Professor of Ecosystem Science

Ph.D. Indiana University, 1980

W. K. Kellogg Biological Station and
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
Michigan State University
Hickory Corners, MI 49060
Phone: (269) 671-2267; Fax: (269) 671-2351
Email: robertson@kbs.msu.edu

Research Interests

Research in my lab falls under the general heading of terrestrial biogeochemistry, with a particular emphasis on processes that regulate nutrient availability in agricultural and other disturbed ecosystems. Currently my group's research centers on (1) biogenic trace gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems as a function of land use and management, (2) the spatial heterogeneity of nutrient availability in native and managed landscapes, and (3) process-level controls on nitrogen availability. 

• Trace gas fluxes -- in particular fluxes of nitrous oxide and methane -- are important contributors to global warming, but their biological sources and sinks are poorly understood; our research is aimed toward understanding the processes controlling these fluxes at the ecosystem level.
• Spatial heterogeneity is an implicit feature of all ecological phenomena; our interests here center on applying new mathematical approaches to studies of the distribution of soil nutrients and microbes in terrestrial landscapes; these approaches should be useful for highlighting potential controls on processes at different scales. 
• Our investigations of nitrogen availability include examining relationships among soil microbial and invertebrate activity, root uptake and turnover, and soil biological processes and controls on nitrogen loss.  Of particular interest are nitrate and dissolved organic nitrogen leaching, denitrification, and the relationship between nitrogen cycle processes and soil microbial diversity.

Underlying all work in my lab is the general aim of understanding the processes that regulate biogeochemical cycles at scales ranging from the microbial to the global.

Robertson, G. P., V. H. Dale, O. C. Doering, S. P. Hamburg, J. M. Melillo, M. M. Wander, W. J. parton, P. R. Adler, J. N. Barney, R. M. Cruse, C. S. duke, P. M. Fearnside, R. F. Follett, H. K. Gibbs, J. Goldemberg, D. J. Miadenoff, D. Ojima, M. W. Palmer, A. Sharpley, L. Wallace, K. C. Weathers, J. A. Wiens, and W. W. Wilhelm. 2008. Sustainable biofuels redux. Science 322: 49. [PDF]

Robertson, G. P., V. G. Allen, G. Boody, E. R. Boose, N. G. Creamer, L. E. Drinkwater, J. R. Gosz, L. Lynch, J. L. Havlin, L. E. Jackson, S. T. A. Pickett, L. Pitelka, A. Randall, A. S. Reed, T. R. Seastedt, R. B. Waide, and D. H. Wall. 2008. Long-term agricultural research: A research education, and extension imperative. BioScience 58: 640-643. [PDF]

Grandy, A. S., and G. P. Robertson. 2007. Land use intensity effects on soil C accumulation rates and mechanisms. Ecosystems 10: 59-74. [PDF]

Robertson, G. P., L. W. Burger, C. L. Kling, R. Lowrance, and D. J. Mulla. 2007. New approaches to environmental management research at landscape and watershed scales. Pages 27-50 in M. Schnepf, ed. Managing Agricultural Landscapes for Environmental Quality.

Robertson, G.P. and P. Groffman. 2006. Nitrogen transformations. Pages 341-364 in E.A. Paul and F.E. Clark, ed. Soil Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Ecology. Elsevier Academic Press, Oxford, UK.

Grandy, A. S., and G. P. Robertson. 2006. Cultivation of a temperate-region soil at maximum carbon equilibrium immediately accelerates aggregate turnover and CO2 and N2O emissions. Global Change Biology 12: 1507-1520.

Robertson, G. P., and A. S. Grandy. 2006. Soil system management in temperate regions. Pages 27-39 in N. T. Uphoff, ed. Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.

Robertson, G. P., and A. S. Grandy. 2005. Soil system management in temperate regions. Pages 27-39 in N. T. Uphoff, ed. Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA. [PDF]

Suwanwaree, P., and G. P. Robertson. 2005. Methane oxidation in forest, successional, and no-till agricultural ecosystems: Effects of nitrogen and soil disturbance. Soil Science Society of America Journal 69: 1722-1729. [PDF]

McSwiney, C. P., and G. P. Robertson. 2005. Non-linear response of N₂O flux to incremental fertilizer addition in a continuous maize (Zea mays sp.) cropping system. Global Change Biology 11: 1712-1719. [PDF]

Kravchenko, A. N., G. P. Robertson, K. D. Thelen, and R. R. Harwood. 2005. Management, topographical, and weather effects on spatial variability of crop grain yields. Agronomy Journal 97: 514-523. [PDF]

Robertson, G. P., and S. M. Swinton. 2005. Reconciling agricultural productivity and environmental integrity: A grand challenge for agriculture. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 3: 38-46. [PDF]

Robertson, G. P., J. C. Broome, E. A. Chornesky, J. R. Frankenberger, P. Johnson, M. Lipson, J. A. Miranowski, E. D. Owens, D. Pimentel, and L. A. Thrupp. 2004. Rethinking the vision for environmental research in U.S. agriculture. BioScience 54: 61-65.[PDF]

