Responsibilities and Interests:

Research in my lab focuses on feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems and environmental change. Many of these feedbacks are driven by changes in biogeochemical cycles, i.e. changes in the storage and movement of energy and nutrients in the Earth system. We are particularly interested in the nitrogen cycle, which is greatly influenced locally and globally by land use and land management practices. We use principles of ecology and biogeochemistry to understand the flow and fate of nitrogen at scales ranging from individual microbial processes, to whole ecosystems and landscapes, to regions. Ultimately this knowledge should 1) increase our basic understanding of ecosystem element cycles, 2) help minimize nitrogen losses from managed ecosystems, 3) help us understand how nitrogen losses from managed ecosystems affect and are attenuated by unmanaged ecosystems. The research often measures interactions between nitrogen cycling and ecosystem carbon balance to understand how global changes in carbon and nitrogen cycling are linked. Some current projects include:

• Stable nitrogen retention in soils: Over the last several decades, research on nitrogen cycling in soils has been hampered by at least two factors: 1) almost all research has focuses on the relatively small pool of “plant-available” nitrogen that is cycled rapidly among plants and soil microorganisms, and 2) research on nitrogen cycling has been discipline specific, with agronomists working on agricultural fields where N is lost, and ecologists working in forests where (formerly) agricultural N is redeposited from the atmosphere. I am currently seeking a students and a postdoc to conduct research measuring the capacity of stable soil N pools to retain N across several landuse types in the northeast, including row-crop agriculture, pastures, harvested forests, and unmanaged forest ecosystems. The overall hypothesis being tested is that variability in N loss and retention among these ecosystems is determined by the capacity of soil to rapidly stabilize N. This research is funded by Penn State and by a grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation.
• Effects of N and C deposition from urban atmospheres on desert ecosystems: This NSF funded research is based in Phoenix, AZ. We are measuring the impact of urban N and organic C emissions on the functioning of near-urban desert ecosystems using a series of manipulative and observational field and laboratory experiments. Research in the Kaye lab focuses on determining the mechanisms of N and organic C incorporation into soil organic matter.
• Carbon cycling in ponderosa pine forests: This USDA funded research is based in northern Arizona, near Flagstaff. The goal is to quantify the impact of wildfire and forest restoration practices (thinning and prescribed burning) on the forest carbon cycle. Part of this research uses measurements of CO₂ within and above the forest canopy to infer net ecosystem C exchange with the atmosphere (eddy covariance towers), and our role is to provide land-based measurements of tree growth and soil CO₂ flux to compare with eddy covariance measurements.

Education:

• Ph.D., Ecology, Colorado State University, 2000
• M.S., Forestry, Northern Arizona University, 1997
• B.A., Chemistry, University of Virginia, 1993

Professional Background:

• 2005 to present. Assistant Professor, The Pennsylvania State University.
• 2002-2004. Assistant Professor, Arizona State University.
• 2000-2002. USDA Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Forest Sciences, Colorado State University.
• 1997-2000. Graduate Research Assistant, Graduate Degreee Program in Ecology, Colorado State University.
• 1995-1997. Graduate Research Assistant, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University.
• 1993-1994. Research Assistant, Harvard Forest LTER, Harvard University.
• 1992. Research Assistant, Virginia Coastal Reserve LTER, University of Virginia.

Selected Publications:

1. Lewis, D., J.P. Kaye, C. Gries, A. Kinzig, and C. Redman. 2006. Agrarian legacy in soils of urbanizing aridlands. Global Change Biology 12: 703-709.
2. Kaye, J.P., Groffman, P., N.B. Grimm, L. Baker, and R. Pouyat. 2006. A distinct urban biogeochemistry? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21:192-199.
3. Kaye, J.P., S.C. Hart, P.Z. Fule, W.W. Covington, M.M. Moore, and M.W. Kaye. 2005. Initial carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus fluxes following ponderosa pine restoration treatments. Ecological Applications 15: 1581-1593.
4. Kaye, J.P., R. McCulley, and I.C. Burke. 2005. Carbon fluxes, nitrogen cycling and soil microorganisms in adjacent urban, native and agricultural ecosystems. Global Change Biology 11:575-587.
5. Binkley, D., G. Ice, J.P. Kaye, and C. Williams. 2004. Patterns of variation in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in forest streams of the United States. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 40:1277-1291.
6. Kaye, J.P., I.C. Burke, A. Mosier, and J.P. Guerchman. 2004. Methane and nitrous oxide fluxes from urban soils to the atmosphere. Ecological Applications 14:975-981.
7. Kaye, J.P., D. Binkley, and C. Rhoades. 2003. Stable nitrogen accumulation and flexible organic matter stoichiometry during primary floodplain succession. Biogeochemistry 63:1-22.
8. Kaye, J.P., J.E. Barrett, and I.C. Burke. 2002. Stable carbon and nitrogen pools in grassland soils of variable texture and carbon content. Ecosystems 5: 461-471.
9. Kaye, J.P., S.C. Resh, M.W. Kaye, and R. Chimner 2000. Nutrient and carbon dynamics in a replacement series of Eucalyptus and Albizia trees. Ecology 81:3267-3273.
10. Kaye, J.P. and S.C. Hart 1998. Ecological restoration alters N transformations in a ponderosa pine-bunchgrass ecosystem. Ecological Applications 8:1052-1060.
11. Kaye, J.P. and S.C. Hart 1997. Competition for nitrogen between plants and soil microorganisms. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 12:139-143.

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