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.
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.
Professional Experience
Research Ecologist, USGS, Southwest Biological Science Center, 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, National Science Foundation IGERT Fellowship, Carbon Climate and Society Initiative (CCSI): August 2003-August 2005.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Biogeochemistry, 2002-2008: University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Institute of Arctic & Alpine Research (INSTAAR).
B.A. in Organic Chemistry, 1993-1997: Colgate University, Department of Chemistry, Hamilton, NY. Graduated magna cum laude.
Honors and Awards
Elected Member-At-Large, Ecological Society of America (ESA). August 2020-August 2022.
Ecological Society of America (ESA) Early Career Fellow. March 2016.
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). October 2011.
Star Award, Department of the Interior. October 2010, May 2000.
Graduate Student Research and Creative Works Award, University of Colorado at Boulder. May 2008.
USGS Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) Fellowship. June-August of 2006 & 2007.
Student Policy Award, Ecological Society of America (ESA). September 2006.
AAAS Program for Excellence in Science. August 2006.
Lawrence Award. April 1996.
Phi Ea Sigma University Honor Society Awarded Membership. April 1994-May 1997.
Phi Eta Sigma Aid Committee Selected Board Member. September 1995-May 1997.
Barry Goldwater Award Nominee. November 1994.
Science and Products
Shrub persistence and increased grass mortality in response to drought in dryland systems
Temporal and abiotic fluctuations may be preventing successful rehabilitation of soil-stabilizing biocrust communities
Soil warming effects on tropical forests with highly weathered soils
Changes in belowground biodiversity during ecosystem development
On the shoulders of giants: Continuing the legacy of large-scale ecosystem manipulation experiments in Puerto Rico
There is a long history of experimental research in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico. These experiments have addressed questions about biotic thresholds, assessed why communities vary along natural gradients, and have explored forest responses to a range of both anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic disturbances. Combined, these studies cover many of the major disturbances that affect
Seed bank community and soil texture relationships in a cold desert
Executive summary. In Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2): A Sustained Assessment Report
Using research networks to create the comprehensive datasets needed to assess nutrient availability as a key determinant of terrestrial carbon cycling
Biocrusts enhance soil fertility and Bromus tectorum growth, and interact with warming to influence germination
Reductions in tree performance during hotter droughts are mitigated by shifts in nitrogen cycling
Spatially explicit patterns in a dryland's soil respiration and relationships with climate, whole plant photosynthesis and soil fertility
Species-specific nitrogenase activity in lichen-dominated biological soil crusts from the Colorado Plateau, USA
Non-USGS Publications**
**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
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Shrub persistence and increased grass mortality in response to drought in dryland systems
Droughts in the southwest United States have led to major forest and grassland die‐off events in recent decades, suggesting plant community and ecosystem shifts are imminent as native perennial grass populations are replaced by shrub‐ and invasive plant‐dominated systems. These patterns are similar to those observed in arid and semiarid systems around the globe, but our ability to predict which spAuthorsDaniel E. Winkler, Jayne Belnap, David L. Hoover, Sasha C. Reed, Michael C. DuniwayTemporal and abiotic fluctuations may be preventing successful rehabilitation of soil-stabilizing biocrust communities
Land degradation is a persistent ecological problem in many arid and semi-arid systems globally (drylands hereafter). Most instances of dryland degradation include some form of soil disturbance and/or soil erosion, which can hinder vegetation establishment and reduce ecosystem productivity. To combat soil erosion, researchers have identified a need for rehabilitation of biological soil crusts (bAuthorsKristina E. Young, Matthew A. Bowker, Sasha C. Reed, Michael C. Duniway, Jayne BelnapSoil warming effects on tropical forests with highly weathered soils
The tropics are a region encircling the equator, delineated to the north by the Tropic of Cancer (23°26′14.0″N) and to the south by the Tropic of Capricorn (23°26′14.0″S). While we often think of the tropics as consistently warm and wet throughout the year, in reality, the tropics maintain a myriad of climates. Of the 116 Holdridge life zones (a global bioclimatic classification scheme), the tropiAuthorsTana E Wood, Molly A. Cavaleri, Christian P. Giardina, Shafkat Khan, Jacqueline Mohan, Andrew T. Nottingham, Sasha C. Reed, Martijn SlotChanges in belowground biodiversity during ecosystem development
We do not know how and why belowground biodiversity may change as soils develop over centuries to millennia, hampering our ability to predict the myriad of ecosystem processes regulated by belowground organisms under changing environments. We conducted a global survey of 16 soil chronosequences spanning a wide range of ecosystem types and found that in less productive ecosystems, increases in beloAuthorsManuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Richard D. Bardgett, Peter M. Vitousek, Fernando T. Maestre, Mark A. Williams, David J. Eldridge, Hans Lambers, Sigrid Neuhauser, Antonio Gallardo, Laura García-Velázquez, Osvaldo E. Sala, Sebastián R. Abades, Fernando D. Alfaro, Asmeret A. Berhe, Matthew A. Bowker, Courtney M. Currier, Nick A. Cutler, Stephen C. Hart, Patrick E. Hayes, Zeng-Yei Hseu, Martin Kirchmair, Cecilia A. Pérez, Sasha C. Reed, Victor M. Peña-Ramírez, Fernanda Santos, Christina Siebe, Benjamin W. Sullivan, Luis Weber-Grullon, Noah FiererOn the shoulders of giants: Continuing the legacy of large-scale ecosystem manipulation experiments in Puerto Rico
