Brooke B Osborne, Ph.D.
Dr. Brooke Osborne is an ecologist who combines terrestrial ecosystem ecology, biogeochemistry, and microbial ecology to better understand how carbon and nutrient cycling influence key ecosystem processes and how global change may impact ecosystem function.
Brooke seeks to better understand 1) what drives carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, 2) how the availability of carbon and nutrients influence key ecosystem processes and functions, 3) how ecosystem dynamics may shift as a consequence of global change, and 4) how we can improve our management practices to mitigate those consequences. Brooke is currently studying the vulnerability of dryland ecosystems in the western U.S. to pressure from increasing drought severity and land use practices.
Education
Ph.D. in Ecology, Brown University (August 2013-May 2019)
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Providence, RI
Advised by Stephen Porder
M.S. in Ecology, Colorado State University (August 2009-December 2011)
Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Fort Collins, CO
Advised by Jill S. Baron
Honors and Fellowships
Brown University/Wheaton College Faculty Fellow, Fall 2018
Brown University EEB Department Dissertation Improvement Grant, Fall 2018
New Phytologist Best Student Presentation Award, ESA Annual Meeting 2017
Science and Products
Ecological property data and experimental lab incubation results from a long-term nitrogen deposition simulation experiment in three semi-arid grasslands, Arches National Park, Utah, USA, 2013-2019
These data were compiled to understand the responses of dryland ecosystem properties to long-term simulated atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Objective(s) of our study were to uncover any changes in soil biogeochemistry and ecosystem properties to long-term nitrogen amendments. These data represent ecosystem property data compiled over the nine-year history of a nitrogen deposition...
Hotspots of biogeochemical activity linked to aridity and plant traits across global drylands
Perennial plants create productive and biodiverse hotspots, known as fertile islands, beneath their canopies. These hotspots largely determine the structure and functioning of drylands worldwide. Despite their ubiquity, the factors controlling fertile islands under conditions of contrasting grazing by livestock, the most prevalent land use in drylands, remain virtually unknown. Here we...
Authors
David J. Eldridge, Jingyi Ding, Josh Dorrough, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Osvaldo E. Sala, Nicolas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Max Mallen-Cooper, Hugo Saiz, Sergio Asensio, Victoria Ochoa, Beatriz Gozalo, Emilio Guirado, Miguel Garcia-Gomez, Enrique Valencia, Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, César Plaza, Mehdi Abedi, Negar Ahmadian, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Julio M. Alcántara, Fateh Amghar, Luísa Azevedo, Farah Ben Salem, Miguel Berdugo, Niels Blaum, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Donaldo Bran, Chongfeng Bu, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy, Ignacio Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Simone Cesarz, Roukaya Chibani, Abel Augusto Conceição, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, Yvonne C. Davila, Balázs Deák, Paloma Díaz-Martínez, David A. Donoso, Andrew J. Dougill, Jorge Durán, Nico Eisenhauer, Hamid Ejtehadi, Carlos Ivan Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Ana Foronda, Jorgelina Franzese, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Juan J. Gaitán, Katja Geissler, Sofía Laura Gonzalez, Elizabeth Gusmán-Montalván, Rosa Mary Hernández, Norbert Hölzel, Frederic Mendes Hughes, Oswaldo Jadan, Anke Jentsch, Mengchen Ju, Kudzai F. Kaseke, Melanie Köbel, Anika Lehmann, Pierre Liancourt, Anja Linstädter, Michelle A. Louw, Quanhui Ma, Mancha Mabaso, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Eugene Marais, Mitchel P. McClaran, Betty J. Mendoza, Vincent Mokoka, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth Munson, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Gaston R. Oñatibia, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Guadalupe Peter, Pierre Margerie, Yolanda Pueyo, Raul Emiliano Quiroga, Sasha Reed, Ana Rey, Pedro J. Rey, Víctor Manuel Reyes Gómez, Victor Rolo, Matthias C. Rillig, Peter C. le Roux, Jan Christian Ruppert, Ayman Salah, Phokgedi Julius Sebei, Anarmaa Sharkhuu, Ilan Stavi, Colton R. A. Stephens, Alberto L. Teixido, Andrew David Thomas, Katja Tielbörger, Silvia Torres Robles, Samantha K. Travers, Orsolya Valkó, Liesbeth van den Brink, Frederike Velbert, Andreas von Heßberg, Wanyoike Wamiti, Deli Wang, Lixin Wang, Glenda M Wardle, Laura Yahdjian, Eli Zaady, Yuanming Zhang, Xiaobing Zhou, Fernando T. Maestre
Trajectories and tipping points of piñon–juniper woodlands after fire and thinning
Piñon–juniper (PJ) woodlands are a dominant community type across the Intermountain West, comprising over a million acres and experiencing critical effects from increasing wildfire. Large PJ mortality and regeneration failure after catastrophic wildfire have elevated concerns about the long-term viability of PJ woodlands. Thinning is increasingly used to safeguard forests from fire and...
