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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
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

I pursue two main science thrusts: (1) climate change adaptation; and (2) ecosystem carbon cycling, with particular emphasis on soil carbon cycles. Each thrust integrates information, lessons, and perspectives from the other. The climate change thrust includes collaborative research and service as Director of the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS), with responsibility for leading NIACS staff in the development of vulnerability assessments, adaptation strategy and planning documents, and other climate and carbon science delivery in support of natural resource planning, management, and decision making. The carbon cycle thrust encompasses basic research on soil carbon from multiple ecosystems using a variety of tools and methods, creating information about soil carbon movement and stabilization, and conversely, vulnerability to loss by landuse and climate change.

Major NIACS efforts include the

  • Climate Change Response Framework, an integrated set of tools, partnerships, and actions to support climate smart conservation and forest management. Three projects cover over 133 million acres in 9 states, in partnership with over 45 organizations, including 11 National Forests.
  • Climate Change Resource Center, a web-based platform providing relevant, credible information about climate change and adaptation to forest managers. NIACS helps manage the site in close collaboration with all five USFS Research Stations and the Climate Change Advisor?s Office.
  • National Soil Carbon Network, a community-driven network created to enhance communication, collaboration, efficient use of scientific resources, and the advancement of soil carbon research.
  • Radiocarbon Collaborative, a formal partnership between the Forest Service, the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (CAMS), and Michigan Technological University, to support extensive radiocarbon analysis in large scale ecological studies.

In my soil carbon research, 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 and turnover rates. Current collaborative research addresses the primary inputs and flow paths of belowground carbon in eastern oak forests; soil organic matter stabilization in a west-to-east transect across Oregon, with differing forest types, mineralogy, and climate; and the influence of fire and charcoal on forest soil carbon storage and flux.

Why is This Important

Climate is changing and is likely to have increasing impacts on many forests as continues to change. Land managers need specific information, strategies, and tools to address increased societal emphasis on carbon management and the unique challenges of managing forests given uncertainty about the range of future climate and ensuing ecosystem responses. There is thus a clear and pressing need to bridge the gaps between broad-scale climate predictions, academic discussions of ecosystem responses, and actual management activities in forests. My work with NIACS helps bridge those gaps. My isotopic work with soil carbon is much less applied, but it is important to remember that 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; continue studying the roles of fire ecology and different carbon inputs in forest carbon cycles; work with scientists and land managers to assess ecosystem climate vulnerability, plan adaptation actions, and implement those actions on the ground in replicated treatments.

Featured Publications

  • Janowiak, Maria; Butler, Patricia; Swanston, Chris; St. Pierre, Matt; Parker, Linda. 2012. Adaptation illustrations: Chapter 4. In: Swanston, Chris; Janowiak, Maria, eds. 2012. Forest adaptation resources: Climate change tools and approaches for land managers. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-87. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 57-77.
  • Butler, Patricia; Swanston, Chris; Janowiak, Maria; Parker, Linda; St. Pierre, Matt; Brandt, Leslie. 2012. Adaptation strategies and approaches: Chapter 2. In: Swanston, Chris; Janowiak, Maria, eds. Forest adaptation resources: Climate change tools and approaches for land managers. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-87. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 15-34.
  • Janowiak, Maria; Butler, Patricia; Swanston, Chris; Parker, Linda; St. Pierre, Matt; Brandt, Leslie. 2012. Adaptation workbook: Chapter 3. In: Swanston, Chris; Janowiak, Maria, eds. 2012. Forest adaptation resources: Climate change tools and approaches for land managers. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-87. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 35-56.
  • Swanston, Chris; Janowiak, Maria; Butler, Patricia. 2012. Climate change response framework overview: Chapter 1 . In: Swanston, Chris; Janowiak, Maria, eds. Forest adaptation resources: Climate change tools and approaches for land managers. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-87. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 8-14.
  • Brandt, Leslie; Swanston, Chris; Parker, Linda; Janowiak, Maria; Birdsey, Richard; Iverson, Louis; Mladenoff, David; Butler, Patricia. 2012. Climate change science applications and needs in forest ecosystem management: a workshop organized as part of the northern Wisconsin Climate Change Response Framework Project. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-GTR-95. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 53 p.

Additional Online Publications

Other Publications by Chris Swanston *

  • Fröberg, M.; Jardine, P.M.; Hanson, P.J.; Swanston, C.W.; Todd, D.E.; Tarver, J.R.; Garten Jr., C.T. 2007. Low dissolved organic carbon input from fresh litter to deep mineral soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 71(2):347-354.
  • Krull, E.S.; Swanston, C.W.; Skjemstad, J.O.; McGowan, J.A. 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.; Swanston, C.; Kleber, M.; Filley, T.; Kramer, M.; Crow, S.; Caldwell, B.A.; Lajtha, K.; Bowden, R. 2006. Organic C and N stabilization in a forest soil: Evidence from sequential density fractionation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 38(11):3313-3324.
  • Hanson, P.J.; Swanston, C.W.; Garten Jr., C.T.; Todd, D.E.; Trumbore, S.E. 2005. Reconciling change in Oi-horizon carbon-14 with mass loss for an oak forest. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 69(5):1492-1502.
  • Swanston, C.W.; Torn, M.S.; Hanson, P.J.; Southon, J.R.; Garten, C.T.; Hanlon, E.M.; Ganio, L. 2005. Initial characterization of processes of soil carbon stabilization using forest stand-level radiocarbon enrichment. Geoderma. 128(1-2):52-62.
  • Swanston, C.; Homann, P.S.; Caldwell, B.A.; Myrold, D.D.; Ganio, L.; Sollins, P. 2004. Long-term effects of elevated nitrogen on forest soil organic matter stability. Biogeochemistry. 70(2):229-252.
  • Swanston, C.W.; Caldwell, B.A.; Homann, P.S.; Ganio, L.; Sollins, P. 2002. Carbon dynamics during a long-term incubation of separate and recombined density fractions from seven forest soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 34(8):1121-1130.
  • Homann, P.S.; Caldwell, B.A.; Chappell, H.N.; Sollins, P.; Swanston, C.W. 2001. Douglas-fir soil C and N properties a decade after termination of urea fertilization. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 31(12):2225-2236.
  • Sollins, P.; Glassman, C.A.; Paul, E.A.; Swanston, C.; Lajtha, K.; Heil, J.W.; Elliott, E.T. 1999. Soil Carbon and Nitrogen: Pools and Fractions. In: G. P. Robertson, C. S. Bledsoe, D. C. Coleman and P. Sollins, eds. Standard Soil Methods for Long-Term Ecological Research. New York: Oxford University Press. 89-105.
  • Swanston, C.W.; Myrold, D.D. 1998. Evaluation of the stem injection technique and subsequent 15N partitioning in red alder crowns. Plant and Soil. 198(1):63-69.
  • Swanston, C.W.; Myrold, D.D. 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(9):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: 02/15/2012