Jayne Belnap, Ph.D.
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.
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.
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)
Soil Science Society of America
Professional Experience
NSF Fellow, Assistant, Stanford University
Research Associate, Brigham Young University
Research Biologist, USDI, Moab, Utah
Education and Certifications
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
Science and Products
Combined impacts of current and future dust deposition and regional warming on Colorado River Basin snow dynamics and hydrology
Environmental impacts of utility-scale solar energy
The role of dust storms in total atmospheric particle concentrations at two sites in the western U.S.
Regional signatures of plant response to drought and elevated temperature across a desert ecosystem
Crusts: biological
Some like it hot, some not!
Natural ecosystems
Evaluation of a new model of aeolian transport in the presence of vegetation
Evaporative losses from soils covered by physical and different types of biological soil crusts
Biological soil crusts as an integral component of desert environments
Eco-evolutionary responses of Bromus tectorum to climate change: implications for biological invasions
Dryland soil microbial communities display spatial biogeographic patterns associated with soil depth and soil parent material
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 256
Combined impacts of current and future dust deposition and regional warming on Colorado River Basin snow dynamics and hydrology
The Colorado River provides water to 40 million people in seven western states and two countries and to 5.5 million irrigated acres. The river has long been overallocated. Climate models project runoff losses of 5–20% from the basin by mid-21st century due to human-induced climate change. Recent work has shown that decreased snow albedo from anthropogenic dust loading to the CO mountains shortensAuthorsJeffrey S. Deems, Thomas H. Painter, Joseph J. Barsugli, Jayne Belnap, Bradley UdallEnvironmental impacts of utility-scale solar energy
Renewable energy is a promising alternative to fossil fuel-based energy, but its development can require a complex set of environmental tradeoffs. A recent increase in solar energy systems, especially large, centralized installations, underscores the urgency of understanding their environmental interactions. Synthesizing literature across numerous disciplines, we review direct and indirect environAuthorsR.R. Hernandez, S.B. Easter, M. L. Murphy-Mariscal, F.T. Maestre, M. Tavassoli, E.B. Allen, C.W. Barrows, J. Belnap, R. Ochoa-Hueso, S. Ravi, M.F. AllenThe role of dust storms in total atmospheric particle concentrations at two sites in the western U.S.
Mineral aerosols are produced during the erosion of soils by wind and are a common source of particles (dust) in arid and semiarid regions. The size of these particles varies widely from less than 2 µm to larger particles that can exceed 50 µm in diameter. In this study, we present two continuous records of total suspended particle (TSP) concentrations at sites in Mesa Verde and Canyonlands NationAuthorsJason C. Neff, Richard L. Reynolds, Seth M. Munson, Daniel Fernandez, Jayne BelnapRegional signatures of plant response to drought and elevated temperature across a desert ecosystem
The performance of many desert plant species in North America may decline with the warmer and drier conditions predicted by climate change models, thereby accelerating land degradation and reducing ecosystem productivity. We paired repeat measurements of plant canopy cover with climate at multiple sites across the Chihuahuan Desert over the last century to determine which plant species and functioAuthorsSeth M. Munson, Esteban H. Muldavin, Jayne Belnap, Debra P.C. Peters, John P. Anderson, M. Hildegard Reiser, Kirsten Gallo, Alicia Melgoza-Castillo, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Tim A. ChristiansenCrusts: biological
Biological soil crusts, a community of cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses, and fungi, are an essential part of dryland ecosystems. They are critical in the stabilization of soils, protecting them from wind and water erosion. Similarly, these soil surface communities also stabilized soils on early Earth, allowing vascular plants to establish. They contribute nitrogen and carbon to otherwise relativelyAuthorsJayne BelnapSome like it hot, some not!
Dryland ecosystems cover over 40% of Earth's terrestrial landmass (1). Biocrusts—soil communities consisting of cyanobacteria, mosses, and lichens—can cover up to 70% of the ground in these ecosystems (see the figure, panel A) (2). The crucial role played by these and other very small organisms in nutrient, carbon, and water cycles has become increasingly clear in the past few decades (2, 3). SoilAuthorsJayne BelnapNatural ecosystems
Natural Ecosystems analyzes the association of observed changes in climate with changes in the geographic distributions and phenology (the timing of blossoms or migrations of birds) for Southwestern ecosystems and their species, portraying ecosystem disturbances—such as wildfires and outbreaks of forest pathogens—and carbon storage and release, in relation to climate change.AuthorsErica Fleishman, Jayne Belnap, Neil Cobb, Carolyn A.F. Enquist, Karl Ford, Glen MacDonald, Mike Pellant, Tania Schoennagel, Lara M. Schmit, Mark Schwartz, Suzanne van Drunick, Anthony LeRoy Westerling, Alisa Keyser, Ryan LucasEvaluation of a new model of aeolian transport in the presence of vegetation
Aeolian transport is an important characteristic of many arid and semiarid regions worldwide that affects dust emission and ecosystem processes. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a recent model of aeolian transport in the presence of vegetation. This approach differs from previous models by accounting for how vegetation affects the distribution of shear velocity on the surface rather than mAuthorsJunran Li, Gregory S. Okin, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Jayne Belnap, Mark E. Miller, Kimberly Vest, Amy E. DrautEvaporative losses from soils covered by physical and different types of biological soil crusts
Evaporation of soil moisture is one of the most important processes affecting water availability in semiarid ecosystems. Biological soil crusts, which are widely distributed ground cover in these ecosystems, play a recognized role on water processes. Where they roughen surfaces, water residence time and thus infiltration can be greatly enhanced, whereas their ability to clog soil pores or cap theAuthorsS. Chamizo, Y. Cantón, F. Domingo, J. BelnapBiological soil crusts as an integral component of desert environments
No abstract available.AuthorsJayne Belnap, Bettina WeberEco-evolutionary responses of Bromus tectorum to climate change: implications for biological invasions
How plant populations, communities, and ecosystems respond to climate change is a critical focus in ecology today. The responses of introduced species may be especially rapid. Current models that incorporate temperature and precipitation suggest that future Bromus tectorum invasion risk is low for the Colorado Plateau. With a field warming experiment at two sites in southeastern Utah, we tested thAuthorsTamara J. Zelikova, Ruth A. Hufbauer, Sasha C. Reed, Timothy M. Wertin, Christa Fettig, Jayne BelnapDryland soil microbial communities display spatial biogeographic patterns associated with soil depth and soil parent material
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are common to drylands worldwide. We employed replicated, spatially nested sampling and 16S rRNA gene sequencing to describe the soil microbial communities in three soils derived from different parent material (sandstone, shale, and gypsum). For each soil type, two depths (biocrusts, 0–1 cm; below-crust soils, 2–5 cm) and two horizontal spatial scales (15 cm andAuthorsBlaire Steven, La Verne Gallegos-Graves, Jayne Belnap, Cheryl R. Kuske - News