Authors
Michala Lee Phillips, Cara Marie Lauria, Tova Spector, John Bradford, Catherine A. Gehring, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Armin J. Howell, Edmund E. Grote, Renée Rondeau, Gillian Trimber, Benjamin Robinson, Sasha Reed
Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally
Drought has well-documented societal and economic consequences. Climate change is expected to intensify drought to even more extreme levels, but because such droughts have been historically rare, their impact on ecosystem functioning is not well known. We experimentally imposed the most frequent type of intensified drought—one that is ~1 y in duration—at 100 grassland and shrubland sites...
Authors
Melinda D. Smith, Kate Wilkins, Martin C. Holdrege, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Scott M. Collins, Alan K. Knapp, Osvaldo E. Sala, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Richard A. Phillips, Laura Yahdjian, Laureano A. Gherardi, Timothy Ohlert, Claus Beier, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Anke Jentsch, Michael E. Loik, Fernando T. Maestre, Sally A. Power, Qiang Yu, Andrew J. Felton, Seth Munson, Yiqi Luo, Hamed Abdoli, Mehdi Abedi, Concepcion L. Alados, Juan Alberti, Moshe Alon, Hui An, Brian Anacker, Maggie Anderson, Harald Auge, Seton Bachle, Khadijeh Bahalkeh, Michael Bahn, Amgaa Batbaatar, Taryn Bauerle, Karen H. Beard, Kai Behn, Ilka Beil, Lucio Biancari, Irmgard Blindow, Viviana Florencia Bondaruk, Elizabeth T. Borer, Edward W. Bork, Carlos Martin Bruschetti, Kerry M. Byrne, James M. Cahill, Dianela A. Calvo, Michele Carbognani, Augusto Cardoni, Cameron N. Carlyle, Miguel Castillo-Garcia, Scott X. Chang, Jeff Chieppa, Marcus V. Cianciaruso, Ofer Cohen, Amanda L. Cordeiro, Daniela F. Cusack, Sven Dahlke, Pedro Daleo, Carla M. D'Antonio, Lee H. Dietterich, Tim S. Doherty, Maren Dubbert, Anne Ebling, Nico Eisenhauer, Felícia M. Fischer, T'ai G. W. Forte, Tobias Gebauer, Beatriz Gozalo, Aaron C. Greenville, Karlo G. Guidoni-Martins, Heather J. Hannusch, Siri Vatsø Haugum, Yann Hautier, Mariet Hefting, Hugh A. L. Henry, Daniela Hoss, Johannes Ingrisch, Oscar Iribarne, Forest Isbell, Yari Johnson, Samuel E. Jordan, Eugene F. Kelly, Kaitlin Kimmel, Juergen Kreyling, György Kröel-Dulay, Alicia Kröpfl, Angelika Kübert, Andrew Kulmatiski, Eric G. Lamb, Klaus Steenberg Larsen, Julie E. Larson, Jason Lawson, Cintia V. Leder, Anja Linstädter, Jielin Liu, Shirong Liu, Alexandra G. Lodge, Grisel Longo, Alejandro Loydi, Junwei Luan, Frederick Curtis Lubbe, Craig Macfarlane, Kathleen Mackie-Haas, Andrey V. Malyshev, Adrián Maturano-Ruiz, Thomas Merchant, Daniel J. Metcalfe, Akira S. Mori, Edwin Mudongo, Gregory S. Newman, Uffe N. Nielsen, Dale Nimmo, Yujie Niu, Paola Nobre, Rory O'Connor, Romà Ogaya, Gaston R. Oñatibia, Ildikó Orbán, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Rafael Otfinowski, Meelis Partel, Josep Peñuelas, Pablo Luis Peri, Guadalupe Peter, Alessandro Petraglia, Catherine Picon-Cochard, Valério D. Pillar, Juan Manuel Piñeiro-Guerra, Laura W. Ploughe, Robert M. Plowes, Cristy Portales-Reyes, Suzanne M. Prober, Yolanda Pueyo, Sasha Reed, Euan G. Ritchie, Dana Aylén Rodríguez, William P. Rogers, Christiane Roscher, Ana V. Sanchez, Bráulio Santos, María Cecilia Scarfó, Eric W. Seabloom, Baoku Shu, Lara Souza, Andreas Stampfli, Rachel J. Standish, Marcelo Sternberg, Wei Sun, Marie Sünnemann, Michelle Tedder, Pål Thorvaldsen, Dashuan Tian, Katja Tielbörger, Alejandro Valdecantos, Liesbeth van den Brink, Vigdis Vandvik, Mathew R. Vankoughnett, Liv Guri Velle, Changhui Wang, Yi Wang, Glenda M Wardle, Christiane Werner, Cunzheng Wei, Georg Wiehl, Jennifer M. Williams, Amelia A. Wolf, Michaela Zeiter, Fawei Zhang, Juntao Zhu, Ning Zong, Xiaoan Zuo
Restoration research actions to address rapid change in drylands: Insights from the Colorado Plateau
The rapid intensification of ecological extremes in response to climate change and human land use is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in drylands, including the semiarid region of the Colorado Plateau in the southwestern United States. Here, we describe research directions to aid in the restoration of Colorado Plateau ecosystems during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030)...
