Ashley Keiser

Human activities have redistributed carbon and nutrients throughout the globe, which have contributed to ecosystem shifts ranging from warming temperatures to prevalence of algal blooms. Plant and soil communities mediate the exchange of these resources. Our ability to predict how atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and other biogeochemical cycles will change over the coming century is critically tied to our ability to mechanistically describe plant and soil community function and interactions.  The goal of my research program is to identify processes that control the exchange of carbon and nutrients between plant and soil communities.