after disturbance has been of great interest to researchers. This article provides a review of the laboratory...
Zhou, Xiaobing; Zhao, Yunge; Belnap, Jayne; Zhang, Bingchang; Bu, Chongfeng; Zhang, Yuanming Inoculation and habitat amelioration efforts in biological soil crust recovery vary by desert and soil texture
As dryland degradation continues, it is increasingly important to understand how to effectively restore biocrust communities. Potential techniques include the addition of biocrust inoculum to accelerate biocrust recovery. Enhanced erosion typical of degraded environments creates a challenge for these approaches, due to loss by wind or water and...
Faist, Akasha M.; Antoninka, Anita J.; Belnap, Jayne; Bowker, Matthew A.; Duniway, Michael C.; Garcia-Pichel, Ferran; Nelson, Corey; Reed, Sasha C.; Giraldo Silva, Ana; Velasco-Ayuso, Sergio; Barger, Nichole N. Grazing-induced changes to biological soil crust cover mediate hillslope erosion in a long-term exclosure experiment
Dryland ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to erosion generated by livestock grazing. Quantifying this risk across a variety of landscape settings is essential for successful adaptive management, particularly in light of a changing climate. In the Upper Colorado River Basin, there are nearly 25 000 km2 of rangelands with underlying soils...
Fick, Stephen E.; Belnap, Jayne; Duniway, Michael C. Addressing barriers to improve biocrust colonization and establishment in dryland restoration
Methods to reduce soil loss and associated loss of ecosystem functions due to land degradation are of particular importance in dryland ecosystems. Biocrusts are communities of cyanobacteria, lichens, and bryophytes that are vulnerable to soil disturbance, but provide vital ecosystem functions when present. Biocrusts stabilize soil, improve...
Antoninka, Anita; Bowker, Matthew A.; Barger, Nichole N.; Belnap, Jayne; Giraldo Silva, Ana; Reed, Sasha; Garcia-Pichel, Ferran; Duniway, Michael C. Towards a predictive framework for biocrust mediation of plant performance: A meta‐analysis
Understanding the importance of biotic interactions in driving the distribution and abundance of species is a central goal of plant ecology. Early vascular plants likely colonized land occupied by biocrusts — photoautotrophic, surface‐dwelling soil communities comprised of cyanobacteria, bryophytes, lichens and fungi — suggesting biotic...
Havrilla, Caroline A.; Chaudhary, Bala V.; Ferrenberg, Scott; Antoninka, Anita J.; Belnap, Jayne; Bowker, Matthew A.; Eldridge, David J.; Faist, Akasha M.; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Leslie, Alexander D.; Rodriguez-Caballero, Emilio; Zhang, Yuanming; Barger, Nichole N. Manufacturing simple and inexpensive soil surface temperature and gravimetric water content sensors
Quantifying temperature and moisture at the soil surface is essential for understanding how soil surface biota respond to changes in the environment. However, at the soil surface these variables are highly dynamic and standard sensors do not explicitly measure temperature or moisture in the upper few millimeters of the soil profile. This paper...
Howell, Armin J.; Tucker, Colin; Grote, Edmund E.; Veste, Maik; Belnap, Jayne; Kast, Gerhard; Weber, Bettina; Reed, Sasha C.
Plant responses to drought on the Colorado Plateau
This article is part of the Spring 2016 issue of the Earth Science Matters Newsletter.