Authors
Kristina E. Young, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Michala Lee Phillips, Daniel E. Winkler
The consequences of climate change for dryland biogeochemistry
Drylands, which cover more than 40% of Earth’s terrestrial surface, are dominant drivers of global biogeochemical cycling and home to more than one third of the human population. Climate projections predict warming, drought frequency and severity, and evaporative demand will increase in drylands at faster rates than global means. Due to extreme temperatures and high biological dependency...
Authors
Brooke Bossert Osborne, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Courtney M. Currier, Peter M Homyak, Heather L. Throop, Kristina E. Young, Sasha Reed
Biogeochemical and ecosystem properties in three adjacent semiarid grasslands are resistant to nitrogen deposition but sensitive to edaphic variability
Drylands have low nitrogen stocks and are predicted to be sensitive to modest increases in reactive nitrogen availability, but direct evidence that atmospheric nitrogen deposition will have sustained effects on dryland ecosystems is sparse and conflicting.We used three long-running in situ nitrogen deposition simulation experiments and a complementary laboratory incubation experiment to...
Authors
Brooke Bossert Osborne, Carla M. Roybal, Robin H. Reibold, Christopher D Collier, Erika L. Geiger, Michala Lee Phillips, Michael N Weintraub, Sasha Reed
Nutrient identity modifies the destabilising effects of eutrophication in grasslands
Nutrient enrichment can simultaneously increase and destabilise plant biomass production, with co-limitation by multiple nutrients potentially intensifying these effects. Here, we test how factorial additions of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium with essential nutrients (K+) affect the stability (mean/standard deviation) of aboveground biomass in 34 grasslands over 7 years...
Authors
Oliver Carroll, Evan Batzer, Siddharth Bharath, Elizabeth T. Borer, Sofía Campana, Ellen Esch, Yann Hautier, Timothy Ohlert, Eric W. Seabloom, Peter H. Adler, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori A. Biederman, Miguel N. Bugalho, Maria Caldeira, Qingqing Chen, Kendi F. Davies, Philip A. Fay, Johannes MH Knops, Kimberly J Komatsu, Jason P. Martina, Kevin S. McCann, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Taofeek O. Muraina, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Anita C. Risch, Carly J. Stevens, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Laura Yahdjian, Andrew S. MacDougall
Muted responses to chronic experimental nitrogen deposition on the Colorado Plateau
Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition is significantly altering both community structure and ecosystem processes in terrestrial ecosystems across the globe. However, our understanding of the consequences of N deposition in dryland systems remains relatively poor, despite evidence that drylands may be particularly vulnerable to increasing N inputs. In this study, we investigated the...
Authors
Michala Lee Phillips, Daniel E. Winkler, Robin H. Reibold, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Sasha Reed
Moisture and temperature controls on nitrification differ among ammonia oxidizer communities from three alpine soil habitats
Climate change is altering the timing and magnitude of biogeochemical fluxes in many high elevation ecosystems. The consequent changes in alpine nitrification rates have the potential to influence ecosystem scale responses. In order to better understand how changing temperature and moisture conditions may influence ammonia oxidizers and nitrification activity, we conducted laboratory...
Authors
Brooke Bossert Osborne, Jill Baron, Matthew D. Wallenstein
Linking microbial community structure and microbial processes: An empirical and conceptual overview
A major goal of microbial ecology is to identify links between microbial community structure and microbial processes. Although this objective seems straightforward, there are conceptual and methodological challenges to designing studies that explicitly evaluate this link. Here, we analyzed literature documenting structure and process responses to manipulations to determine the frequency...
Authors
R.L. Bier, Emily. S Bernhardt, Claudia M. Boot, Emily B. Graham, Edward K. Hall, Jay T. Lennon, Diana R. Nemergut, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Clara Ruiz-Gonzalez, Joshua P. Schimel, Mark P. Waldrop, Matthew D. Wallenstein
Non-USGS Publications**
Phillips, M.L., D.E. Winkler, R.H. Reibold, B.B. Osborne, S.C. Reed. 2021. Muted responses to chronic experimental nitrogen deposition on the Colorado Plateau. Oecologia. 195(2)
Osborne, B.B., M.K. Nasto, F.M. Soper, G.P. Asner, C.S. Balzotti, C.C. Cleveland, P.G. Taylor, A.R. Townsend, S. Porder. 2020. Leaf litter inputs reinforce islands of nitrogen fertility in a lowland tropical forest. Biogeochemistry. 147(3)
Soper, F.M., B.W. Sullivan, B.B. Osborne, A.N. Shaw, L. Philippot, C.C.
