Sullivan, B.W., Alvarez-Clare, S., Castle, S.C., Porder, S., Reed, S.C., Schreeg, L., Townsend, A.R. and Cleveland, C.C., 2014. Assessing nutrient limitation in complex forested ecosystems: alternatives to large‐scale fertilization experiments. Ecology, 95(3), pp.668-681.
Sasha C Reed, Ph.D.
Dr. Sasha Reed is an ecologist focused on understanding how our planet's ecosystems work and what factors determine the services they provide. The study sites and methods Sasha uses are diverse, and with each of her projects she strives to provide scientific information that helps our nation address challenges, solve problems, and maximize opportunities.
Biography
Sasha seeks to provide useful information for land managers, policy-makers, and the general public. Sasha uses both basic and applied scientific approaches to improve our understanding of the fundamental controls over ecosystems, to determine how these systems respond to change, and to explore solutions for addressing relevant problems. Sasha works closely with a range of collaborators - including federal agency partners (BLM, NPS, DOE, DoD, BIA, USFS, USFWS) - in designing research studies, conducting information and technology transfer, and performing outreach activities. Some of her primary research interests include understanding how drought and increasing temperatures affect ecosystems, exploring a diversity of energy options for meeting national demand, assessing the consequences of exotic plant invasion and ways to combat them, and establishing novel management options for increased effectiveness and efficiency in restoration and reclamation. Sasha attempts to conduct research that is innovative, collaborative, and useful.
Some of Sasha's current projects are:
Managing for healthy riparian zones: Improving our understanding of tamarisk invasion and biocontrol
Education
Ph.D. in Biogeochemistry, the University of Colorado at Boulder (August 2002-May 2008)
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Institute of Arctic & Alpine Research (INSTAAR), Boulder, CO.
Co-advised by Alan R. Townsend and Steve K. Schmidt.
B.A. in Organic Chemistry, Colgate University (August 1993-May 1997)
Department of Chemistry, Hamilton, NY. Graduated magna cum laude.
Advised by David A. Modarelli.
Professional Experience
Research Ecologist, USGS, Moab, UT, May 2008-present.
Research Ecologist, USGS-SCEP Program, Moab, UT, 2005-2007 summers only.
Fellow, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Awarded April 2003; deferred until September 2005-May 2008.
Fellow, NSF IGERT Fellowship, Carbon Climate and Society Initiative (CCSI). August 2003-August 2005.
Honors and Fellowships
Elected Member-At-Large, Ecological Society of America (ESA). Elected by the members of the ESA to help lead the Society. August 2020-August 2022.
Ecological Society of America (ESA) Early Career Fellow. ESA nominates and selects early career fellows for making and showing promise of continuing to make outstanding contributions to the ecological sciences. March 2016.
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers in the early stages of their research careers. October 2011.
Star Award, received for outstanding work with the Department of the Interior. October 2010, May 2000.
Graduate Student Research and Creative Works Award, University of Colorado at Boulder. One of two of the University’s graduating Ph.D. students whose dissertation was selected by faculty members from all disciplines as representing outstanding research and creative work. May 2008.
USGS Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) Fellowship. Supported in creating a research project to model how soil gas fluxes in dryland ecosystems will vary under altered climate regimes. June-August of 2006 & 2007.
Student Policy Award, Ecological Society of America (ESA). Graduate student chosen and funded by ESA to meet with members of Congress regarding national scientific funding. September 2006.
AAAS Program for Excellence in Science. Nominated by the University of Colorado Vice Chancellor of Research to participate in a program rewarding praiseworthy graduate students working in the life sciences. August 2006.
Lawrence Award, awarded to one student annually for superior performance in organic chemistry. April 1996.
Phi Ea Sigma University Honor Society Awarded Membership, chosen for academic excellence. April 1994-May 1997.
Phi Eta Sigma Aid Committee Selected Board Member, elected for superior research to a board that selected student grant applications for funding. September 1995-May 1997.
Barry Goldwater Award Nominee, nationally nominated by Colgate University for academic distinction. November 1994.
PUBLICATIONS (for a most current list, please see Sasha's google scholar page).
If you can't access any of the papers below using the links, please email Sasha and she would be delighed to send you a copy.
*=USGS technician author, ¢=student author, ¥=post-doc author
2020
¢Carter, KR, TE Wood, SC Reed, EC Schwartz, MB Reinsel, X Yang, M Cavaleri (2020) Photosynthetic and respiratory acclimation of understory shrubs in response to in situ experimental warming of a wet tropical forest. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 3: 114.
