Sheel Bansal
Biography
Sheel Bansal is a Research Ecologist at Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. Dr. Bansal began his career in science working as a field technician on a variety of projects across the conterminous US, Alaska and Hawaii. His professional research experience covers a wide range of topics such as tree carbon balance at alpine-treeline (Wyoming), fertility effects on boreal plant ecophysiology (Sweden), drivers of grass invasion in sagebrush-steppe (Oregon), and drought tolerance of temperate forest trees (Washington). He is now studying wetland biogeochemistry in the Prairie Pothole Region. Much of the research in his lab is focused on understanding the underlying suite of abiotic and biotic processes that influence greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage in wetlands. His lab is developing new, high-tech equipment to more efficiently quantify the immense spatial and temporal variability of these natural processes. Dr. Bansal is also working with internal and external partners to develop spatially-explicit, landscape-scale models to estimate regional carbon budgets for prairie pothole wetlands. These data and models provide DOI land managers and policy makers with information needed to understand, monitor, and anticipate changes in wetland carbon under various management, land-use and climate scenarios.
Education
- Ph.D., Plant Physiological Ecology, Idaho State University, 2008
- M.A., Conservation Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 2000
- B.A., Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 1999
Professional Experience
- 2015-Present: Research Ecologist, U.S., Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND
- 2013-2015: Research Ecologist (post doc), USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Olympia, WA
- 2011-2013: Research Ecologist (post doc), USDA Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Burns, OR
- 2009-2011: Postdoctoral researcher, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Umeå, Sweden
Affiliations
- Society of Wetland Scientists
- Rangeland Ecology and Management (associate editor)
Partners
- DOI Fish and Wildlife Service
- USDA Forest Service
- USDA Agricultural Research Service
- North Dakota State University
Science and Products
Fish and Wildlife seasonal and temporary wetland assessment
The Prairie Pothole Region supports some of the most productive wetlands in the world for waterfowl. Up to 90% of seasonal and temporary wetlands have been lost in areas of the PPR due to the conversion of grasslands to croplands and the drainage of wetlands. Department of the Interior Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA) and National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) in North Dakota, South Dakota, and...
Wetland carbon storage and flux in the Prairie Pothole Region
Wetlands significantly contributes to regional, national and global carbon budgets. Because prairie-pothole wetlands have 1) highly productive vegetation and 2) low rates of carbon decomposition, they are ideal systems for accumulating and storing carbon in the soil. However, because prairie-pothole wetlands are located in areas of intense agricultural activity, this important pool of stored...
Mechanisms, models, and management of invasive species and soil biogeochemical process in prairie pothole wetlands
The ecological foundation of thousands of acres of wetland habitat is being impacted by changes in land cover, land use, climate, and invasive species. This project utilizes USGS remotely-sensed products, along with experimental and observational field data to develop spatially-explicit, landscape-scale models of invasive cattails and soil biogeochemical processes. These models will assist...
Mechanisms, methods, models and management of soil biogeochemical processes in prairie-pothole wetlands
Previous work has shown that Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) wetlands are biogeochemical hotspots, with rapid turnover and transport rates of greenhouse gases (GHG). However, mechanisms controlling GHG fluxes are not well understood, leading to high uncertainty in model estimates of these processes. Additionally, unprecedented changes to land-use and cover in the PPR have potential to alter...
Typha (cattail) invasion in North American wetlands: Biology, regional problems, impacts, ecosystem services, and management
Typha is an iconic wetland plant found worldwide. Hybridization and anthropogenic disturbances have resulted in large increases in Typha abundance in wetland ecosystems throughout North America at a cost to native floral and faunal biodiversity. As demonstrated by three regional case studies, Typha is capable of rapidly colonizing habitats and...
Bansal, Sheel; Lishawa, Shane; Newman, Sue; Tangen, Brian A.; Wilcox, Douglas A.; Albert, Dennis; Anteau, Michael J.; Chimney, Michael J; Cressey, Ryann L.; DeKeyser, Edward S.; Elgersam, Kenneth J; Finkelstein, Sarah A; Freeland, Joanna; Grosshans, Richard; Klug, Page E.; Larkin, Daniel J; Lawrence, Beth A; Linz, George; Marburger, Joy; Noe, Gregory B.; Otto, Clint R. V.; Reo, Nicholas; Richards, Jennifer; Richardson, Curtis J.; Rodgers, LeRoy; Shrank, Amy J; Svedarsky, Dan; Travis, Steven E.; Tuchman, Nancy; van der Valk, Arnold; Windham-Myers, Lisamarie Hydrologic lag effects on wetland greenhouse gas fluxes
Hydrologic margins of wetlands are narrow, transient zones between inundated and dry areas. As water levels fluctuate, the dynamic hydrology at margins may impact wetland greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes that are sensitive to soil saturation. The Prairie Pothole Region of North America consists of millions of seasonally-ponded wetlands that are ideal...