Cleveland. 2018. Leaf-cutter ants engineer hot spots of nitrous oxide emissions in
tropical forests. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 286(1894), 20182045
Cleveland. 2018. Leaf-cutter ants engineer hot spots of nitrous oxide emissions in
tropical forests. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 286(1894), 20182045
Soper, F.M., M.K. Nasto, B.B. Osborne, C.C. Cleveland. 2018. Nitrogen fixation
and foliar nitrogen do not predict phosphorus acquisition strategies in tropical
trees. Journal of Ecology. 107(1), 118-126
and foliar nitrogen do not predict phosphorus acquisition strategies in tropical
trees. Journal of Ecology. 107(1), 118-126
Soper, F.M., B.W. Sullivan, M.K. Nasto, B.B. Osborne, D. Bru, C.S. Balzotti,
P.G. Taylor, G.P. Asner, A.R. Townsend, L. Philippot, S. Porder, C.C. Cleveland.
2018. Remotely-sensed canopy nitrogen correlated with nitrous oxide emissions
in a lowland tropical rainforest. Ecology. 99(9), 2080-2089
P.G. Taylor, G.P. Asner, A.R. Townsend, L. Philippot, S. Porder, C.C. Cleveland.
2018. Remotely-sensed canopy nitrogen correlated with nitrous oxide emissions
in a lowland tropical rainforest. Ecology. 99(9), 2080-2089
Hall, E.K., E.S. Bernhardt, R. Bier, M.A. Bradford, C.M. Boot, J.B. Cotner, P.A.
del Giorgio, S.E. Evans, E.B. Graham, S.E. Jones, J.T. Lennon, K. Locey, D.
Nemergut, B.B. Osborne, J.D. Rocca, J.S. Schimel, M.S. Waldrop, M.W.
Wallenstein. 2018. Understanding how microbiomes influence the systems they
inhabit: moving from a correlative to a causal research framework. bioRxiv
del Giorgio, S.E. Evans, E.B. Graham, S.E. Jones, J.T. Lennon, K. Locey, D.
Nemergut, B.B. Osborne, J.D. Rocca, J.S. Schimel, M.S. Waldrop, M.W.
Wallenstein. 2018. Understanding how microbiomes influence the systems they
inhabit: moving from a correlative to a causal research framework. bioRxiv
Nasto, M.K., B.B. Osborne, Y. Lekberg, G.P. Asner, C.S. Balzotti, S. Porder,
P.G. Taylor, A.R. Townsend, C.C. Cleveland. 2017. Nutrient acquisition, soil
phosphorus partitioning, and competition among trees in a lowland tropical rain
forest. New Phytologist. 214(4), 1506-1517
P.G. Taylor, A.R. Townsend, C.C. Cleveland. 2017. Nutrient acquisition, soil
phosphorus partitioning, and competition among trees in a lowland tropical rain
forest. New Phytologist. 214(4), 1506-1517
Osborne, B.B., M.K. Nasto, G.P. Asner, C.S. Balzotti, C.C. Cleveland, B.W.
Sullivan, P.G. Taylor, A.R. Townsend, S. Porder. 2017. Climate, topography, and
canopy chemistry exert hierarchical control over soil N cycling in a Neotropical
lowland forest. Ecosystems. 20(6), 1089-1103
Sullivan, P.G. Taylor, A.R. Townsend, S. Porder. 2017. Climate, topography, and
canopy chemistry exert hierarchical control over soil N cycling in a Neotropical
lowland forest. Ecosystems. 20(6), 1089-1103
Conant, R.T., C.E.P. Cerri, B.B. Osborne, K. Paustian. 2017. Grassland
management impacts on soil carbon stocks: a new synthesis. Ecological
Applications. 27(2), 662-668
management impacts on soil carbon stocks: a new synthesis. Ecological
Applications. 27(2), 662-668
Balzotti, C.S., G.P. Asner, P.G. Taylor, R. Cole, B.B. Osborne, C.C. Cleveland,
S. Porder, A.R. Townsend. 2017. Topographic distributions of emergent trees in
tropical forests of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Ecography. 40(7), 829-839
S. Porder, A.R. Townsend. 2017. Topographic distributions of emergent trees in
tropical forests of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Ecography. 40(7), 829-839
Balzotti, C.S., G.P. Asner, P.G. Taylor, C.C. Cleveland, R. Cole, R.E. Martin,
M.K. Nasto, B.B. Osborne, S. Porder, A.R. Townsend. 2016. Environmental
controls on canopy foliar N distributions in a Neotropical lowland
forest. Ecological Applications. 26(8), 2451-2464
M.K. Nasto, B.B. Osborne, S. Porder, A.R. Townsend. 2016. Environmental
controls on canopy foliar N distributions in a Neotropical lowland
forest. Ecological Applications. 26(8), 2451-2464
Osborne, B.B., J.S. Baron, M.D. Wallenstein. 2016. Moisture and temperature
controls on nitrification differ among ammonia oxidizer communities from three
alpine soil habitats. Frontiers of Earth Science. 10(1), 1-12
controls on nitrification differ among ammonia oxidizer communities from three
alpine soil habitats. Frontiers of Earth Science. 10(1), 1-12
Bier, R.L., E.S. Bernhardt, C.M. Boot, E.B. Graham, E.K. Hall, J.T. Lennon, D.R.