2019
¥Winkler, DE, C Grossiord, J Belnap, *A Howell, S Ferrenberg, *H Smith, Reed, SC (In Press) Earlier plant growth helps compensate for reduced carbon fixation after 13 years of warming. Functonal Ecology 33: 2071-2080. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13432. Read about Daniel Winkler's nomination for the Haldane Prize for this exciting paper HERE!
2018
2017
¥Ferrenberg, S, SC Reed (2017) Biocrust ecology: unifying micro- and macro-scales to confront global change. New Phytologist 216: 643-646.
Clark, D, ¥S Asao, R Fisher, SC Reed, PB Reich, MG Ryan, TE Wood, X Yang (2017) Field data to benchmark the carbon-cycle models for tropical forests. Biogeosciences 14: 4663.
¥Tucker, CL, ¥TA McHugh, *A Howell, R Gill, B Weber, J Belnap, E Grote, SC Reed (2017) The concurrent use of novel soil surface microclimate measurements to evaluate CO2 pulses in biocrusted interspaces in a cool desert ecosystem. Biogeochemistry 135: 239-249.
¢Schwabedissen, SG, KA Lohse, SC Reed, KA Aho, TS Magnuson (2017) Nitrogenase activity by biological soil crusts in cold sagebrush steppe ecosystems. Biogeochemistry 134: 57-76.
¢Whitney, KM, ER Vivoni, MC Duniway, JB Bradford, SC Reed, J Belnap (2017) Ecohydrological role of biological soil crusts across a gradient in levels of development. Ecohydrology 10: e1875.
Lu, XT, SC Reed, SL Hou, YY Hu, HW Wei, FM Lu, Q Cui, XG Han (2017) Temporal variability of foliar nutrients: responses to nitrogen deposition and prescribed fire in a temperate steppe. Biogeochemistry 133: 295-305.
Jenni KE, MB Goldhaber, JL Betancourt, JS Baron, RS Bristol, M Cantrill, PE Exter, MJ Focazio, JW Haines, LE Hay, L Hsu, VF Labson, KD Lafferty, KA Ludwig, PC Milly, TL Morelli, SA Morman, NT Nassar, TR Newman, AC Ostroff, JS Read, SC Reed, CD Shapiro, RA Smith, WE Sanford, TL Sohl, EG Stets, AJ Terando, DE Tillitt, MA Tischler, PL Toccalino, DJ Wald, MP Waldrop, A Wein, JF Weltzin, CE Zimmerman (2017) Grand Challenges for Integrated USGS Science – A workshop Reprot. USGS Open File Report.
¢Chung, YA, RL Sinsabaugh, CK Kuske, SC Reed, JA Rudgers (2017). Spatial variation in edaphic characteristics is a stronger control than nitrogen inputs in regulating soil microbial effects on a desert grass. Journal of Arid Environments 142: 59-65.
*Rutherford, WA, TH Painter, ¥S Ferrenberg, J Belnap, GS Okin, *C Flagg, SC Reed (2017). Albedo feedbacks to future climate via climate change impacts on dryland biocrusts. Scientific Reports 7.
Steven, B, TA McHugh, SC Reed (2017). The response of arid soils to climate change. In: (Ed: Steven, B) Life in Extreme Environments: The Biology of Arid Soils.
¥Ferrenberg, S, ¥C Tucker, SC Reed (2017). Biological soil crusts: diminutive communities of potential global importance. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 15: 160-167.
¥McHugh, T, EM Morrissey, ¥R Mueller, L Gallegos-Graves, C Kuske, SC Reed (2017). Bacterial, fungal, and plant communities exhibit no biomass or compositional response to two years of simulated nitrogen deposition in a semiarid grassland. Environmental Microbiology 19: 1600-1611.
*Young, K, SC Reed (2017) Spectrally monitoring the response of biocrust moss Syntrichia caninervis to altered precipitation regimes. Scientific Reports 7.
Reed, SC (2017). Disentangling the complexities of how legumes and their symbionts regulate plant nitrogen access and storage. New Phytologist 213: 478-480.
¥Wertin, TM, J Belnap, SC Reed (2017). Experimental warming in a dryland community reduced plant photosynthesis and soil CO2 efflux although the relationship between the fluxes remained unchanged. Functional Ecology 2: 297-305.
