Collaborators Kurt S. Pregitzer, Andrew Burton & Erik Lilliskov, School of Forest Resources & Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931 Abstract Nitrogen (N) saturation of terrestrial ecosystems is one of the most important contemporary ecological issues. Researchers at Michigan Technological University and the University of Michigan initiated a long-term, replicated (3 replicate plots...
Author: Zaklab
Ecosystem Response to Elevated Tropospheric Carbon Dioxide and Ozone Regulated by Plant-Microbe Interactions in Soil
Collaborator Kurt S. Pregitzer, School of Forest Resources & Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931 Abstract A major uncertainty in predicting ecosystem response to a changing environment is the extent to which increases in plant and ecosystem productivity will be sustained as CO2 continues to accumulate in the Earth’s atmosphere. For example, there...
Ecosystem Science in the Rockies
Co-listed as EARTH450/ENVIRON450 (Summer) The Rocky Mountains are an ideal setting to study the relationships between climate, geology and ecology; all are intertwined to create landscape-level patterns of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems that are readily observable across this climatically and geologically diverse region. The course explores the principles of ecosystem science using field projects in...
Soil Ecology
Co-listed as NRE 430 – ENVIRON 430 – EEB 489 (Fall) Soils are a central component of terrestrial ecosystems. Major emphasis for this course is placed on physical, chemical, and biological properties and their relationships to plant growth and ecosystem processes. Understanding of these soil components is developed using a combination of lectures, field and...
Goodbye to Karl
It’s the last day working in the Zak lab for Karl Romanowicz. Karl, our trusty research tech and in-house Yupper, was accepted into Michigan’s EEB PhD program earlier this year. He will be joining George Kling’s lab this fall and is doing research in Alaska this summer. During his time in the Zak lab Karl...
Peter’s Paper is Out
Peter’s paper on the role of ECM in SOM and N-cycling is out in New Phytologist. It is titled “Ectomycorrhizal fungi and the enzymatic liberation of nitrogen from soil organic matter: why evolutionary history matters” and can be found at doi.org/10.1111/nph.14598. Congrats to Peter!
Commentary for Science
Don is a co-author on a recently published technical comment (Norby et al, Technical comment, January 2017) in Science titled Comment on “Mycorrhizal association as a primary control of the CO2 fertilization effect.” The comment is in response to the publication by Terrer et al. (Reports, 1 July 2016, p. 72) which used meta-analysis of...
Lauren’s Paper is Out
Lauren Cline, a former graduate student in the lab now post-doc at Minnesota, has a publication with our lab that is now published. The manuscript, titled “Soil microbial communities and elk foraging intensity: implications for soil biogeochemical cycling in the sagebrush steppe”, was accepted last year and is now online in Ecology Letters. The link...
Karl’s article in special issue of FEMS
A joint thematic issue of FEMS Microbiology Ecology, FEMS Microbiology Letters and FEMS Microbiology Reviews on Ecology of Soil Microorganisms, edited by Petr Baldrian, Wietse de Boer, Kornelia Smalla and Angela Sessitsch, was published online in December. It included Karl’s article “Active microorganisms in forest soils differ from the total community yet are shaped by the same environmental factors:...
Don Zak Named AAAS Fellow
Don Zak was recently elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in the Biological Sciences section. AAAS fellows are acknowledged for their “efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished” [AAAS statement] and will be honored at the meeting in February. Don is one of...