Nemergut, B.B. Osborne, C. Ruiz-González, J.P. Schimel, M.P. Waldrop, M.D.
Wallenstein. 2015. Linking microbial community structure and microbial
processes: an empirical and conceptual overview. FEMS Microbiology Ecology.
91(10)
Nemergut, B.B. Osborne, C. Ruiz-González, J.P. Schimel, M.P. Waldrop, M.D.
Wallenstein. 2015. Linking microbial community structure and microbial
processes: an empirical and conceptual overview. FEMS Microbiology Ecology.
91(10)
**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
Ecological property data and experimental lab incubation results from a long-term nitrogen deposition simulation experiment in three semi-arid grasslands, Arches National Park, Utah, USA, 2013-2019
These data were compiled to understand the responses of dryland ecosystem properties to long-term simulated atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Objective(s) of our study were to uncover any changes in soil biogeochemistry and ecosystem properties to long-term nitrogen amendments. These data represent ecosystem property data compiled over the nine-year history of a nitrogen deposition...
Hotspots of biogeochemical activity linked to aridity and plant traits across global drylands
Perennial plants create productive and biodiverse hotspots, known as fertile islands, beneath their canopies. These hotspots largely determine the structure and functioning of drylands worldwide. Despite their ubiquity, the factors controlling fertile islands under conditions of contrasting grazing by livestock, the most prevalent land use in drylands, remain virtually unknown. Here we...
Authors
David J. Eldridge, Jingyi Ding, Josh Dorrough, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Osvaldo E. Sala, Nicolas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Max Mallen-Cooper, Hugo Saiz, Sergio Asensio, Victoria Ochoa, Beatriz Gozalo, Emilio Guirado, Miguel Garcia-Gomez, Enrique Valencia, Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, César Plaza, Mehdi Abedi, Negar Ahmadian, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Julio M. Alcántara, Fateh Amghar, Luísa Azevedo, Farah Ben Salem, Miguel Berdugo, Niels Blaum, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Donaldo Bran, Chongfeng Bu, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy, Ignacio Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Simone Cesarz, Roukaya Chibani, Abel Augusto Conceição, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, Yvonne C. Davila, Balázs Deák, Paloma Díaz-Martínez, David A. Donoso, Andrew J. Dougill, Jorge Durán, Nico Eisenhauer, Hamid Ejtehadi, Carlos Ivan Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Ana Foronda, Jorgelina Franzese, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Juan J. Gaitán, Katja Geissler, Sofía Laura Gonzalez, Elizabeth Gusmán-Montalván, Rosa Mary Hernández, Norbert Hölzel, Frederic Mendes Hughes, Oswaldo Jadan, Anke Jentsch, Mengchen Ju, Kudzai F. Kaseke, Melanie Köbel, Anika Lehmann, Pierre Liancourt, Anja Linstädter, Michelle A. Louw, Quanhui Ma, Mancha Mabaso, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Eugene Marais, Mitchel P. McClaran, Betty J. Mendoza, Vincent Mokoka, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth Munson, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Gaston R. Oñatibia, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Guadalupe Peter, Pierre Margerie, Yolanda Pueyo, Raul Emiliano Quiroga, Sasha Reed, Ana Rey, Pedro J. Rey, Víctor Manuel Reyes Gómez, Victor Rolo, Matthias C. Rillig, Peter C. le Roux, Jan Christian Ruppert, Ayman Salah, Phokgedi Julius Sebei, Anarmaa Sharkhuu, Ilan Stavi, Colton R. A. Stephens, Alberto L. Teixido, Andrew David Thomas, Katja Tielbörger, Silvia Torres Robles, Samantha K. Travers, Orsolya Valkó, Liesbeth van den Brink, Frederike Velbert, Andreas von Heßberg, Wanyoike Wamiti, Deli Wang, Lixin Wang, Glenda M Wardle, Laura Yahdjian, Eli Zaady, Yuanming Zhang, Xiaobing Zhou, Fernando T. Maestre
Trajectories and tipping points of piñon–juniper woodlands after fire and thinning
Piñon–juniper (PJ) woodlands are a dominant community type across the Intermountain West, comprising over a million acres and experiencing critical effects from increasing wildfire. Large PJ mortality and regeneration failure after catastrophic wildfire have elevated concerns about the long-term viability of PJ woodlands. Thinning is increasingly used to safeguard forests from fire and...
Authors
Michala Lee Phillips, Cara Marie Lauria, Tova Spector, John Bradford, Catherine A. Gehring, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Armin J. Howell, Edmund E. Grote, Renée Rondeau, Gillian Trimber, Benjamin Robinson, Sasha Reed
Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally
Drought has well-documented societal and economic consequences. Climate change is expected to intensify drought to even more extreme levels, but because such droughts have been historically rare, their impact on ecosystem functioning is not well known. We experimentally imposed the most frequent type of intensified drought—one that is ~1 y in duration—at 100 grassland and shrubland sites...
