Kristen Manies

Kristen's research explores how disturbance affects the global carbon cycle.  Carbon enters soil from dead plant material and exits the soil through decomposition and root respiration. The amount of carbon stored in soil is the sum of these inputs minus the sum of loses. Understanding what controls this balance is important because 1) there is nearly three times the amount of carbon in soils than in the atmosphere, so changes in soil carbon storage can have large impacts on the amount of atmospheric carbon, and 2) soil carbon is tied to soil health.

For most of her career Kristen has been focused on the carbon cycle of the boreal region of Interior Alaska and Canada. Boreal soils are known carbon sinks, meaning that more carbon enters than leaves the soil. However, boreal regions are experiencing a great deal of warming due to climate change. This warming is causing more and higher intensity fires. It is also thawing the permafrost, or frozen soil, that underlies much of the boreal region. These disturbances have the potential to impact not just the amount of carbon entering and leaving the soil, but also the way carbon moves through these ecosystems and rates of this movement. Kristen's research looks for these changes.

Non-USGS Partners:

• NASA-Ames
• NASA-JPL
• University of Alaska
• Fairbanks 
• Bonanza Creek LTER