2016
Reed, SC, TE Wood (2016). Soil phosphorus cycling in tropical soils: an Ultisol and Oxisol perspective. In: Lal, R., B.A. Stewart. Soil Phosphorus. Advances in Soil Science. Taylor and Francis Books.
¥Sherry, RA, PB Shafroth, J Belnap, S Ostoja, SC Reed (2016). Germination and growth of native and invasive plants on soil associated with biological control of tamarisk (Tamarix spp.). Invasive Plant Science and Management 9: 290-307.
¥Tucker CL, SC Reed (2016). Low soil moisture during hot periods drives apparent negative temperature sensitivity of soil respiration in a dryland ecosystem: a multi-model comparison. Biogeochemistry 128: 155-169.
¥Stocker, BD, IC Prentice, SE Cornell, T Davies-Barnard, AC Finzi, O Franklin, I Janssens, T Larmola, S Manzoni, T Nasholm, JA Raven, KT Rebel, SC Reed, S Vicca A Wiltshire, S Zaehle (2016). Terrestrial nitrogen cycling in Earth system models revisited." New Phytologist 210: 1165-1168.
¥Antoninka, A, MA Bowker, SC Reed, ¢K Doherty. (2016). Production of greenhouse-grown biocrust mosses and associated cyanobacteria to rehabilitate dryland soil function. Restoration Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/rec.12311.
Reed, SC, FT Maestre, R Ochoa-Hueso, CR Kuske, ¥A Darrouzet-Nardi, M Oliver, B Darby, LG Sancho, RL Sinsabaugh, J Belnap (2016) Biocrusts in the Context of Global Change. In: Belnap, J, B Webber, B Budel. Biological Soil Crusts: Structure, Function, and Management.
Metcalf, JL, ZZ Xu, S Weiss, S Lax, W Van Treuren, ER Hyde, SJ Song, A Amir, P Larsen, N Sangwan, D Haarmann, GC Humphrey, G Ackermann, LR Thompson, C Lauber, A Bibat, C Nicholas, MJ Gebert, JF Petrosino, SC Reed, JA Gilbert, AM Lynne, SR Bucheli, DO Carter, R Knight. (2016). Microbial community assembly and metabolic function during mammalian corpse decomposition. Science 351: 158-162.
Lü, XT, SC Reed, Q Yu, XG Han (2016) Nutrient resorption helps drive intra-specific coupling of foliar nitrogen and phosphorus under nutrient-enriched conditions. Plant and Soil: 1-10: doi:10. 1007/ s11104-015-2642-y.
¥Smith, WK, SC Reed, CC Cleveland, AP Ballantyne, WRL Anderegg, WR Wieder, YY Liu, SW Running. (2016). Large divergence of satellite and Earth system model estimates of global terrestrial CO2 fertilization. Nature Climate Change doi:10.1038/nclimate2879.
2015
¥Darrouzet-Nardi, A, SC Reed, EE Grote, J Belnap. (2015). Observations of net soil exchange of CO2 in a dryland show experimental warming increases carbon losses in biocrust soils. Biogeochemistry 126: 363-378.
¥Steven, B, CR Kuske, SC Reed, J Belnap (2015) Climate change and physical disturbance result in distinct biological soil crust communities. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 81: 7448-7459.
Reed, SC, X Yang, PE Thornton (2015) Incorporating phosphorus cycling in global modeling efforts: a worthwhile, tractable endeavor. New Phytologist. 208: 324-329.
¥Ferrenberg, S, SC Reed, J, Belnap (2015) Climate change and physical disturbance cause similar community shifts in biological soil crusts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112: 12116-12121.
Cavaleri, MA, SC Reed, ¥WK Smith, TE Wood (2015) Urgent need for warming experiments in tropical forests. Global Change Biology. 21: 2111-2121.
¥Wertin, T, SC Reed, J Belnap (2015). C3 and C4 plant responses to increased temperatures and altered monsoonal precipitation in a cool desert on the Colorado Plateau, USA. Oecologia 177: 997-1013.
¥McHugh, T, EM Morrissey, SC Reed, BA Hungate, E Schwartz (2015) Water from air: an overlooked source of moisture in arid and semiarid regions. Scientific Reports 5: 13767.
2014
Hiltbrünner, E, R Aerts, T Bühlmann, K Huss-Danell, B Magnusson, DD Myrold, SC Reed, BD Sigurdsson, C Körner (2014) Ecological consequences of the expansion of N2-fixing plants into cold biomes. Oecologia 176: 11-24.