Authors
Melinda D. Smith, Kate Wilkins, Martin C. Holdrege, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Scott M. Collins, Alan K. Knapp, Osvaldo E. Sala, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Richard A. Phillips, Laura Yahdjian, Laureano A. Gherardi, Timothy Ohlert, Claus Beier, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Anke Jentsch, Michael E. Loik, Fernando T. Maestre, Sally A. Power, Qiang Yu, Andrew J. Felton, Seth Munson, Yiqi Luo, Hamed Abdoli, Mehdi Abedi, Concepcion L. Alados, Juan Alberti, Moshe Alon, Hui An, Brian Anacker, Maggie Anderson, Harald Auge, Seton Bachle, Khadijeh Bahalkeh, Michael Bahn, Amgaa Batbaatar, Taryn Bauerle, Karen H. Beard, Kai Behn, Ilka Beil, Lucio Biancari, Irmgard Blindow, Viviana Florencia Bondaruk, Elizabeth T. Borer, Edward W. Bork, Carlos Martin Bruschetti, Kerry M. Byrne, James M. Cahill, Dianela A. Calvo, Michele Carbognani, Augusto Cardoni, Cameron N. Carlyle, Miguel Castillo-Garcia, Scott X. Chang, Jeff Chieppa, Marcus V. Cianciaruso, Ofer Cohen, Amanda L. Cordeiro, Daniela F. Cusack, Sven Dahlke, Pedro Daleo, Carla M. D'Antonio, Lee H. Dietterich, Tim S. Doherty, Maren Dubbert, Anne Ebling, Nico Eisenhauer, Felícia M. Fischer, T'ai G. W. Forte, Tobias Gebauer, Beatriz Gozalo, Aaron C. Greenville, Karlo G. Guidoni-Martins, Heather J. Hannusch, Siri Vatsø Haugum, Yann Hautier, Mariet Hefting, Hugh A. L. Henry, Daniela Hoss, Johannes Ingrisch, Oscar Iribarne, Forest Isbell, Yari Johnson, Samuel E. Jordan, Eugene F. Kelly, Kaitlin Kimmel, Juergen Kreyling, György Kröel-Dulay, Alicia Kröpfl, Angelika Kübert, Andrew Kulmatiski, Eric G. Lamb, Klaus Steenberg Larsen, Julie E. Larson, Jason Lawson, Cintia V. Leder, Anja Linstädter, Jielin Liu, Shirong Liu, Alexandra G. Lodge, Grisel Longo, Alejandro Loydi, Junwei Luan, Frederick Curtis Lubbe, Craig Macfarlane, Kathleen Mackie-Haas, Andrey V. Malyshev, Adrián Maturano-Ruiz, Thomas Merchant, Daniel J. Metcalfe, Akira S. Mori, Edwin Mudongo, Gregory S. Newman, Uffe N. Nielsen, Dale Nimmo, Yujie Niu, Paola Nobre, Rory O'Connor, Romà Ogaya, Gaston R. Oñatibia, Ildikó Orbán, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Rafael Otfinowski, Meelis Partel, Josep Peñuelas, Pablo Luis Peri, Guadalupe Peter, Alessandro Petraglia, Catherine Picon-Cochard, Valério D. Pillar, Juan Manuel Piñeiro-Guerra, Laura W. Ploughe, Robert M. Plowes, Cristy Portales-Reyes, Suzanne M. Prober, Yolanda Pueyo, Sasha Reed, Euan G. Ritchie, Dana Aylén Rodríguez, William P. Rogers, Christiane Roscher, Ana V. Sanchez, Bráulio Santos, María Cecilia Scarfó, Eric W. Seabloom, Baoku Shu, Lara Souza, Andreas Stampfli, Rachel J. Standish, Marcelo Sternberg, Wei Sun, Marie Sünnemann, Michelle Tedder, Pål Thorvaldsen, Dashuan Tian, Katja Tielbörger, Alejandro Valdecantos, Liesbeth van den Brink, Vigdis Vandvik, Mathew R. Vankoughnett, Liv Guri Velle, Changhui Wang, Yi Wang, Glenda M Wardle, Christiane Werner, Cunzheng Wei, Georg Wiehl, Jennifer M. Williams, Amelia A. Wolf, Michaela Zeiter, Fawei Zhang, Juntao Zhu, Ning Zong, Xiaoan Zuo
Restoration research actions to address rapid change in drylands: Insights from the Colorado Plateau
The rapid intensification of ecological extremes in response to climate change and human land use is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in drylands, including the semiarid region of the Colorado Plateau in the southwestern United States. Here, we describe research directions to aid in the restoration of Colorado Plateau ecosystems during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030)...
Authors
Kristina E. Young, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Michala Lee Phillips, Daniel E. Winkler
The consequences of climate change for dryland biogeochemistry
Drylands, which cover more than 40% of Earth’s terrestrial surface, are dominant drivers of global biogeochemical cycling and home to more than one third of the human population. Climate projections predict warming, drought frequency and severity, and evaporative demand will increase in drylands at faster rates than global means. Due to extreme temperatures and high biological dependency...
