My research has focused on the
interaction between plants and their resources, broadly defined from plant
adaptations to low resource availability to how plants influence soils and
subsequently ecosystem function. Over the past decade my work has concentrated
on the interaction between alpine plants and nutrients, examining the response
of plants to low nutrient supply, as well as the influence that plants
have on their nutrient environment. Because of the
tremendous variation in soil resource availability associated with landscape
topographic and microclimatic diversity, and the accompanying variation in
biotic diversity, the alpine is an excellent system to address questions
of plant-soil interactions. Over the past 10 years my lab has addressed
questions of resource limitations to primary production in alpine
communities, the role of competition in community composition, the role of
symbiotic N2-fixation in the alpine N cycle and
its influence on species diversity, and plant species influences on N cycling.
Examples of some of the ongoing research my students and I are doing include
determining the influence of plant secondary chemistry on nutrient
cycling and on competitive interactions, the use of various forms of N
(NO3-, NH4+,
and small amino acids) by plants as a means of meeting growth requirements
and avoiding competitive interactions, and the influence of soil age on P
biogeochemistry in alpine landscapes.
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