¥Sullivan, BW, ¥S Alvarez-Clare, ¢SC Castle, S Porder, SC Reed, ¥L Schreeg, AR Townsend, CC Cleveland (2014) Assessing nutrient limitation in complex forested ecosystems: alternatives to large-scale fertilization experiments. Ecology 95: 668-681.
Cleveland, CC, SC Reed, ¢AB Keller, DR Nemergut, ¢SP O’Neill, R Ostertag, PM Vitousek (2014) Litter quality versus soil microbial community controls over decomposition: a quantitative analysis. Oecologia 110:12733-12737.
¥Sullivan, BW, ¥WK Smith, AR Townsend, ¢MK Nasto, SC Reed, RL Chazdon, CC Cleveland (2014) Spatially robust estimates of biological nitrogen fixation imply substantial human alteration of the tropical nitrogen cycle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences doi:10.1073/pnas.1320646111.
¥Smith, WK, CC Cleveland, SC Reed, SW Running (2014) Agricultural conversion without external water and nutrient inputs reduces terrestrial vegetation productivity. Geophysical Research Letters 10.1002/2013GL058857.
2013
Cleveland, CC, BZ Houlton, WK Smith, ¢AR Marklein, SC Reed, SJ Del Grosso, SW Running (2013) Patterns of new versus recycled primary production in the terrestrial biosphere. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110:12733-12737.
Reed, SC, AR Townsend, CC Cleveland (2013) Relationships between phosphorus, molybdenum and free-living nitrogen fixation in tropical rain forests: Results from observational and experimental analyses. Biogeochemistry: Synthesis & Emerging Ideas Section 114:1-13.
Vitousek, PM, DNL Menge, SC Reed, CC Cleveland (2013) Biological nitrogen fixation: rates, patterns, and ecological controls in terrestrial ecosystems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 368: 20130119.
Lu, X-T, SC Reed, Q Yu, NP He, ZW Wang, XG Han (2013) Convergent responses of nitrogen and phosphorus resorption to nitrogen inputs in a semi-arid grassland. Global Change Biology 19:2775-2784.
¢Keville, MP, SC Reed, CC Cleveland (2013) Nitrogen cycling responses to mountain pine beetle disturbance in a high elevation Whitebark Pine ecosystem. PLoS One 8: e65004. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065004.
¥Zelikova, TJ, R Hufbauer, SC Reed, ¥T Wertin, C Fetting, J Belnap. (2013) Eco-evolutionary responses of Bromus tectorum to climate change: Implications for biological invasions. Ecology & Evolution 3:1374-1387.
¢Keller, AB, SC Reed, AR Townsend, CC Cleveland (2013) Effects of canopy tree species on belowground biogeochemistry in a lowland wet tropical forest. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 58: 61-69.
2012
¥Wickings, K, AS Grandy, SC Reed, CC Cleveland (2012) The origin of litter chemical complexity during decomposition. Ecology Letters 15: 1180-1188.
Reed, SC, AR Townsend, CC Cleveland, EA Davidson (2012). Stoichiometric patterns in foliar nutrient resorption across multiple scales. New Phytologist 196: 173-180.
Reed, SC, ¢KK Coe, JP Sparks, DC Housman, ¥TJ Zelikova, J Belnap (2012) Changes to dryland rainfall results in rapid moss mortality and altered fertility in a dryland ecosystem. Nature Climate Change 2:752-755.
Wood, TE, MA Cavaleri, SC Reed (2012) Tropical forest carbon balance in a warmer world: a critical review spanning microbial- to ecosystem-scale processes. Biological Reviews 87: 912-927.
Reed, SC, T Wood, M Cavaleri (2012) Tropical forests in a warming world. New Phytologist 193: 27-29.
¥Wertin, TM, SL Phillips, SC Reed, J Belnap (2012) Elevated CO2 did not mitigate the effect of a short-term drought on biological soil crusts. Biology & Fertility of Soils 48: 797-805.
¢Smith, WK, CC Cleveland, SC Reed, NL Miller, SW Running (2012) Bioenergy potential of the United States constrained by satellite observations and existing productivity. Environmental Science & Technology 46: 3536-3544.
2011
Reed, SC, CC Cleveland, AR Townsend (2011). Functional ecology of free-living nitrogen fixation: a contemporary review. Annual Review for Ecology and Systematics 42: 489-512.
