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You are here: NRS Home / Scientists & Staff / Chris Swanston
Scientists & Staff

[image:] Chris Swanston Chris Swanston

Title: Research Ecologist
Unit: Climate, Fire, and Carbon Cycle Sciences
Previous Unit: Belowground Processes that Sustain Productivity & Ecosystem Function in Northern Forests
Address: Northern Research Station
410 MacInnes Dr
Houghton, MI 49931
Phone: (906) 482-6303 x20
E-mail: Contact Chris Swanston

Jump to Publications

Education

  • Ph.D. in Forest Science, Oregon State University, 2000.
  • M.S. in Forest Science, Oregon State University, 1996.
  • B.S. in Forest Ecology and Soils (NRPI), Humboldt State University, 1993.

Civic & Professional Affiliations

Current Research

My focus is on a crucial link in carbon management: soil carbon storage and flux. I study how organic debris (carbon) enters forest soil and is subsequently stabilized or "lost," and how this varies with forest ecology, soil mineralogy, management, natural disturbance, and climate. Much of my work uses different isotopes of carbon (14C, 13C) to increase the sensitivity of estimates of carbon flux. I am currently engaged in the following collaborative research:

  • Primary inputs and flow paths of belowground carbon in eastern oak forests (The Enriched Background Isotope Study).
  • The nature and sources of dissolved organic carbon in a coastal grassland chronosequence with changes in season and depth.
  • Soil organic matter stabilization in a transect with differing forest types, mineralogy, and climate in the Pacific Northwest.
  • The mechanistic role of nitrogen in the long-term stabilization of carbon as influenced by mineralogy.
  • The influence of fire and charcoal on forest soil carbon storage and flux.

Why is This Important

Soil carbon is a fundamental component of forest productivity and structure, strongly influencing soil fertility, resistance to erosion and compaction, and water storage and availability. Soil carbon also plays a large role in global fluxes of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. Globally, there is at least twice as much carbon in the soil as in the atmosphere, and two thirds of forest carbon is in the soil. Understanding the forms and fate of forest soil carbon can help us predict, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of disturbance at wide spatial and temporal scales.

Future Research

In future research I hope to: study the effects of invasive soil organisms on the carbon distribution and fluxes in northeastern forest soils; characterize the influence of highly intensive forest management (for bioenergy) on soil carbon stocks; continue studying the roles of fire ecology and different carbon inputs in forest carbon cycles.

Featured Publications

Other Publications by Chris Swanston *

  • Fröberg, M., P.M. Jardine, P.J. Hanson, C.W. Swanston D.E. Todd, J.R. Tarver, and C.T. Garten Jr. (2007). Low dissolved organic carbon input from fresh litter to deep mineral soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 71:347-354.
  • Krull, E.S., C.W. Swanston, J.O. Skjemstad, and J.A. McGowan. 2006. The importance of charcoal in determining the age and chemistry of organic carbon in surface soils. Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeochemistry, 111:G04001, DOI:10.1029/2006JG000194.
  • Sollins, P., C.A. Glassman, E.A. Paul, C. Swanston, K. Lajtha, J.W. Heil, and E.T. Elliott. 1999. Soil Carbon and Nitrogen: Pools and Fractions, p. 89-105, In G. P. Robertson, C. S. Bledsoe, D. C. Coleman and P. Sollins, eds. Standard Soil Methods for Long-Term Ecological Research, First ed. Oxford University Press, New York.
  • Swanston, C.W., M.S. Torn, P.J. Hanson, J.R. Southon, C.T. Garten, E.M. Hanlon, and L. Ganio. 2005. Characterizing processes of soil carbon stabilization using forest stand-level radiocarbon enrichment. Geoderma, 128:52-62.
  • Hanson P.J., C.W. Swanston, C.T. Garten Jr., D.E. Todd, and S.E. Trumbore. 2005. Reconciling Change in Oi-Horizon 14C With Mass Loss for an Oak Forest. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 69:1492-1502.
  • Swanston, C.W., P.S. Homann, B.A. Caldwell, D.D. Myrold, L. Ganio, and P. Sollins. 2004. Long-term effects of elevated nitrogen on forest soil organic matter stability. Biogeochemistry, 70(2): 229-252.
  • Swanston, C.W., B.A. Caldwell, P.S. Homann, L. Ganio, and P. Sollins. 2002. Carbon dynamics during a long-term incubation of separate and recombined density fractions from seven forest soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 34:1121-1130.
  • Homann, P.S., B.A. Caldwell, H.N. Chappell, P. Sollins, and C.W. Swanston. 2001. Douglas-fir soil C and N properties a decade after termination of urea fertilization. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 31:2225-2236.
  • Sollins, P., C.W. Swanston, M. Kleber, T. Filley, M. Kramer, S. Crow, B.A. Caldwell, K. Lajtha, and R. Bowden (2006). Organic C and N stabilization in a forest soil: evidence from sequential density fractionation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 38:3313-3324.
  • Swanston, C.W., and D.D. Myrold. 1998. Evaluation of the stem injection technique and subsequent 15N partitioning in red alder crowns. Plant and Soil, 198:63-69.
  • Swanston, C.W., and D.D. Myrold. 1997. Incorporation of nitrogen from decomposing red alder leaves into plants and soil of a recent clearcut in Oregon. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 27:1496-1502.

*Due to policy or copyright restrictions, we are unable to provide full-text versions of these publications. Please check with your local library or Contact Chris Swanston to inquire about reprints.

Last Modified: 11/19/2008