Responsibilities and Interests:

Climate, physiographic and soil variation combine to influence plant fitness and the performance of management practices. My interests lay in assessing cause and extent of such variation on cropping systems performance broadly. I am trained as an applied plant ecologist and have spent most of my plant science life studying aspects of weed ecology with a particular interest in seeing ways such studies would directly benefit farmers through enhancing production efficiency while at the same time identifying practices that offer enhanced environmental protection.

Education:

• B.S., Botany Department, Drew University, 1978
• M.S., Physiological Ecology, Duke University, 1983
• Ph.D., Department of Crop Science/Minor: Soil Science, North Carolina State University, 1987

Selected Publications:

• Mortensen, D.A., Rauschert, E.S.J., and A. Nord. 2009. The role of roads in plant invasions. Invasive Plant Science and Management. (In press).
• Rauschert, E.S.J., D. A. Mortensen, O.N. Bjørnstad, A. Nord and N. Peskin. 2009. Slow spread of the aggressive invader, Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stiltgrass). 2009. Biological Invasions. Accepted.
• Dauer, J., E. Luschei, and D.A. Mortensen. September, 2009. Effects of Glyphosate-Resistant Crop Adoption on the Connectivity of a Landscape: An Herbicide-Resistant Weed Perspective. Landscape Ecology, In press.
• Dauer, J., D.A. Mortensen, M. VanGessel, E. Shields. January, 2009. Conyza canadensis seed ascent in the lower atmosphere. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 149:526–534.
• Scott A. Isard, David A. Mortensen, Shelby J. Fleischer and Erick D. De Wolf. 2008. Application of Aerobiology to IPM, pp. 90–106. In Integrated Pest Management Systems. Cambridge Press.
• Dauer, J., D.A. Mortensen, and M. VanGessel. 2007. Spatial and temporal dynamics governing long distance dispersal of Conyza canadensis. J. Applied Ecology, 44:105–114.
• Burton, M.G., D.A. Mortensen, and J.L. Lindquist. 2006. Effect of cultivation and within-field differences in soil conditions on feral Helianthus annuus growth in ridge-tillage maize. Soil & Tillage Research 88:8–15.
• Dauer, J., D.A. Mortensen, and R. Humston. 2006. Controlled experiments to predict horseweed (Conyza canadensis) dispersal distances. Weed Science 54:484–489.
• Burton, M.G., D.A. Mortensen, D.B. Marx, and J.L. Lindquist. 2004. Factors affecting the realized niche of common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) in ridge-tillage corn. Weed Science 52:779–787.
• Humston, R., D.A. Mortensen, and O.N. Bjørnstad. 2005. Anthropogenic forcing on the spatial dynamics of an agricultural weed: the case of the common sunflower. J. Applied Ecology 42, 863–872.
• Burton, M.G., D.A. Mortensen, and D.B. Marx. 2005. Environmental characteristics affecting Helianthus annuus distribution in a maize production system. Agric. Ecosyst. Envir. 111, 30–40.
• Peskin, N, D.A. Mortensen, B.P. Jones, and M.R. Booher. 2005. Grass-selective herbicides improve diversity of sites infested with Japanese stiltgrass. Ecological Restoration 23, 1–2.
• Hilgenfeld, K.L., A.R. Martin, D.A. Mortensen, and S.C. Mason. 2004. Weed management in a glyphosate resistant soybean system: weed species shifts (Glycine max). Weed Technology. 18:284–291.
• Mortensen, D.A., L. Bastiaans and M. Sattin. 2000. The role of ecology in developing weed management systems: an outlook. Weed Research 40:49–62.