Steven D. AllisonAssistant Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Assistant Professor (Joint Appt.), Earth System Science |
|
|
Research Interests |
Microbial enzymes, theoretical ecology, and biogeochemistry | |
| URL | Lab Website | |
|
Academic Distinctions |
Postdoctoral Research Excellence Award, UCI School of Biological Sciences, 2006 NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2005 Outstanding Student Paper Award, 2004 AGU Fall Meeting US DOE Global Change Education Program Fellowship, 2002 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 1999 Morris K. Udall Scholarship for Excellence in Environmental Public Policy, 1998 |
|
| Appointments | 2005-2007 Postdoctoral Scholar in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology/Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine | |
|
Research Abstract |
I use molecular, biochemical, and theoretical approaches to understand how microbes regulate ecosystem processes. A major focus in my research is to model and empirically test the factors that drive extracellular enzyme production by microbes. These enzymes are critical because they catalyze the break-down of complex organic matter in many environments. They are also interesting ecologically because they represent a primary foraging strategy for many taxa of bacteria and fungi. Therefore extracellular enzymes provide a unique opportunity to link microbial, evolutionary, and ecosystem processes. Another goal of my lab is to incorporate microbial communities and processes into large-scale biogeochemical models. Predictions of ecosystem response to global change depend on an accurate representation of the microbial mechanisms that drive biogeochemical cycles. Global changes under investigation in the lab include climate warming, nitrogen deposition, and species invasions. |
|
| Publications |
26. Cornwell, W. K., J. H. C. Cornelissen, S. D. Allison, J. Bauhus, P. Eggleton, C. M. Preston, F. Scarff, J. T. Weedon, C. Wirth, A. E. Zanne. in press. Plant traits and wood fates across the globe—rotted, burned, or consumed? Global Change Biology. 25. Allison, S. D., D. S. LeBauer, M. R. Ofrecio, R. Reyes, A.-M. Ta, and T. M. Tran. 2009. Low levels of nitrogen addition stimulate decomposition by boreal forest fungi. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 41:293-302. 24. Allison, S. D., and K. K. Treseder. 2008. Warming and drying suppress microbial activity and carbon cycling in boreal forest soils. Global Change Biology 14:2898-2909. 23. Hanson, C. A., S. D. Allison, M. A. Bradford, M. D. Wallenstein, and K. K. Treseder. 2008. Fungal taxa target different carbon sources in forest soil. Ecosystems 11:1157-1167. 22. Talbot, J. M., S. D. Allison, and K. K. Treseder. 2008. Decomposers in disguise: mycorrhizal fungi as regulators of soil C dynamics in ecosystems under global change. Functional Ecology 22:955-963. 21. Sinsabaugh, R. L., C. L. Lauber, M. N. Weintraub, B. Ahmed, S. D. Allison, C. Crenshaw, A. R. Contosta, D. Cusack, S. Frey, M. E. Gallo, T. B. Gartner, S. E. Hobbie, K. Holland, B. L. Keeler, J. S. Powers, M. Stursova, C. Takacs-Vesbach, M. P. Waldrop, M. D. Wallenstein, D. R. Zak, and L. H. Zeglin. 2008. Stoichiometry of soil enzyme activity at global scale. Ecology Letters 11:1252-1264. 20. Cornwell, W. K., J. H. C. Cornelissen, K. Amatangelo, E. Dorrepaal, V. T. Eviner, O. Godoy, S. E. Hobbie, B. Hoorens, H. Kurokawa, N. Perez Harguindeguy, H. M. Quested, L. S. Santiago, D. A. Wardle, I. J. Wright, R. Aerts, S. D. Allison, P. van Bodegom, V. Brovkin, A. Chatain, T. Callaghan, S. Díaz, E. Garnier, D. E. Gurvich, E. Kazakou, J. A. Klein, J. Read, P. B. Reich, N. A. Soudzilovskaia, M. V. Vaieretti, and M. Westoby. 2008. Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide. Ecology Letters 11:1065-1071. 