Brooke Propson, a PhD student at the University of Wisconsin, whom works in Zac Freedman’s lab (former Zak lab post-doc), studied the ecosystem response and recovery after the long-term elevated nitrogen treatment was stopped. There is also a natural gradient of ambient N deposition due to human activity at these sites, as well. The study...
Author: Rima Upchurch
Zak lab paper out!
Sam Schaffer-Morrison, former SEAS student and current PhD in EEB at Michigan, has a review out with Don that argues that functional traits of mycorrhizal fungi should be included for consideration when belowground functional traits are being examined. These are incredibly important symbionts could add key mechanistic factors for plant performance (via nutrient uptake) if...
Forest Ecology Out!
A revised 5th edition of Forest Ecology (ISBN 1119476089) is out now! Don is one of the co-authors. It has been 25 years since the previous edition and the authors wanted to retain the overall focus from the previous edition (ecosystem level), but update the text to include information about new ecological concepts and methods,...
Will’s paper is out
Will Argiroff, former PhD student in SEAS, has a new paper out titled “Fungal community composition and genetic potential regulate fine root decay in northern temperate forests” that examined if fine root litter (~50% total litter production in forest ecosystems and fairly recalcitrant) decayed more rapidly when fungal communities have more genes that are known...
Welcome Morgan!
Morgan McPherson is jointly joining the Zak lab and Ibanez lab (SEAS) for an NSF-funded post-doc to study arbuscular mycorrhizae in our sites in the Manistee National Forest. She comes to us from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she studied AMF in agroecosystems. Welcome Morgan!!
Congrats Will!
Congratulations to Will Argiroff for completing his dissertation in SEAS! Will has been in and around the lab for many years, starting as an undergrad working with one of our postdocs (Zac Freedman), then as research technician doing crazy amounts of qPCR and finally as a PhD student. Will’s work for his PhD research broadly...
Yay Jennifer!
Congratulations to Jennifer Wen for successfully completing her thesis to earn her MS from SEAS! Jennifer started in the lab fall 2020 and managed to complete her thesis despite all the hurdles from pandemic restrictions and supply issues alongside all the usual unexpected issues for environmental research. I feel like there should be a special...
Assessing the Contribution of Nitrogen from Soil Organic Matter on Plant Growth Response to Elevated Carbon Dioxide
Collaborators Inés Ibáñez & Donald Zak, School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Summary Forests have the capacity to mitigate global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in plant tissues. However, plant uptake of carbon dioxide is controlled by the availability of other resources, like nitrogen,...
Wes Bickford’s paper is out!
A former member of the Zak lab has recently published a paper, titled “Plant effects on and response to soil microbes in native and non-native Phragmites australis” in Ecology. The aim of the study was to examine if Plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs) mediate plant community dynamics with specific focus on if this could contribute to plant...
Postdoc Position Available
The Soils Lab is looking to hire a new postdoc to work on an upcoming NSF-funded research project. Please read the following announcement below for requirements and inquiries. Postdoctoral Research Associate Microbial Ecology and Plant Physiology A postdoctoral research position is available immediately to study the contribution of organic N via mycorrhizal fungi on plant...