Reed, SC, PM Vitousek, CC Cleveland (2011) Are patterns in nutrient limitation belowground consistent with those aboveground: Results from a 4 million year chronosequence. Biogeochemistry 106: 323-336.
Cleveland, CC, AR Townsend, P Taylor, MMC Bustamante, G Chuyong, P Grierson, K Harms, B Houlton, A Marklein, W Parton, S Porder, SC Reed, et al. (2011) Relationships among net primary productivity, nutrients and climate in tropical rain forests: A pan-tropical analysis. Ecology Letters 14: 939-947.
Schmidt SK, CC Cleveland, DR Nemergut, SC Reed, AJ King, P Sowell (2011) Estimating phosphorus availability for microbial growth in an emerging landscape. Geoderma 163: 135-140.
Wickings, K, AS Grandy, SC Reed, CC Cleveland (2011) Management intensity alters decomposition via biological pathways. Biogeochemistry 104: 365-379.
Reed, SC, AR Townsend, PG Taylor, CC Cleveland. (2011) Phosphorus Cycling in Tropical Forests Growing on Highly-Weathered Soils. In: (Buneman EK, A Oberson, E Forssard) Phosphorus In Action—Biological Processes in Soil Phosphorus Cycling. Springer Publishing Co. vol. 26, pp. 339-369.
2010
Cleveland, CC, WR Wieder, SC Reed, AR Townsend (2010) Experimental drought in a wet tropical forest increases soil carbon dioxide losses to the atmosphere. Ecology 91: 2313-2323.
Reed, SC, CC Cleveland, DR Nemergut, SK Schmidt & AR Townsend (2010) Scaling from molecules to ecosystems: Exploring controls over free-living nitrogen fixation in terrestrial systems. VDM Publishers, Saarbrücken Germany.
Reed, SC, AR Townsend, CC Cleveland, DR Nemergut (2010) Microbial community shifts influence patterns in tropical forest nitrogen fixation. Oecologia 164: 521-531.
Cleveland, CC, BZ Houlton, C Neill, SC Reed, AR Townsend, YP Wang (2010) Using indirect methods to constrain symbiotic nitrogen fixation rates: A case study from an Amazonian rain forest. Biogeochemistry 99: 1-13.
2009
Sattin SR, CC Cleveland, E Hood, SC Reed, AJ King, MS Robeson, NL Ascarrunz, DR Nemergut (2009) Functional shifts in perhumid, recently-deglaciated soils do not correlate with shifts in soil bacterial community composition. The Journal of Microbiology 47: 673-681.
Costello, EK, SRP Halloy, SC Reed, P Sowell, SK Schmidt (2009) Fumarole-supported islands of biodiversity within a hyper-arid, high-elevation landscape on Socompa Volcano, Puna de Atacama, Andes. Applied & Environmental Microbiology 75: 735-747.
Freeman, KR, MY Pescador, SC Reed, EK Costello, MS Robeson, SK Schmidt (2009) Soil CO2 flux and photoautotrophic community composition in high-elevation, ‘barren’ soil. Environmental Microbiology 11: 674-686.
2008
2007
2006
2002
2001
1996
Science and Products
Date published: October 1, 2020
Status: Active Using a multi-scale approach to synthesize measurements and models of C4 photosynthesis
Plants convert carbon dioxide into sugars for food during photosynthesis, and this provides food for all animal life. However, photosynthesis is inhibited when a plant’s enzymes use oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. To avoid this use of oxygen, some plants developed a photosynthetic adaptation – called C4 photosynthesis – to concentrate carbon dioxide around the enzymes. While less than 5% of...
Contacts: Sasha C Reed, Ph.D.
Attribution: John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
Date published: April 20, 2020
Status: Active GrassCast: A multi-agency tool using remote sensing, modeling, and on-the-ground science to forecast grassland productivity in the Southwest
Rangeland ecosystems are one of the largest single providers of agro-ecological services in the U.S. The plant growth of these rangelands helps determine the amount of forage available for our livestock and for wildlife, as well as information about fire likelihood and restoration opportunities. However, every spring, ranchers and other rangeland managers face the same difficult challenge —...
Contacts: Sasha C Reed, Ph.D.
Attribution: Community for Data Integration (CDI)
Date published: January 1, 2020
Status: Active Learning From the Past and Planning for the Future: Experience-Driven Insight Into Managing for Ecosystem Transformations Induced by Drought and Wildfire
Drought and wildfire pose enormous threats to the integrity of natural resources that land managers are charged with protecting. Recent observations and modeling forecasts indicate that these stressors will likely produce catastrophic ecosystem transformations, or abrupt changes in the condition of plants, wildlife, and their habitats, in regions across the country in coming decades. In...
