A. Center/Institute/Program

Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory/Colorado State University

Fort Collins, CO 80523-1499

Phone: 970-491-1982

Fax: 970-491-3945

E-mail: jcmoore@nrel.colostate.edu

Web Page: http://www.nrel.colostate.edu

Director/Chairperson: Dr. John Moore

Representative to AERC: Dr. John Moore

Alternate: Dr. Jeff Hicke

B. Major objectives of the Center/Institute/Program

Combine state-of-the-art field and laboratory studies with modeling to understand major processes that affect ecosystem structure and function.

C. Major ecosystem research emphases

NREL’s goal is to bring scientific knowledge to bear on issues of global and regional environmental sustainability through long term response of ecosystems to global change, the functioning of agricultural ecosystems, linkages between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems, the interactions of plants and animals, the role of humans in ecosystems, and the synthesis and modeling of knowledge gained from ecosystem studies.

D. Staff

Permanent scientific staff: Core research scientists: 25, Non-core research scientists: 16

Affiliated scientists: 16

Scientific support staff: Houses at NREL: 56, Housed outside NREL: 5

Other support staff: Administrative: 5, Accounting: 4

Graduate students: PhD: 29, MS: 11

E. Approximate annual funding (recent year)

Core funding: $395,000/yr, Source: Colorado State University

Grants: $6,872,362/yr, Major sources: NSF, USDA, USDI, NASA, EPA, Colorado Department of Wildlife, and other universities and foundations.

F. Areas and facilities for ecosystem research studies

Central Plains Experimental Joint Facility for Regional Ecosystem Range, LTER Shortgrass Steppe, NSF Biological Facilities Center; Nunn, Colorado Campus, Colorado State University, 3600 ha.

G. Research staff directly involved in ecosystem research (names and specialty areas)

Core Member of NREL

Baron, J. – biogeochemistry, ecology

Boone, R.B. – wildlife science, ecological modeling

Conant, R. – ecosystem ecology

Coughenour, M.D. – systems ecology

Elliott, E.T. – agro-ecosystems

Ellis, J.E. – ecosystem analysis

Galvin, K.A. – human ecology

Gross, J.E. – animal ecology

Hanan, N. – biosphere-atmosphere interactions

Hobbs, N.T. – animal ecology

Hunt, H.W. – ecosystem analysis

Kalkhan, M. – biometrics, remote sensing

Milchunas, D.G. – plant/animal interactions

Moore, J. – soil ecology

Ogle, S.M. – ecosystem science

Ojima, D. – biogeochemistry

Pagani, M. – carbon cycling

Parton, W. J., Jr. – biometeorology, systems ecology

Paul, E. A. – microbial ecology

Paustian, K.H. – agroecosystems

Singer, F. – plant, animal resources

Six, J. – soil science, soil ecology

Slusser, J. – ultraviolet radiation monitoring

Stohlgren T. – global change

Swift, D.M. – soil biodiversity and function

Theobald, D. – land use change, landscape ecology

Wall, D.H. – soil biodiversity and function

Welker, J.M. – physiological plant ecology

Non-Core Member of NREL

Broos, E. – soil ecology, nematology, Antarctica

Chong, G. – fire and landscape ecology

DelGrosso, S. – climate change, agro-ecosystems, ecosystem modeling

Gao, W. – atmospheric/vegetation canopy radiation transfer modeling

Hicke, J. – global ecology and carbon cycle

Landrum, L. – watershed and ecological modeling, climate and land use change

Lubow, B.C. – population modeling and parameter estimation

Manier, D. – plant ecology, landscape dynamics

Merritt, D. – riparian plant ecology, invasive species

Moore, J. – soil ecology

Nkem, J. – soil ecology, soil biodiversity

Ratnum, J. – community ecology, biogeography, plant-animal interactions

Reid, R. – systems landscape ecology

Sankaran, M. – plant/animal interactions, diversity-ecosystem function relationships

Simmons, C. – fire ecology, global change

VonFischer, J.C. – climate-biology interactions

Wang, G. – wildlife ecology and conservation

Affiliated Member of NREL

Binkley, D.E. – forest biogeochemistry

Burke, I.C. – biogeochemistry

Cole, C.V. – soil chemistry

Covich, A. – freshwater and tropical ecosystems

Detling, J.K. – ecosystem analysis

Gibson, J.H. – chemistry, ecology

Holland, E.A. – biogeochemistry

Kittel, T. – land atmosphere interactions

Lauenroth, W.K. – grassland ecosystem analysis

Mosier, A. – nitrogen cycling, global change

Peters, D. – plant community dynamics

Pielke, R., Sr. – mesoscale modeling, weather forecasting

Sanford, R.L., Jr. – biogeochemistry, forest ecosystems

Schimel, D.S. – biogeochemistry, land-atmosphere interactions

Woodmansee, R.G. – ecosystem analysis

H. Long-term data sets (code name, number of years of data, computer accessibility)

1. Meteorological, herbage, arthropod and small mammal data sets from both the IBP and LTER projects.

2. Ultraviolet-B broad band measurements and multi-filter rotating shadowband radiometers at 7 wave lengths, at 10 nm bandwidths are available from a variety of sites beginning in 1993. The majority of these data sets are in computer-readable form.

3. Loch Vale Watershed (LVWS) Meteorology, hydrology, water quality (since 1983), species lists (algae since 1995), available as CSV files at: http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/projects/lvws/pages/homepage.htm.