Sheel Bansal, PhD
Sheel Bansal is a Research Ecologist at the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in Jamestown, North Dakota.
Dr. Bansal 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 mechanistic 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 sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions under future management, land-use and climate scenarios.
Professional Experience
2015-Present: Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Plant Physiological Ecology, Idaho State University, 2008
M.A., Conservation Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 2000
B.A., Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 1999
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Geophysical Union
Global Lake and Ecological Observatory Network
Journal of Environmental Quality (associate editor)
Rangeland Ecology and Management
Society of Wetland Scientists
Science and Products
Dissolved greenhouse gas concentrations and fluxes from Wetlands P7 and P8 of the Cottonwood Lake Study area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 2015
Prairie wetlands as sources or sinks of nitrous oxide: Effects of land use and hydrology
Land management strategies influence soil organic carbon stocks of prairie potholes of North America
Distributions of native and invasive Typha (cattail) throughout the Prairie Pothole Region of North America
FLUXNET-CH4: A global, multi-ecosystem database and analysis of methane seasonality from freshwater wetlands
Gap-filling eddy covariance methane fluxes: Comparison of machine learning model predictions and uncertainties at FLUXNET-CH4 wetlands
Wetlands
Preserving soil organic carbon in prairie wetlands of central North America
Substantial hysteresis in emergent temperature sensitivity of global wetland CH4 emissions
Identifying dominant environmental predictors of freshwater wetland methane fluxes across diurnal to seasonal time scales
Wetland and hydric soils
Soil organic carbon stocks and sequestration rates of inland, freshwater wetlands: Sources of variability and uncertainty
Science and Products
- Science
- Data
Filter Total Items: 13
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 November, 2015 for wetlands P7 and P8 of the Cotto - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 40
Prairie wetlands as sources or sinks of nitrous oxide: Effects of land use and hydrology
National and global greenhouse gas (GHG) budgets are continually being refined as data become available. Primary sources of the potent GHG nitrous oxide (N2O) include agricultural soil management and burning of fossil fuels, but comprehensive N2O budgets also incorporate less prominent factors such as wetlands. Freshwater wetland GHG flux estimates, however, have high uncertainty, and wetlands havAuthorsBrian Tangen, Sheel BansalLand management strategies influence soil organic carbon stocks of prairie potholes of North America
Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) wetlands in the central plains of Canada and the United States are highly variable due to natural variation in biota, soils, climate, hydrology, and topography. Land-use history (cropland, grassland) and land-management practices (drainage, restoration) also affect SOC stocks. We conducted a region-wide assessment of wetland SOC stocAuthorsSheel Bansal, Brian Tangen, Robert A. Gleason, Pascal Badiou, Irena F. CreedDistributions of native and invasive Typha (cattail) throughout the Prairie Pothole Region of North America
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America has experienced extreme changes in wetland habitat due to proliferation of invasive plants. Typha × glauca is a highly competitive hybrid between native T. latifolia and non-native T. angustifolia, and it is likely the predominant taxon in PPR wetlands. Genetics-based studies are limited, and distributions are poorly known for the first-generationAuthorsBrian Tangen, Sheel Bansal, Joanna R. Freeland, Steven E. Travis, Jen D. Wasko, Terence P. McGonigle, L. Gordon Goldsborough, Keira Gow, Joy E. Marburger, Jacob MeierFLUXNET-CH4: A global, multi-ecosystem database and analysis of methane seasonality from freshwater wetlands