Attribution: Climate Adaptation Science Centers
Date published: May 8, 2019
Status: Active Implementing a Grassland Productivity Forecast Tool for the U.S. Southwest
Rangeland systems are some of our nation’s largest providers of agro-ecological services, sustaining plant productivity that is highly variable across seasons and years. Although the ability to predict the upcoming growing season’s rangeland productivity would have enormous economic and management value – such as for making decisions about cattle stocking rates, fire, restoration, and wildlife...
Contacts: Sasha C Reed, Ph.D.
Attribution: Community for Data Integration (CDI)
Date published: September 16, 2018
Status: Active 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...
Contacts: Jayne Belnap, Mike Duniway, Ph.D., Sasha C Reed, Ph.D., Erika Geiger, Ph.D., Edmund E Grote, Terry Fisk, Matt Van Scoyoc
Attribution: Ecosystems, Southwest Biological Science Center
Date published: June 5, 2018
Status: Active Novel multi‐scale synthesis of nitrogen fixation rates and drivers across the terrestrial biosphere
Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is a critical biogeochemical process that converts inert atmospheric N2 gas into biologically usable forms of the essential nutrient nitrogen. A variety of free-living and symbiotic organisms carry out BNF, and in most regions worldwide, BNF is the largest source of nitrogen that fuels terrestrial ecosystems. As a result, BNF has far reaching effects on...
Contacts: Steven S Perakis, Sasha C Reed, Ph.D.
Attribution: John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
Date published: February 28, 2017
Status: Active 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,...
Date published: December 30, 2016
Southwestern Riparian Zones, Tamarisk Plants, and the Tamarisk Beetle
Introductions of bio-control beetles (genus Diorhabda) are causing defoliation and dieback of exotic Tamarix spp. in riparian zones across the western U.S., yet the factors that determine the plant communities that follow Tamarix decline are poorly understood. In particular, Tamarix-dominated soils are often higher in nutrients, organic matter, and salts than nearby soils, and these soil...
Attribution: Southwest Biological Science Center
Date published: December 30, 2016
Status: Active Biofuels in the Southwest
Concerns about energy security and rising greenhouse gas emissions have stimulated an unprecedented increase in the push for alternative energy use, including the use of plant biomass as a source of renewable energy (bioenergy). However, meeting alternative energy goals, while also meeting food demands and mitigating potential detrimental effects of industrialized agriculture, has emerged as a...
Contacts: Sasha C Reed, Ph.D.
Attribution: Energy & Wildlife, Southwest Biological Science Center
Date published: December 9, 2016
How Increasing Temperatures Affect Tropical Forests
Tropical forests take in and store more carbon than any other biome in the world, but increasing temperatures may pose a threat to this invaluable service. This research aims to explore how temperature affects key tropical forest functions, such as plant photosynthesis and soil respiration. To do this, the Tropical Responses to Altered Climate Experiment (TRACE) project will use infrared...
Contacts: Sasha C Reed, Ph.D.
Attribution: Southwest Biological Science Center
Date published: June 29, 2016
Status: Active 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...
Contacts: Jayne Belnap, Sasha C Reed, Ph.D.
Attribution: John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
Date published: October 22, 2013
Status: Active Integrating modeling and empirical approaches to improve predictions of tropical forest responses to global warming
Tropical forests contain > 50% of the world’s known species (Heywood 1995), 55% of global forest biomass (Pan et al. 2011), and exchange more carbon (C), water and energy with the atmosphere than any other ecosystem type (e.g., Saugier et al. 2001). Despite their importance, there is more uncertainty associated with predictions of how tropical forests will respond to warming than for any...
Contacts: Sasha C Reed, Ph.D.
Attribution: John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
Year Published: 2020
Nitrogen enrichment reduces nitrogen and phosphorus resorption through changes to species resorption and plant community composition
Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition has affected plant community composition and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. This includes changes to the way plants use and recycle nutrients, including effects on nutrient resorption, which is a key process through which plants recover nutrients from tissue during senescence. Nutrient...
Lü, Xiao-Tao; Hou, Shuang-Li; Reed, Sasha; Yin, Jiang-Xia; Hu, Yan-Yu; Wei, Hai-Wei; Zhang, Zhi-Wei; Yang, Guo-Jiao; Liu, Zhuo-Yi; Han, Xing-GuoAttribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2020
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.
