Beth A Middleton, Ph. D.
Beth Middleton is a Research Ecologist at the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.
Wetland function may be altered in the future because of dynamic shifts in droughts, water extraction, water fluctuation, salinity intrusion, CO2 levels, and storm intensity. Populations of species can be extirpated especially by drought, and tree mortality is especially common at the edges of species diestribution ranges during drought. Beth Middleton examines patterns of ecosystem function along latitudinal gradients in baldcypress swamps, monsoonal wetlands, mangrove swamps, northern peatleands, prairie fens, and floodplain wetlands. She has organized symposia, written three books, and edited three special journal volumes, which support multidisciplinary comparisons and research analysis of wetland function. Other research topics include the effects of hurricanes on coastal wetlands, flood pulsing in restoration, and biodiversity loss in fens of Europe, Asia and North America. Middleton maintains a research network of baldcypress swamps (North American Baldcypress Swamp Network) and invites other researchers to work in these study sites dedicated to the study of long term function of swamps in the southeastern US.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Botany, Iowa State University, 1989
Advisors: van der Valk/DavisM.S., University of Minnesota Duluth, 1983
B.S., University of Wisconsin Madison, 1978
Science and Products
Use of sediment amendments to rehabilitate sinking coastal swamp forests in Louisiana
Unique challenges facing Southwestern tribes: Chapter 17
Conservation in an age of climate change
Population genetic structure of a widespread coniferous tree, Taxodium distichum [L.] Rich. (Cupressaceae), in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley and Florida
Global Change and the Function and Distribution of Wetlands
The effects of climate-change-induced drought and freshwater wetlands
Can elevated CO2 modify regeneration from seed banks of floating freshwater marshes subjected to rising sea-level?
Response of salt marsh and mangrove wetlands to changes in atmospheric CO2, climate, and sea-level
Soil warming alters seed-bank responses across the geographic range of freshwater Taxodium distichum (Cupressaceae) swamps
Soil characteristics of sediment-amended baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) swamps of coastal Louisiana
Multidisciplinary approaches to climate change questions
Non-USGS Publications**
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-100X.1995.tb00099.x/abstract
www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2559700.pdf OR www.journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5248088
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Use of sediment amendments to rehabilitate sinking coastal swamp forests in Louisiana
Unique challenges facing Southwestern tribes: Chapter 17
Conservation in an age of climate change
Population genetic structure of a widespread coniferous tree, Taxodium distichum [L.] Rich. (Cupressaceae), in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley and Florida
Global Change and the Function and Distribution of Wetlands
The effects of climate-change-induced drought and freshwater wetlands
Can elevated CO2 modify regeneration from seed banks of floating freshwater marshes subjected to rising sea-level?
Response of salt marsh and mangrove wetlands to changes in atmospheric CO2, climate, and sea-level
Soil warming alters seed-bank responses across the geographic range of freshwater Taxodium distichum (Cupressaceae) swamps
Soil characteristics of sediment-amended baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) swamps of coastal Louisiana
Multidisciplinary approaches to climate change questions
Non-USGS Publications**
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-100X.1995.tb00099.x/abstract
www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2559700.pdf OR www.journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5248088
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.