Tangen, Brian A.; Bansal, Sheel Fire risk in revegetated bunchgrass communities Infested with Bromus tectorum
In rangeland ecosystems, invasive annual grass replacement of native perennials is associated with higher fire risk. Large bunchgrasses are often seeded to reduce cover of annuals such as Bromus tectorum L. (cheatgrass), but there is limited information about how revegetation reduces fire risk over the long-term. For this research note, we...
Link, Steve O; Hill, Randall W; Bansal, Sheel Chapter 13: Terrestrial wetlands
1. The assessment of terrestrial wetland carbon stocks has improved greatly since the First State of the Carbon Cycle Report (CCSP 2007) because of recent national inventories and the development of a U.S. soils database. Terrestrial wetlands in North America encompass an estimated 2.2 million km2, which constitutes about 37% of the global wetland...
Kolka, Randall; Trettin, Carl; Tang, Wenwu; Krauss, Ken W.; Bansal, Sheel; Drexler, Judith Z.; Wickland, Kimberly P.; Chimner, Rodney A.; Hogan, Dianna M.; Pindilli, Emily J.; Benscoter, Brian; Tangen, Brian A.; Kane, Evan S.; Bridgham, Scott D.; Richardson, Curtis J. Diurnal patterns of methane flux from a seasonal wetland: mechanisms and methodology
Methane emissions from wetlands are temporally dynamic. Few chamber-based studies have explored diurnal variation in methane flux with high temporal replication. Using an automated sampling system, we measured methane flux every 2.5 to 4 h for 205 diel cycles during three growing seasons (2013–2015) from a seasonal wetland in the Prairie...
Bansal, Sheel; Tangen, Brian A.; Finocchiaro, Raymond Abundant carbon substrates drive extremely high sulfate reduction rates and methane fluxes in Prairie Pothole Wetlands
Inland waters are increasingly recognized as critical sites of methane emissions to the atmosphere, but the biogeochemical reactions driving such fluxes are less well understood. The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America is one of the largest wetland complexes in the world, containing millions of small, shallow wetlands. The sediment pore...
Martins, Paula; Hoyt, David W.; Bansal, Sheel; Mills, Christopher T.; Tfaily, Malak; Tangen, Brian A.; Finocchiaro, Raymond; Johnston, Michael D.; McAdams, Brandon C.; Solensky, Matthew J.; Smith, Garrett J.; Chin, Yu-Ping; Wilkins, Michael J. Post-fire interactions between soil water repellency, soil fertility and plant growth in soil collected from a burned piñon-juniper woodland
Woody plant encroachment can increase nutrient resources in the plant-mound zone. After a fire, this zone is often found to be water repellent. This study aimed to understand the effects of post-fire water repellency on soil water and inorganic nitrogen and their effects on plant growth of the introduced annual Bromus tectorum and native...
Fernelius, Kaitlynn J.; Madsen, Matthew D.; Hopkins, Bryan G.; Bansal, Sheel; Anderson, Val J.; Eggett, Dennis L.; Roundy, Bruce A. Effect of N fertilization and tillage on nitrous oxide (N2O) loss from soil under wheat production
Nitrous oxide (N2O-N) is one of the most important gases in the atmosphere because it is 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in its ability to trap heat, and is a key chemical agent of ozone depletion. The amount of N2O-N emitted from agricultural fields can be quite high, depending on the complex interplay between N fertility and residue...
Bansal, Sheel; Aberle, Ezra; Teboh, Jasper; Yuja, Szilvia; Liebig, Mark; Meier, Jacob; Boyd, Alec Dissolved greenhouse gas concentrations and fluxes from Wetlands P7 and P8 of the Cottonwood Lake Study area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 2015
A study was conducted to assess the relationships among carbon mineralization, sulfate reduction and greenhouse gas emissions in prairie pothole wetlands. These data are for dissolved methane and carbon dioxide concentrations and fluxes. Dissolved gas concentrations in the water column and fluxes to the atmosphere were estimated from April through...
Bansal, Sheel; Tangen, Brian Temperature and hydrology affect methane emissions from Prairie Pothole Wetlands
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) in central North America consists of millions of depressional wetlands that each have considerable potential to emit methane (CH4). Changes in temperature and hydrology in the PPR from climate change may affect methane fluxes from these wetlands. To assess the potential effects of changes in climate on methane...
Bansal, Sheel; Tangen, Brian A.; Finocchiaro, Raymond Will changes in phenology track climate change? A study of growth initiation timing in coast Douglas-fir
Under climate change, the reduction of frost risk, onset of warm temperatures and depletion of soil moisture are all likely to occur earlier in the year in many temperate regions. The resilience of tree species will depend on their ability to track these changes in climate with shifts in phenology that lead to earlier growth initiation in the...
Ford, Kevin R.; Harrington, Constance A.; Bansal, Sheel; Gould, Petter J.; St. Clair, Bradley Relation of initial spacing and relative stand density indices to stand characteristics in a Douglas-fir plantation spacing trial
This report presents updated information on a 1981 Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) plantation spacing trial at 33 years from planting. Stand statistics at the most recent measurement were compared for initial spacing of 1 through 6 meters and associated relative densities. There was no clear relationship of...
Curtis, Robert O.; Bansal, Sheel; Harrington, Constance A.