Breadcrumb

Bio
Plant community ecology; restoration, invasion biology, environmental change, and conservation.
I am a plant community ecologist working at the interface of ecosystem, landscape and population biology. My goal is to apply cutting-edge “usable” science to the challenges of restoration, species invasion, and environmental change. My research group and I work with a range of conservation groups, government agencies and land managers to provide evidence-based solutions that take into account biodiversity, human well-being, and management opportunities. We employ a combination of long-term monitoring, modeling and experimental approaches in settings that range from alpine tundra to oak woodlands to grasslands. Common themes include plant-soil feedbacks, functional traits, species effects on ecosystem processes, and non-linear and threshold dynamics.
Visit the Suding Lab web site.
Education
- PhD: University of Michigan, 1999
- BS: Williams College, 1994
Awards
- Highly Cited Researcher (2016-2019), Web of Science Group, 2019
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2018
- MacArthur Award, Ecological Society of America, 2018
- BFA Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarly and Creative Work, Boulder Faculty Assembly, 2018
- Fellow, Ecological Society of America, 2016
Research
Visit the Suding Lab web site. We are plant community ecologists working at the interface of ecosystem, landscape and population biology. Our goal is to apply cutting-edge science to the challenges of restoration, invasion, and environmental change.
Publications
Recent publications
Plant and microbe contribution to community resilience in a directionally changing environment
Publication Date: 2008-08-01
Type: Journal Article
Historical change in coastal sage scrub in southern California, USA in relation to fire frequency and air pollution
Publication Date: 2008-08-01
Type: Journal Article
Nitrogen preferences and plant-soil feedbacks as influenced by neighbors in the alpine tundra
Publication Date: 2008-06-01
Type: Journal Article
Carbon flux from plants to soil: roots are a below-ground source of phenolic secondary compounds in an alpine ecosystem
Publication Date: 2008-05-01
Type: Journal Article
Scaling environmental change through the community-level: a trait-based response-and-effect framework for plants
Suding KN; Lavorel S; Chapin FS; Cornelissen JHC; Diaz S; Garnier E; Goldberg D; Hooper DU; Jackson ST; Navas M-L...
- Suding KN
- Lavorel S
- Chapin FS
- Cornelissen JHC
- Diaz S
- Garnier E
- Goldberg D
- Hooper DU
- Jackson ST
- Navas M-L
Publication Date: 2008-05-01
Type: Journal Article
SPECIES RESPONSES TO NITROGEN FERTILIZATION IN HERBACEOUS PLANT COMMUNITIES, AND ASSOCIATED SPECIES TRAITSEcological ArchivesE089-070
Cleland EE; Clark CM; Collins SL; Fargione JE; Gough L; Gross KL; Milchunas DG; Pennings SC; Bowman WD; Burke IC...
- Cleland EE
- Clark CM
- Collins SL
- Fargione JE
- Gough L
- Gross KL
- Milchunas DG
- Pennings SC
- Bowman WD
- Burke IC
Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Type: Journal Article
Models of Ecosystem Dynamics as Frameworks for Restoration Ecology
Type: Chapter
Testing the Holy Grail framework: using functional traits to predict ecosystem change
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Frequency-dependence stabilizes competitive interactions among four annual plants
Publication Date: 2007-12-01
Type: Journal Article
Ecosystem responses to water and nitrogen amendment in a California grassland
Publication Date: 2007-11-01
Type: Journal Article
Complementarity as a mechanism of coexistence between functional groups of grasses
Publication Date: 2007-11-01
Type: Journal Article
Environmental and plant community determinants of species loss following nitrogen enrichment
Publication Date: 2007-07-01
Type: Journal Article
Plant uptake of inorganic and organic nitrogen: Neighbor identity matters
Publication Date: 2007-07-01
Type: Journal Article
Phosphorus fertilization stimulates nitrogen fixation and increases inorganic nitrogen concentrations in a restored prairie
Publication Date: 2007-06-01
Type: Journal Article
Leaf dry matter content and lateral spread predict response to land use change for six subalpine grassland species
Publication Date: 2007-04-01
Type: Journal Article
Biotic constraints on the invasion of diffuse knapweed (Centaurea diffusa) in North American grasslands
Publication Date: 2007-04-01
Type: Journal Article
Leaf dry matter content and lateral spread predict response to land use change for six subalpine grassland species
Publication Date: 2007-04-01
Type: Journal Article
Modifying native and exotic species richness correlations: The influence of fire and seed addition
Publication Date: 2006-08-01
Type: Journal Article
The consequence of species loss on ecosystem nitrogen cycling depends on community compensation
Publication Date: 2006-08-01
Type: Journal Article
Nutrient availability does not explain invasion and dominance of a mixed grass prairie by the exotic forb Centaurea diffusa Lam.
Publication Date: 2006-05-01
Type: Journal Article
Plant community responses to experimental warming across the tundra biome
Walker MD; Wahren CH; Hollister RD; Henry GHR; Ahlquist LE; Alatalo JM; Bret-Harte MS; Calef MP; Callaghan TV; Carroll A...
- Walker MD
- Wahren CH
- Hollister RD
- Henry GHR
- Ahlquist LE
- Alatalo JM
- Bret-Harte MS
- Calef MP
- Callaghan TV
- Carroll AB
Publication Date: 2006-01-31
Type: Journal Article
FACTORS AFFECTING UNDERSTORY ESTABLISHMENT IN COASTAL SAGE SCRUB RESTORATION
Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Type: Journal Article
The practice of restoration and the science of ecology
Publication Date: 2005-11-01
Type: Journal Article
Do individual plant species show predictable responses to nitrogen addition across multiple experiments?
Publication Date: 2005-09-01
Type: Journal Article
The effect of recycling on plant competitive hierarchies
Publication Date: 2005-06-01
Type: Journal Article
Pages
Teaching
Courses
- EBIO 6100: Graduate Seminar in Critical Transitions & Resilience
- It is increasingly clear that ecological systems, like many other complex systems, have critical thresholds at which they shift abruptly from one state to another--non-linear transitions that are abrupt and hard to reverse. We will explore the application of complexity theory to such issues as desertification in rangelands, dieback in coral reefs, and turbidly in lakes.
Current postdocs and students
Alumni
Outreach
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