William D. Bowman

Professor & Director, Mountain Research Station

william.bowman@colorado.edu
303-492-2557
INSTAAR N395, Ramaley N395
Dr. Bowman's home page

Ph.D., Duke University, 1987

Research Interests

Plant ecology, terrestrial ecosystem science. Major areas of research include the nutritional ecology of alpine plants, resource use by plant communities, abiotic and biotic constraints on primary production and nutrient fluxes in alpine ecosystems, and the role of competition/ facilitation in plant communities. Experimental approaches, both in the field and in laboratory growth chambers, are emphasized in addressing research goals.

Recent Publications

Miller, A.E., W.D. Bowman and K.N. Suding.  2007.  Plant uptake of inorganic and organic nitrogen: Neighbor identity matters.  Ecology 88:–1840

Bowman, W.D., J.L. Gartner, K. Holland, and M. Wiedermann.  2006.  Nitrogen critical loads for alpine vegetation and terrestrial ecosystem response – Are we there yet?  Ecological Applications 16: 1183-1193.

Suding, K.N., A.E. Miller, H. Bechtold, and W.D. Bowman.  2006.  The consequence of species loss on ecosystem nitrogen cycling depends on community composition.  Oecologia 149: 141-149.

Bardgett, R.D., W.D. Bowman, R. Kaufmann, and S.K. Schmidt.  2005.  Linking aboveground and belowground ecology: a temporal approach.  Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20: 634-641.

Bowman, W.D., H. Steltzer, T.N. Rosenstiel**, C.C. Cleveland, and C.L. Meier.  2004.  Litter effects of two co-occurring alpine species on plant growth, microbial activity and immobilization of nitrogen.  Oikos 104: 336-344.

Bowman , W.D., H. Steltzer, T.N. Rosenstiel, C.C. Cleveland, and C.L. Meier. 2003. Litter effects of two co-occurring alpine species on plant growth, microbial activity and immobilization of nitrogen. In press, Oikos.

Bowman, W.D. and M Damm.  2002.  Causes and consequences of alpine vascular plant diversity in the Rocky Mountains. pp. 35-47, in Körner, Ch. and E. Spehn (eds.).  Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment.  Pergamon Press.

Neff, J.C., A.R. Townsend, G. Gleixner, S.J. Lehman, J. Turnball, and W.D. Bowman.  2002.  Soil carbon turnover in alpine meadows accelerated by nitrogen additions.  Nature 419: 915–917

Miller, A.E. and W.D. Bowman . 2002. Variation in 15 N natural abundance and nitrogen uptake traits among co-occurring alpine species: do species partition by nitrogen form?. Oecologia 130: 609-616.

Bowman , W.D., D. M. Cairns, J.S. Baron, and T.R. Seastedt. 2002. Islands in the sky: Tundra and treeline. in: Baron, J.S. (ed.) Rocky Mountain Futures: an Ecological Perspective. Island Press.

Bowman , W.D. and M. Damm. 2002. Causes and consequences of vascular plant diversity in the Rocky Mountain alpine. In: Mountain biodiversity: a global assessment,(Ch. Körner and E. Spehn, eds) Parthenon Publishing, London, UK

Bowman , W.D. and T.R. Seastedt (eds). 2001. Structure and Function of an Alpine Ecosystem: Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Oxford University Press.