Methane (CH4) emissions from natural landscapes constitute roughly half of global CH4 contributions to the atmosphere, yet large uncertainties remain in the absolute magnitude and the seasonality of emission quantities and drivers. Eddy covariance (EC) measurements of CH4 flux are ideal for constraining ecosystem-scale CH4 emissions due to quasi-continuous and high-temporal-resolution CH4 flux meaAuthorsKyle B. Delwiche, Sarah Knox, Avni Malhotra, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Gavin McNicol, Sarah Feron, Zutao Ouyang, Dario Papale, Carlo Trotta, Eleonora Canfora, You-Wei Cheah, Danielle Christianson, Ma. Carmelita R. Alberto, Pavel Alekseychik, Mika Aurela, Dennis Baldocchi, Sheel Bansal, David P. Billesbach, Gil Bohrer, Rosvel Bracho, Nina Buchmann, David I. Campbell, Gerardo Celis, Weinan Chen, Jiquan Chen, Housen Chu, Higo J Dalmagro, Sigrid Dengel, Ankur R. Desai, Matteo Detto, Han Dolman, Elke Eichelmann, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Daniela Famulari, Kathrin Fuchs, Mathias Goeckede, Sébastien Gogo, Mangaliso J Gondwe, Jordan P. Goodrich, Pia Gottschalk, Scott L. Graham, Martin Heimann, Manuel Helbig, Carole Helfter, Kyle S. Hemes, Takashi Hirano, David Hollinger, Lukas Hörtnagl, Hiroki Iwata, Adrien Jacotot, Joachim Jansen, Gerald Jurasinski, Minseok Kang, Kuno Kasak, John King, Janina Klatt, Franziska Koebsch, Ken Krauss, Derrick Y.F. Lai, Annalea Lohila, Ivan Mammarella, Luca B Marchesini, Giovanni Manca, Jaclyn H Matthes, Trofim Maximov, Lutz Merbold, Bhaskar Mitra, Timothy H. Morin, Eiko Nemitz, Mats B. Nilsson, Shuli Niu, Walter C. Oechel, Patricia Y. Oikawa, Keisuke Ono, Matthias Peichl, Olli Peltola, Michele L. Reba, Andrew D. Richardson, William Riley, Benjamin RK Runkle, Youngryel Ryu, Torsten Sachs, Ayaka Sakabe, Camilo Rey Sanchez, Edward A. Schuur, Karina VR Schäfer, Oliver Sonnentag, Jed P. Sparks, Ellen Stuart-Haëntjens, Cove Sturtevant, Ryan C. Sullivan, Daphne J. Szutu, Jonathan E Thom, Margaret S. Torn, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Jessica Turner, Masahito Ueyama, Alex C. Valach, Rodrigo Vargas, Andrej Varlagin, Alma Vazquez-Lule, Joseph G. Verfaillie, Timo Vesala, George L Vourlitis, Eric Ward, Christian Wille, Georg Wohlfahrt, Guan Xhuan Wong, Zhen Zhang, Donatella Zona, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Benjamin Poulter, Robert B. JacksonGap-filling eddy covariance methane fluxes: Comparison of machine learning model predictions and uncertainties at FLUXNET-CH4 wetlands
Time series of wetland methane fluxes measured by eddy covariance require gap-filling to estimate daily, seasonal, and annual emissions. Gap-filling methane fluxes is challenging because of high variability and complex responses to multiple drivers. To date, there is no widely established gap-filling standard for wetland methane fluxes, with regards both to the best model algorithms and predictorsAuthorsJeremy Irvin, Sharon Zhou, Gavin McNicol, Fred Lu, Vincent Liu, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Zutao Ouyang, Sara Helen Knox, Antje Lucas-Moffat, Carlo Trotta, Dario Papale, Domenico Vitale, Ivan Mammarella, Pavel Alekseychik, Mika Aurela, Anand Avati, Dennis Baldocchi, Sheel Bansal, Gil Bohrer, David I. Campbell, Jiquan Chen, Housen Chu, Higo J. Dalmagro, Kyle B. Delwiche, Ankur R. Desai, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Sarah Feron, Mathias Goeckede, Martin Heimann, Manuel Helbig, Carole Helfter, Kyle S. Hemes, Takashi Hirano, Hiroki Iwata, Gerald Jurasinski, Aram A.M. Kalhori, Andrew Kondrich, Derrick Y. F. Lai, Annalea Lohila, Avni Malholtra, Lutz Merbold, Bhaskar Mitra, Andrew Ng, Mats B. Nilsson, Asko Noormets, Matthias Peichl, A. Camilo Rey-Sanchez, Andrew D. Richardson, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Karina V. R. Schäfer, Oliver Sonnentag, Ellen Stuart-Haëntjens, Cove Sturtevant, Masahito Ueyama, Alex C. Valach, Rodrigo Vargas, George L. Vourlitis, Eric Ward, Guan Xhuan Wong, Donatella Zona, Ma. Carmelita R. Alberto, David P. Billesbach, Gerardo Celis, Han Dolman, Thomas Friborg, Kathrin Fuchs, Sebastien Gogo, Mangaliso J. Gondwe, Jordan P. Goodrich, Pia Gottschalk, Lukas Hörtnagl, Adrien Jacotot, Franziska Koebsch, Kuno Kasak, Regine Maier, Timothy H. Morin, Eiko Nemitz, Walter C. Oechel, Patricia Y. Oikawa, Keisuke Ono, Torsten Sachs, Ayaka Sakabe, Edward A. Schuur, Robert Shortt, Ryan C. Sullivan, Daphne J. Szutu, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Andrej Varlagin, Joseph G. Verfaillie, Christian Wille, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Benjamin Poulter, Robert B. JacksonWetlands
During the last decades, soil organic carbon (SOC) attracted the attention of a much wider array of specialists beyond agriculture and soil science, as it was proven to be one of the most crucial components of the earth’s climate system, which has a great potential to be managed by humans. Soils as a carbon pool are one of the key factors in several Sustainable Development Goals, in particular GoaAuthorsBrian Tangen, Sheel BansalPreserving soil organic carbon in prairie wetlands of central North America
Wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) in the Great Plains of central North America are numerous, densely distributed, and have highly productive plant and animal communities (Photo 49). When in a natural, unaltered condition, these wetlands store relatively large amounts of organic carbon in their soils (Photo 50). Human alterations, such as extensive drainage and land-use conversion for agAuthorsSheel Bansal, Brian TangenSubstantial hysteresis in emergent temperature sensitivity of global wetland CH4 emissions
Wetland methane (CH4) emissions (FCH4) are important in global carbon budgets and climate change assessments. Currently, FCH4 projections rely on prescribed static temperature sensitivity that varies among biogeochemical models. Meta-analyses have proposed a consistent FCH4 temperature dependence across spatial scales for use in models; however, site-level studies demonstrate that FCH4 are often cAuthorsKuang-Yu Chang, William J. Riley, Sara H. Knox, Robert B. Jackson, Gavin McNicol, Benjamin Poulter, Mika Aurela, Dennis Baldocchi, Sheel Bansal, Gil Bohrer, David I. Campbell, Alessandro Cescatti, Housen Chu, Kyle B. Delwiche, Ankur R. Desai, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Matthias Goeckede, Thomas Friborg, Kyle S. Hemes, Takashi Hirano, Hiroki Iwata, Manuel Helbig, Trevor F. Keenan, Minseok Kang, Ken Krauss, Annalea Lohila, Bhaskar Mitra, Ivan Mammarella, Akira Miyata, Mats B. Nilsson, Walter C. Oechel, Akso Noormets, Matthias Peichl, Michele L. Reba, Janne Rinne, Dario Papale, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Youngryel Ryu, Torsten Sachs, Karina VR Schäfer, Hans Peter Schmid, Narasinha Shurpali, Oliver Sonnentag, Angela C.I. Tang, Margaret S. Torn, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Carlo Trotta, Masahito Ueyama, Rodrigo Vargas, Timo Vesala, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Zhen Zhang, Donatella ZonaIdentifying dominant environmental predictors of freshwater wetland methane fluxes across diurnal to seasonal time scales
While wetlands are the largest natural source of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere, they represent a large source of uncertainty in the global CH4 budget due to the complex biogeochemical controls on CH4 dynamics. Here we present, to our knowledge, the first multi-site synthesis of how predictors of CH4 fluxes (FCH4) in freshwater wetlands vary across wetland types at diel, multiday (synoptic), andAuthorsSarah Knox, Sheel Bansal, Gavin McNicol, Karina Schafer, Cove Sturtevant, Masahito Ueyama, Alex Valach, Dennis Baldocchi, Kyle B. Delwiche, Ankur R. Desai, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Jinxun Liu, Annalea Lohila, Avni Malhotra, Lulie Melling, William Riley, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Jessica Turner, Rodrigo Vargas, Qing Zhu, Tuula Alto, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Mathias Goeckede, Joe Melton, Oliver Sonnentag, Timo Vesala, Eric Ward, Zhen Zhang, Sarah Feron, Zutao Ouyang, Angela C I Tang, Pavel Alekseychik, Mika Aurela, Gil Bohrer, David I. Campbell, Jiquan Chen, Housen Chu, Higo Dalmagro, Jordan P. Goodrich, Pia Gottschalk, Takashi Hirano, Hiroki Iwata, Gerald Jurasinski, Minseok Kang, Franziska Koebsch, Ivan Mammarella, Mats B. Nilsson, Keisuke Ono, Matthias Peichl, Olli Peltola, Youngryel Ryu, Torsten Sachs, Ayaka Sakabe, Jed Sparks, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, George Vourlitis, Guan X Wong, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Benjamin Poulter, Robert B. JacksonWetland and hydric soils
Soil and the inherent biogeochemical processes in wetlands contrast starkly with those in upland forests and rangelands. The differences stem from extended periods of anoxia, or the lack of oxygen in the soil, that characterize wetland soils; in contrast, upland soils are nearly always oxic. As a result, wetland soil biogeochemistry is characterized by anaerobic processes, and wetland vegetation eAuthorsCarl Trettin, Randall Kolka, Anne Marsh, Sheel Bansal, Eric Lilleskov, Patrick Megonigal, Marla Stelk, Graeme Lockaby, David D'Amore, Richard A. MacKenzie, Brian Tangen, Rodney A. Chimner, James GriesSoil organic carbon stocks and sequestration rates of inland, freshwater wetlands: Sources of variability and uncertainty
Impacts of land use, specifically soil disturbance, are linked to reductions of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. Correspondingly, ecosystem restoration is promoted to sequester SOC to mitigate anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, which are exacerbating global climate change. Restored wetlands have relatively high potential to sequester carbon compared to other ecosystems, but SOC accumulationAuthorsBrian Tangen, Sheel Bansal - News
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government