Summary of Ph.D. Research
Biocrust Fire Meta-Analysis Biocrust ecology is a relatively young field but we have reached the point where there are enough studies to perform comprehensive meta-analyses (yay!). For my first Ph.D. chapter, I performed a meta-analysis on all the published research regarding biocrust recovery from fire. The paper is now published open access in Global Ecology and Conservation. Biocrust Recovery After Fire in a Coastal Grassland Biocrusts are complex communities of micro and macro organisms bound to the soil surface. In addition to increasing the landscape diversity, biocrusts also play a key role in ecosystem function by changing the biogeochemical cycles and influencing vascular plant growth. With this study, I aim to combine field surveys, laboratory measurements, and shotgun metagenomic sequencing to understand how biocrust community composition and function shift after a wildfire and prescribed fire on San Clemente Island. This study is in collaboration with the Soil Ecology and Restoration Group. USGS, and the U.S. Navy. The metagenomics paper is published open access in Microbial Ecology. The field survey has been accepted for publication in Western North American Naturalist. Microbial Response to Simulated Fire Preliminary results of my previous chapters indicated that biocrusts are highly resilient after a fire, meaning the communities recovered to pre-fire community composition and cover within one year after a fire. Due to their ability to withstand desiccating conditions and the ability of some microbes to move in the soil, we hypothesize that some biocrusts microbes may be able to survive a fire and thus recolonize quickly. To test this, we used a simulated burn, microbial culturing techniques, and RNA sequencing. The paper is now published open access as part of a special issue on biocrusts in Frontiers in Microbiology. Future Biocrust Research Interests In the future, I would like to understand how biocrusts are recolonized after pulse disturbances like fire and floods and press disturbances like drought and grazing. Does the type of disturbance change how the biocrusts recover? Specifically, I would like to understand the sources of colonization. Are biocrust microbes recolonizing from the air (both near and far) or from deeper levels of the soil? The answer is likely both. Broad Research Interests Broadly, I am interested in the role of microbes in restoration. Does the restoration of microbes, both passive and active restoration, improve the restoration success of organisms? With my diversity of skills in ecology, microbiology, and now paleontology/geoscience (to an extent), I can perform research in a variety of different environments -- with a preference for soil and terrestrial plants. |