19. Allison, S. D., and J. B. H. Martiny. 2008. Resistance, resilience, and redundancy in microbial communities. PNAS 105 (Suppl. 1):11512-11519 18. Treseder, K. K., C. I. Czimczik, S. E. Trumbore, and S. D. Allison. 2008. Uptake of an amino acid by ectomycorrhizal fungi in a boreal forest. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 40:1964-1966. 17. Allison, S. D., C. I. Czimczik, and K. K. Treseder. 2008. Microbial activity and soil respiration under nitrogen addition in Alaskan boreal forest. Global Change Biology 14:1156-1168. 16. Allison, S. D., C. A. Hanson, and K. K. Treseder. 2007. Nitrogen fertilization reduces diversity and alters community structure of active fungi in boreal ecosystems. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 39:1878-1887. 15. Allison, S. D., T. B. Gartner, K. Holland, M. Weintraub, and R. L. Sinsabaugh. 2007. Soil enzymes: linking proteomics and ecological process. pp 704-711, Manual of Environmental Microbiology, 3rd Edition. ASM Press. 14. Allison, S. D. 2006. Brown ground: a soil carbon analog for the Green World Hypothesis? American Naturalist 167:619-627. 13. Allison, S. D. 2006. Soil minerals and humic acids alter enzyme stability: implications for ecosystem processes. Biogeochemistry 81:361-373. 12. Allison, S. D., and J. D. Jastrow. 2006. Activities of extracellular enzymes in physically isolated fractions of restored grassland soils. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 38:3245-3256. 11. Allison, S. D., C. B. Nielsen, and R. F. Hughes. 2006. Elevated enzyme activities in soils under the invasive nitrogen-fixing tree Falcataria moluccana. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 38:1537-1544. 10. Allison, S. D. 2005. Cheaters, diffusion, and nutrients constrain decomposition by microbial enzymes in spatially structured environments. Ecology Letters 8:626-635. 9. Allison, S. D., and P. M. Vitousek. 2005. Responses of extracellular enzymes to simple and complex nutrient inputs. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 37:937-944. 8. Allison, S. D. 2005. Tropical Forest Diversity and Dynamism - Book Review. Quarterly Review of Biology 80:262. 7. Allison, S. D., and J. C. Schultz. 2005. Biochemical responses of chestnut oak to a galling cynipid. Journal of Chemical Ecology 31:151-166. 6. Allison, S. D., and P. M. Vitousek. 2004. Rapid nutrient cycling in leaf litter from invasive species in Hawai’i. Oecologia 141:612-619. 5. Allison, S. D., and P. M. Vitousek. 2004. Extracellular enzyme activities and carbon chemistry as drivers of tropical plant litter decomposition. Biotropica 36:285-296. 4. Allison, S. D., and J. C. Schultz. 2004. Differential activity of peroxidase isozymes in response to wounding, gypsy moth, and plant hormones in northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.). Journal of Chemical Ecology 30:1363-1379. 3. Pauw, A., S. A. Van Bael, H. A. Peters, S. D. Allison, J. L. C. Camargo, M. Cifuentes-Jara, A. Conserva, T. G. Restom, T. Heartsill-Scalley, S. A. Mangan, G. Nunez-Iturri, E. Rivera-Ocasio, M. Rountree, S. Vetter, and C. V. de Castilho. 2004. Physical damage in relation to carbon allocation strategies of tropical forest tree saplings. Biotropica 63:410-413. 2. Vitousek, P. M., O. A. Chadwick, P. A. Matson, S. Allison, L. A. Derry, L. Kettley, A. Luers, E. Mecking, V. Monastra, and S. Porder. 2003. Erosion and the rejuvenation of weathering-derived nutrient supply in an old tropical landscape. Ecosystems 6:762-772. 1. Vitousek, P. M., S. Hättenschwiler, L. Olander, and S. Allison. 2002. Nitrogen and nature. Ambio 31:97-101. |
|
|
Professional Societies |
Ecological Society of America American Geophysical Union Sigma Xi |
|
| Link to this profile | http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5422 | |
| Last updated | 03/17/2009 | |