Robertson, G. P. 2004. Abatement of nitrous oxide, methane, and the other non-CO₂ greenhouse gases: The need for a systems approach. Pages 493-506 in C. B. Field and M. R. Raupach, eds. The Global Carbon Cycle. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA. [PDF]

Bergsma, T.T., G. P. Robertson, and N. E. Ostrom. 2002. Influence of soil moisture and land use history on denitrification end-products. Journal of Environmental Quality 31: 711-717. [PDF]

Cavigelli, M. A., and G. P. Robertson. 2001. Role of denitrifier diversity in rates of nitrous oxide consumption in a terrestrial ecosystem. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 33: 297-310. [PDF]

Robertson, G. P., and R. R. Harwood. 2001. Sustainable agriculture. Pages 99-108 in S. A. Levin, ed. Encyclopedia of Biodiversity. Academic Press, New York. [PDF]

Cavigelli, M. A., and G. P. Robertson. 2000. The functional significance of denitrifier community composition in a terrestrial ecosystem. Ecology 81:1402-1414. [PDF]

Robertson, G. P., E. A. Paul, and R. R. Harwood. 2000. Greenhouse gases in intensive agriculture: Contributions of individual gases to the radiative forcing of the atmosphere. Science 289:1922-1925. [PDF]

Robertson, G. P., and E. A. Paul. 2000. Decomposition and soil organic matter dynamics. Pages 104-116 in E. S. Osvaldo, R. B. Jackson, H. A. Mooney, and R. W. Howarth, eds. Methods in Ecosystem Science. Springer Verlag, New York, New York, USA. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P. Denitrification. 2000. Pages C181-190 in M.E. Sumner et al., eds. Handbook of Soil Science. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. [PDF]

Robertson, G. P., C. S. Bledsoe, D. C. Coleman, and P. Sollins, eds. 1999. Standard Soil Methods for Long-Term Ecological Research. Oxford University Press, New York. 

Robertson, G. P., and E. A. Paul. 1998. Ecological research in agricultural ecosystems: contributions to ecosystem science and to the management of agronomic resources. Pages 142-164 in M. L. Pace and P. M. Groffman, eds. Successes, Limitations and Frontiers in Ecosystem Science. Cary Conference VII. Springer-Verlag, NY. [PDF]

Ambus, P., and G. P. Robertson. 1998. Automated near-continuous measurement of CO2 and N2O fluxes with a photoacoustic infra-red spectrometer and flow-through soil cover boxes. Soil Science Society of America Journal 62:394-400. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P. 1997. Nitrogen use efficiency in row crop agriculture: crop nitrogen use and soil nitrogen loss. Pages 347-365 in Ecology in Agriculture, L. Jackson, ed. Academic Press, NY. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P., K.M. Klingensmith, M.J. Klug, E.A. Paul, J.R. Crum, and B.G. Ellis. 1997. Soil resources, microbial activity, and plant productivity across an agricultural ecosystem. Ecological Applications 7:158-170. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P. and D.W. Freckman. 1995. The spatial distribution of nematode trophic groups across a cultivated ecosystem. Ecology 76:1425-1432. [PDF]

Smith, K.A., G.P. Robertson, and J.M. Melillo. 1994. Trace gas exchange between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere in the midlatitudes. pp. 179-204 in R.G. Prinn, ed. Global Atmospheric-Biospheric Chemistry. Plenum Press, NY. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P. and K.L. Gross. 1994. Assessing the heterogeneity of below ground resources: quantifying pattern and scale. Pages 237-253 In M.M. Caldwell and R. Pearcy, eds. Plant Exploitation of Environmental Heterogeneity. Academic Press, New York. [PDF]

Henrot, J. and G.P. Robertson. 1993. Vegetation removal in two soils of the humid tropics: effect on microbial biomass. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 26:111-116. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P., J.R. Crum, and B.G. Ellis. 1993. The spatial variability of soil resources following long-term disturbance. Oecologia 96:451-456. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P. 1993. Fluxes of nitrous oxide and other nitrogen trace gases from intensively managed landscapes: a global perspective. Pages 95-108 in L.A. Harper et al., eds. Agricultural Ecosystem Effects on Trace Gases and Global Climate Change. Am. Soc. Agron., Madison, Wisconsin. [PDF]

Paul, E.A. and G.P. Robertson. 1989. Ecology and the agricultural sciences. Ecology 70:1594-1596. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P. and J.M. Tiedje. 1988. Denitrification in a humid tropical rainforest. Nature 336:756-759. [PDF]

Sollins, P., G.P. Robertson, and G. Uehara. 1988. Nutrient mobility in variable- and permanent-charge soils. Biogeochemistry 6:181-199. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P., M.A. Huston, F.C. Evans and J.M. Tiedje. 1988. Spatial variability in a successional plant community: patterns of nitrogen availability. Ecology 69:1517-1524. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P. and J.M. Tiedje. 1987. Nitrous oxide sources in aerobic soils: nitrification, denitrification, and other biological processes. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 19:187-193. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P. and T. Rosswall. 1986. Nitrogen in West Africa: the regional cycle. Ecological Monographs 56:43-72. [PDF]

Robertson, G.P. 1982. Nitrification in forested ecosystems. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 296:445-457. [PDF]

All Publications