Year Published: 2020
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, RichardAttribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2020
Tropical understory herbaceous community responds more strongly to hurricane disturbance than to experimental warming
The effects of climate change on tropical forests may have global consequences due to the forests’ high biodiversity and major role in the global carbon cycle. In this study, we document the effects of experimental warming on the abundance and composition of a tropical forest floor herbaceous plant community in the Luquillo Experimental Forest,...
Kennard, Deborah K.; Matlaga, David; Sharpe, Joanne; King, Clay C.; Alonso-Rodríguez, Aura M.; Reed, Sasha; Cavaleri, Molly A.; Wood, Tana E.Attribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2020
Biological nitrogen fixation across major biomes in Latin America: Patterns and global change effects
Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) supports terrestrial primary productivity and plays key roles in mediating human-induced changes in global nitrogen (N) and carbon cycling. However, there are still critical uncertainties in our understanding of the amount of BNF occurring across terrestrial ecosystems, and of how terrestrial BNF will respond to...
Reis, Carla R. G.; Pacheco, Felipe S.; Reed, Sasha; Tejada, Graciela; Nardoto, Gabriela B.; Forti, Maria C.; Ometto, JeanAttribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2020
Multiple mechanisms determine the effect of warming on plant litter decomposition in a dryland
In drylands, where soil fertility is typically low, plant litter decomposition provides particularly critical carbon and nitrogen inputs into soil. Although climate change is projected to increase the already large global extent of drylands, it is unknown how warmer temperatures will affect core ecosystem processes, such as plant litter...
Chuckran, Peter F.; Reibold, Robin H.; Throop, Heather L.; Reed, SashaAttribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2020
Altered climate leads to positive density‐dependent feedbacks in a tropical wet forest
Climate change is predicted to result in warmer and drier Neotropical forests relative to current conditions. Negative density‐dependent feedbacks, mediated by natural enemies, are key to maintaining the high diversity of tree species found in the tropics, yet we have little understanding of how projected changes in climate are likely to affect...
Barreto-Muñoz, Armando; Alonso-Rodríguez, Aura M.; Aldrich-Wolfe, Laura; Cavaleri, Molly A.; Reed, Sasha C.; Wood, Tana EAttribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2020
Soil biogeochemical responses of a tropical forest to warming and hurricane disturbance
Tropical forests represent <15% of Earths terrestrial surface yet support >50% of the planets species and play a disproportionately large role in determining climate due to the vast amounts of carbon they store and exchange with the atmosphere. Currently, disturbance patterns in tropical ecosystems are changing due to factors such as...
Reed, Sasha; Reibold, Robin H.; Cavaleri, Molly A.; Alonso-Rodríguez, Aura M.; Berberich, Megan E.; Wood, Tana E.Attribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2020
Multiple elements of soil biodiversity drive ecosystem functions across biomes
The role of soil biodiversity in regulating multiple ecosystem functions is poorly understood, limiting our ability to predict how soil biodiversity loss might affect human wellbeing and ecosystem sustainability. Here, combining a global observational study with an experimental microcosm study, we provide evidence that soil biodiversity (bacteria...
Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Reich, Peter B.; Trivedi, Mandar; Eldridge, David J.; Abades, Sebastian; Alfaro, Fernando D.; Bastida, Felipe; Berhe, Asmeret A.; Cutler, Nick A.; Gallardo, Antonio; Garcia-Velazquez, Laura; Hart, Stephen C.; Hayes, Patrick E.; He, Ji-Zheng; Hseu, Zeng-Yei; Hu, Hang-Wei; Kirchmair, Martin; Neuhauser, Sigrid; Pérez, Cecilia A.; Reed, Sasha C.; Santos, Fernanda; Sullivan, Benjamin W.; Trivedi, Pankaj; Wang, Jun-Tao; Weber-Grullon, Luis; Williams, Mark A.; Singh, Brajesh K.Attribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2020
Supporting the development and use of native plant materials for restoration on the Colorado Plateau (Fiscal Year 19 Report)
A primary focus of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program (CPNPP) is to identify and develop appropriate native plant materials (NPMs) for current and future restoration projects. Multiple efforts have characterized the myriad challenges inherent in providing appropriate seed resources to enable effective,...