Authors
Brooke Bossert Osborne, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Courtney M. Currier, Peter M Homyak, Heather L. Throop, Kristina E. Young, Sasha Reed
Biogeochemical and ecosystem properties in three adjacent semiarid grasslands are resistant to nitrogen deposition but sensitive to edaphic variability
Drylands have low nitrogen stocks and are predicted to be sensitive to modest increases in reactive nitrogen availability, but direct evidence that atmospheric nitrogen deposition will have sustained effects on dryland ecosystems is sparse and conflicting.We used three long-running in situ nitrogen deposition simulation experiments and a complementary laboratory incubation experiment to...
Authors
Brooke Bossert Osborne, Carla M. Roybal, Robin H. Reibold, Christopher D Collier, Erika L. Geiger, Michala Lee Phillips, Michael N Weintraub, Sasha Reed
Nutrient identity modifies the destabilising effects of eutrophication in grasslands
Nutrient enrichment can simultaneously increase and destabilise plant biomass production, with co-limitation by multiple nutrients potentially intensifying these effects. Here, we test how factorial additions of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium with essential nutrients (K+) affect the stability (mean/standard deviation) of aboveground biomass in 34 grasslands over 7 years...
Authors
Oliver Carroll, Evan Batzer, Siddharth Bharath, Elizabeth T. Borer, Sofía Campana, Ellen Esch, Yann Hautier, Timothy Ohlert, Eric W. Seabloom, Peter H. Adler, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori A. Biederman, Miguel N. Bugalho, Maria Caldeira, Qingqing Chen, Kendi F. Davies, Philip A. Fay, Johannes MH Knops, Kimberly J Komatsu, Jason P. Martina, Kevin S. McCann, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Taofeek O. Muraina, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Anita C. Risch, Carly J. Stevens, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Laura Yahdjian, Andrew S. MacDougall
Muted responses to chronic experimental nitrogen deposition on the Colorado Plateau
Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition is significantly altering both community structure and ecosystem processes in terrestrial ecosystems across the globe. However, our understanding of the consequences of N deposition in dryland systems remains relatively poor, despite evidence that drylands may be particularly vulnerable to increasing N inputs. In this study, we investigated the...
Authors
Michala Lee Phillips, Daniel E. Winkler, Robin H. Reibold, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Sasha Reed
Moisture and temperature controls on nitrification differ among ammonia oxidizer communities from three alpine soil habitats
Climate change is altering the timing and magnitude of biogeochemical fluxes in many high elevation ecosystems. The consequent changes in alpine nitrification rates have the potential to influence ecosystem scale responses. In order to better understand how changing temperature and moisture conditions may influence ammonia oxidizers and nitrification activity, we conducted laboratory...
Authors
Brooke Bossert Osborne, Jill Baron, Matthew D. Wallenstein
Linking microbial community structure and microbial processes: An empirical and conceptual overview
A major goal of microbial ecology is to identify links between microbial community structure and microbial processes. Although this objective seems straightforward, there are conceptual and methodological challenges to designing studies that explicitly evaluate this link. Here, we analyzed literature documenting structure and process responses to manipulations to determine the frequency...
Authors
R.L. Bier, Emily. S Bernhardt, Claudia M. Boot, Emily B. Graham, Edward K. Hall, Jay T. Lennon, Diana R. Nemergut, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Clara Ruiz-Gonzalez, Joshua P. Schimel, Mark P. Waldrop, Matthew D. Wallenstein
Non-USGS Publications**
Phillips, M.L., D.E. Winkler, R.H. Reibold, B.B. Osborne, S.C. Reed. 2021. Muted responses to chronic experimental nitrogen deposition on the Colorado Plateau. Oecologia. 195(2)
Osborne, B.B., M.K. Nasto, F.M. Soper, G.P. Asner, C.S. Balzotti, C.C. Cleveland, P.G. Taylor, A.R. Townsend, S. Porder. 2020. Leaf litter inputs reinforce islands of nitrogen fertility in a lowland tropical forest. Biogeochemistry. 147(3)
Soper, F.M., B.W. Sullivan, B.B. Osborne, A.N. Shaw, L. Philippot, C.C.
Cleveland. 2018. Leaf-cutter ants engineer hot spots of nitrous oxide emissions in
tropical forests. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 286(1894), 20182045
Cleveland. 2018. Leaf-cutter ants engineer hot spots of nitrous oxide emissions in
tropical forests. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 286(1894), 20182045
Soper, F.M., M.K. Nasto, B.B. Osborne, C.C. Cleveland. 2018. Nitrogen fixation
and foliar nitrogen do not predict phosphorus acquisition strategies in tropical
trees. Journal of Ecology. 107(1), 118-126
and foliar nitrogen do not predict phosphorus acquisition strategies in tropical
trees. Journal of Ecology. 107(1), 118-126
Soper, F.M., B.W. Sullivan, M.K. Nasto, B.B. Osborne, D. Bru, C.S. Balzotti,
P.G. Taylor, G.P. Asner, A.R. Townsend, L. Philippot, S. Porder, C.C. Cleveland.