There is a long history of experimental research in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico. These experiments have addressed questions about biotic thresholds, assessed why communities vary along natural gradients, and have explored forest responses to a range of both anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic disturbances. Combined, these studies cover many of the major disturbances that affect
AuthorsTana E. Wood, Grizelle González, Whendee L. Silver, Sasha C. Reed, Molly A. CavaleriSeed bank community and soil texture relationships in a cold desert
Sustainable dryland management depends on understanding environmental factors driving composition of current and future ecological communities. While there has been extensive research on aboveground plant communities, less is known about belowground soil seed bank communities, which can reflect both past and potential future communities. In the Colorado Plateau of the western United States, we expAuthorsJeffrey D. Haight, Sasha C. Reed, Akasha M. FaistExecutive summary. In Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2): A Sustained Assessment Report
Central to life on Earth, carbon is essential to the molecular makeup of all living things and plays a key role in regulating global climate. To understand carbon’s role in these processes, researchers measure and evaluate carbon stocks and fluxes. A stock is the quantity of carbon contained in a pool or reservoir in the Earth system (e.g., carbon in forest trees), and a flux is the direction andAuthorsRichard Birdsey, Melanie A. Mayes, Patricia Romero-Lankao, Raymond G. Najjar, Sasha C. Reed, Nancy Cavallaro, Gyami Shrestha, Daniel J. Hayes, Laura Lorenzoni, Anne Marsh, Kathy Tedesco, Tom Wirth, Zhiliang ZhuUsing research networks to create the comprehensive datasets needed to assess nutrient availability as a key determinant of terrestrial carbon cycling
A wide range of research shows that nutrient availability strongly influences terrestrial carbon (C) cycling and shapes ecosystem responses to environmental changes and hence terrestrial feedbacks to climate. Nonetheless, our understanding of nutrient controls remains far from complete and poorly quantified, at least partly due to a lack of informative, comparable, and accessible datasets at regioAuthorsSara Vicca, Benjamin Stocker, Sasha C. Reed, William R. Wieder, Michael Bahn, Philip A. Fay, Ivan Janssens, Hans Lambers, Josep Penuelas, Shilong Piao, Karin Rebel, Jordi Sardans, Bjarni D. Sigurdsson, Kevin Van Sundert, Ying-Ping Wang, Sonke Zaehle, Philippe CiaisBiocrusts enhance soil fertility and Bromus tectorum growth, and interact with warming to influence germination
Background and aimsBiocrusts are communities of cyanobacteria, mosses, and/or lichens found in drylands worldwide. Biocrusts are proposed to enhance soil fertility and productivity, but simultaneously act as a barrier to the invasive grass, Bromus tectorum, in western North America. Both biocrusts and B. tectorum are sensitive to climate change drivers, yet how their responses might interact to afAuthorsScott Ferrenberg, Akasha M. Faist, Armin J. Howell, Sasha C. ReedReductions in tree performance during hotter droughts are mitigated by shifts in nitrogen cycling
Climate warming should result in hotter droughts of unprecedented severity in this century. Such droughts have been linked with massive tree mortality, and data suggest that warming interacts with drought to aggravate plant performance. Yet how forests will respond to hotter droughts remains unclear, as does the suite of mechanisms trees use to deal with hot droughts. We used an ecosystem‐scale maAuthorsCharlotte Grossiord, Arthur Gessler, Sasha C. Reed, Isaac Borrego, Adam D. Collins, Lee T. Dickman, Max Ryan, Leonie Schönbeck, Sanna Sevanto, Alberto Vilagroso, Nate G. McDowellSpatially explicit patterns in a dryland's soil respiration and relationships with climate, whole plant photosynthesis and soil fertility
Arid and semiarid ecosystems play a significant role in regulating global carbon cycling, yet our understanding of the controls over the dominant pathways of dryland CO2exchange remains poor. Substantial amounts of dryland soil are not covered by vascular plants and this patchiness in cover has important implications for spatial patterns and controls of carbon cycling. Spatial variation in soil reAuthorsTimothy M. Wertin, Kristina E. Young, Sasha C. ReedSpecies-specific nitrogenase activity in lichen-dominated biological soil crusts from the Colorado Plateau, USA
Background and aimBiological soil crusts (biocrusts) play numerous crucial roles in drylands, which comprise over 40% of Earth’s terrestrial surface. Among these key contributions is the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. Yet, relatively little is known about the N2 fixation capabilities of different lichen species that are found in late successional biocrust communities across drylands globally.MeAuthorsTerry J. Torres-Cruz, Armin J. Howell, Robin H. Reibold, Theresa A. McHugh, Mackenzie A. Eickhoff, Sasha C. ReedNon-USGS Publications**
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.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.**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.
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