MATTHEW P. WEAND
Graduate Student
Address:
Department of Forestry
214 T.P. Cooper building
Lexington KY 40546-0073
Email: mpwean2@uky.edu
Education:
BS Tufts University 1997
MS Ohio University 2001
Academic Interests:
I am broadly interested in how changing forest composition affects ecosystem processes of nutrient cycling in the Catskill Mountains of New York. As a result of climate change, pests and pathogens, the northern hardwood forest is changing. As species shift, ecosystem level cycling of nutrients may be altered. These changes may be important in predicting soil C storage, watershed N retention, and forest health. Specifically I am interested in how elevated levels of N deposition in the northeast are shifting plant nutrient limitations and the linkages between N- and P cycling. In the context of N deposition, my research includes studies of how individual tree species can be characterized in terms of their N and P cycling characteristics and the microbial communities associated with them. I am investigating the composition of mycorrhizal communities in the northern hardwoods and how these communities are influenced by N deposition. I am also investigating how N deposition affects the activity of soil enzymes involved in the decomposition of litter and linkages between enzyme activities and the formation of soil C fractions.
Advisor:
Dr. Mary Arthur