2018. Remotely-sensed canopy nitrogen correlated with nitrous oxide emissions
in a lowland tropical rainforest. Ecology. 99(9), 2080-2089
P.G. Taylor, G.P. Asner, A.R. Townsend, L. Philippot, S. Porder, C.C. Cleveland.
2018. Remotely-sensed canopy nitrogen correlated with nitrous oxide emissions
in a lowland tropical rainforest. Ecology. 99(9), 2080-2089
Hall, E.K., E.S. Bernhardt, R. Bier, M.A. Bradford, C.M. Boot, J.B. Cotner, P.A.
del Giorgio, S.E. Evans, E.B. Graham, S.E. Jones, J.T. Lennon, K. Locey, D.
Nemergut, B.B. Osborne, J.D. Rocca, J.S. Schimel, M.S. Waldrop, M.W.
Wallenstein. 2018. Understanding how microbiomes influence the systems they
inhabit: moving from a correlative to a causal research framework. bioRxiv
del Giorgio, S.E. Evans, E.B. Graham, S.E. Jones, J.T. Lennon, K. Locey, D.
Nemergut, B.B. Osborne, J.D. Rocca, J.S. Schimel, M.S. Waldrop, M.W.
Wallenstein. 2018. Understanding how microbiomes influence the systems they
inhabit: moving from a correlative to a causal research framework. bioRxiv
Nasto, M.K., B.B. Osborne, Y. Lekberg, G.P. Asner, C.S. Balzotti, S. Porder,
P.G. Taylor, A.R. Townsend, C.C. Cleveland. 2017. Nutrient acquisition, soil
phosphorus partitioning, and competition among trees in a lowland tropical rain
forest. New Phytologist. 214(4), 1506-1517
P.G. Taylor, A.R. Townsend, C.C. Cleveland. 2017. Nutrient acquisition, soil
phosphorus partitioning, and competition among trees in a lowland tropical rain
forest. New Phytologist. 214(4), 1506-1517
Osborne, B.B., M.K. Nasto, G.P. Asner, C.S. Balzotti, C.C. Cleveland, B.W.
Sullivan, P.G. Taylor, A.R. Townsend, S. Porder. 2017. Climate, topography, and
canopy chemistry exert hierarchical control over soil N cycling in a Neotropical
lowland forest. Ecosystems. 20(6), 1089-1103
Sullivan, P.G. Taylor, A.R. Townsend, S. Porder. 2017. Climate, topography, and
canopy chemistry exert hierarchical control over soil N cycling in a Neotropical
lowland forest. Ecosystems. 20(6), 1089-1103
Conant, R.T., C.E.P. Cerri, B.B. Osborne, K. Paustian. 2017. Grassland
management impacts on soil carbon stocks: a new synthesis. Ecological
Applications. 27(2), 662-668
management impacts on soil carbon stocks: a new synthesis. Ecological
Applications. 27(2), 662-668
Balzotti, C.S., G.P. Asner, P.G. Taylor, R. Cole, B.B. Osborne, C.C. Cleveland,
S. Porder, A.R. Townsend. 2017. Topographic distributions of emergent trees in
tropical forests of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Ecography. 40(7), 829-839
S. Porder, A.R. Townsend. 2017. Topographic distributions of emergent trees in
tropical forests of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Ecography. 40(7), 829-839
Balzotti, C.S., G.P. Asner, P.G. Taylor, C.C. Cleveland, R. Cole, R.E. Martin,
M.K. Nasto, B.B. Osborne, S. Porder, A.R. Townsend. 2016. Environmental
controls on canopy foliar N distributions in a Neotropical lowland
forest. Ecological Applications. 26(8), 2451-2464
M.K. Nasto, B.B. Osborne, S. Porder, A.R. Townsend. 2016. Environmental
controls on canopy foliar N distributions in a Neotropical lowland
forest. Ecological Applications. 26(8), 2451-2464
Osborne, B.B., J.S. Baron, M.D. Wallenstein. 2016. Moisture and temperature
controls on nitrification differ among ammonia oxidizer communities from three
alpine soil habitats. Frontiers of Earth Science. 10(1), 1-12
controls on nitrification differ among ammonia oxidizer communities from three
alpine soil habitats. Frontiers of Earth Science. 10(1), 1-12
Bier, R.L., E.S. Bernhardt, C.M. Boot, E.B. Graham, E.K. Hall, J.T. Lennon, D.R.
Nemergut, B.B. Osborne, C. Ruiz-González, J.P. Schimel, M.P. Waldrop, M.D.
Wallenstein. 2015. Linking microbial community structure and microbial
processes: an empirical and conceptual overview. FEMS Microbiology Ecology.
91(10)
Nemergut, B.B. Osborne, C. Ruiz-González, J.P. Schimel, M.P. Waldrop, M.D.
Wallenstein. 2015. Linking microbial community structure and microbial
processes: an empirical and conceptual overview. FEMS Microbiology Ecology.
91(10)
**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.