Massatti, Robert; Winkler, Daniel E.; Reed, Sasha; Duniway, Michael C.; Munson, Seth M.; Bradford, JohnAttribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2020
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.Attribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2020
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.Attribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
Pre-USGS Publications
Cleveland, C.C., Houlton, B.Z., Smith, W.K., Marklein, A.R., Reed, S.C., Parton, W., Del Grosso, S.J. and Running, S.W., 2013. Patterns of new versus recycled primary production in the terrestrial biosphere. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(31), pp.12733-12737.
Reed, S.C., Cleveland, C.C. and Townsend, A.R., 2013. Relationships among phosphorus, molybdenum and free-living nitrogen fixation in tropical rain forests: results from observational and experimental analyses. Biogeochemistry, 114(1-3), pp.135-147.
Wickings, K., Grandy, A.S., Reed, S.C. and Cleveland, C.C., 2012. The origin of litter chemical complexity during decomposition. Ecology Letters, 15(10), pp.1180-1188.
Reed, S.C., 2008. Scaling from molecules to ecosystems: controls over free-living nitrogen fixation in terrestrial ecosystems. ProQuest.
Sattin, S.R., Cleveland, C.C., Hood, E., Reed, S.C., King, A.J., Schmidt, S.K., Robeson, M.S., Ascarrunz, N. and Nemergut, D.R., 2009. Functional shifts in unvegetated, perhumid, recently-deglaciated soils do not correlate with shifts in soil bacterial community composition. The Journal of Microbiology, 47(6), pp.673-681.
Costello, E.K., Halloy, S.R., Reed, S.C., Sowell, P. and Schmidt, S.K., 2009. Fumarole-supported islands of biodiversity within a hyperarid, high-elevation landscape on Socompa Volcano, Puna de Atacama, Andes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 75(3), pp.735-747.
Freeman, K.R., Pescador, M.Y., Reed, S.C., Costello, E.K., Robeson, M.S. and Schmidt, S.K., 2009. Soil CO2 flux and photoautotrophic community composition in high‐elevation,‘barren’soil. Environmental Microbiology, 11(3), pp.674-686.
Schmidt, S.K., Reed, S.C., Nemergut, D.R., Grandy, A.S., Cleveland, C.C., Weintraub, M.N., Hill, A.W., Costello, E.K., Meyer, A.F., Neff, J.C. and Martin, A.M., 2008. The earliest stages of ecosystem succession in high-elevation (5000 metres above sea level), recently deglaciated soils. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 275(1653), pp.2793-2802.
Reed, S.C., Cleveland, C.C. and Townsend, A.R., 2008. Tree species control rates of free-living nitrogen fixation in a tropical rain forest. Ecology, 89(10), pp.2924-2934.
Reed, S.C., Cleveland, C.C. and Townsend, A.R., 2007. Controls over leaf litter and soil nitrogen fixation in two lowland tropical rain forests. Biotropica, 39(5), pp.585-592.
Schmidt, S.K., Costello, E.K., Nemergut, D.R., Cleveland, C.C., Reed, S.C., Weintraub, M.N., Meyer, A.F. and Martin, A.M., 2007. Biogeochemical consequences of rapid microbial turnover and seasonal succession in soil. Ecology, 88(6), pp.1379-1385.
Reed, S.C., Seastedt, T.R., Mann, C.M., Suding, K.N., Townsend, A.R. and Cherwin, K.L., 2007. Phosphorus fertilization stimulates nitrogen fixation and increases inorganic nitrogen concentrations in a restored prairie. Applied Soil Ecology, 36(2), pp.238-242.
Cleveland, C.C., Reed, S.C. and Townsend, A.R., 2006. Nutrient regulation of organic matter decomposition in a tropical rain forest. Ecology, 87(2), pp.492-503.
Bowker, M.A., Reed, S.C., Belnap, J. and Phillips, S.L., 2002. Temporal variation in community composition, pigmentation, and Fv/Fm of desert cyanobacterial soil crusts. Microbial Ecology, 43(1), pp.13-25.
Reed, S.C., Capitosti, G.J., Zhu, Z. and Modarelli, D.A., 2001. Photochemical generation and matrix-isolation detection of dimethylvinylidene. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 66(1), pp.287-299.
Reed, S.C. and Modarelli, D.A., 1996. Conformational effects on the excited state 1, 2-hydrogen migration in alkyldiazomethanes. Tetrahedron Letters, 37(40), pp.7209-7212.