T. Balser - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by T. Balser

Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 2015

The pilot certification process is an ambitious, nationwide endeavor designed to motivate importa... more The pilot certification process is an ambitious, nationwide endeavor designed to motivate important changes in life sciences education that are in line with the recommendations of the 2011 Vision and Change Report: A Call to Action (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 2011). It is the goal of the certification process to acknowledge departments that have progressed towards full implementation of the tenets of Vision and Change and to motivate departments that have not begun to adopt the recommendations to consider doing so. More than 70 life science departments applied to be part of the pilot certification process, funded by a National Science Foundation grant, and eight were selected based on initial evidence of transformed and innovative educational practices. The programs chosen represent a wide variety of schools, including two-year colleges, liberal-arts institutions, regional comprehensive colleges, research universities and minority serving institution...

Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2014

Cell Biology Education, 2011

Biology and Fertility of Soils, 2007

Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 2000

If changes in the composition of the soil microbial community alter the physiological capacity of... more If changes in the composition of the soil microbial community alter the physiological capacity of the community then such changes may have ecosystem consequences. We examined the relationships among community composition (PLFA), microbial biomass (CFDE), substrate utilization profiles (BIOLOG), lignocellulose degrading enzyme activities (β-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, β-xylosidase, phenol oxidase, peroxidase), and nutrient releasing enzyme activities (phosphatase, sulphatase) in a Tropeptic Haplustol

Global Change Biology, 2012

ABSTRACT We used microbial lipid analysis to analyze microbial biomass and community structure du... more ABSTRACT We used microbial lipid analysis to analyze microbial biomass and community structure during 6 years of experi-mental treatment at the Jasper Ridge Global Change Experiment (JRGCE), a long-term multi-factor global change experiment in a California annual grassland. The microbial community fingerprint and specific biomarkers varied substantially from year to year, in both control and experimental treatment plots. Possible drivers of the variability included plant growth, soil moisture, and ambient temperature. Surprisingly, background variation in the microbial community was of a larger magnitude than even very significant treatment effects, and this variation appeared to constrain responses to treatment. Microbial communities were mostly not responsive or not consistently responsive to the experimental treatments. Both arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi biomarker abundance (16 : 1 x5c) and the fungal to bacterial ratio were lower under nitrogen addition in most years. Bacterial lipid biomarker abundances (15 : 0 iso and 16 : 1 x7c) were higher under nitrogen addition in 2002, the year of largest microbial biomass, suggesting that bacteria could respond more to nitrogen addition in years of better growth conditions. Nitrogen addition and warming led to an interactive effect on the Gram-positive bacterial biomarker and the fungal to bacterial ratio. These patterns indicate that in California grassland ecosystems, microbial communities may not respond substantially to future changes in climate and that nitrogen deposition may be a determinant of the soil response to global change. Further, year-to-year variation in microbial growth or community composition may be important determinants of ecosystem response to global change.

Plant and Soil, 2006

In order to understand the role microbial communities play in mediating ecosystem response to dis... more In order to understand the role microbial communities play in mediating ecosystem response to disturbances it is essential to address the methodological and conceptual gap that exists between micro- and macro-scale perspectives in ecology. While there is little doubt microorganisms play a central role in ecosystem functioning and therefore in ecosystem response to global change-induced disturbance, our ability to investigate

studies focused on the transformation and sequestration of soil organic carbon (C) has dramatical... more studies focused on the transformation and sequestration of soil organic carbon (C) has dramatically increased in recent years due to growing interest in understanding the global C cycle. While it is readily accepted that terrestrial C dynamics are heavily influenced by the catabolic and anabolic activities of microorganisms, the incorporation of microbial biomass components into stable soil C pools (via microbial living cells and necromass) has received less attention. Nevertheless, microbialderived C inputs to soils are now increasingly recognized as playing a far greater role in stabilization of soil organic matter than previously believed. Our understanding, however, is limited by the difficulties associated with studying microbial turnover in soils. Here, we describe the use of an

Episodic stress events such as drying/rewetting and freeze/thaw are common in nature and they hav... more Episodic stress events such as drying/rewetting and freeze/thaw are common in nature and they have large impacts on the microbial processes that regulate ecosystem fluxes of C, N, and other elements. Soil microorganisms must acclimate to these stresses or die. Largely, microbes do acclimate effectively. However, even when community response to stress is limited, the physiological costs imposed on soil

It is important to characterize the variability of carbon (C) fluxes and stocks and the relations... more It is important to characterize the variability of carbon (C) fluxes and stocks and the relationship between biotic and abiotic factors and C sequestration, a proposed strategy to help mitigate climate change. An observation site to study C cycling was established on land enrolled in the USDA Conservation Reserve Program in southwestern Wisconsin in spring 2002 on silt-loam soil. The

Microorganisms have a variety of evolutionary adaptations and physiological acclimation mechanism... more Microorganisms have a variety of evolutionary adaptations and physiological acclimation mechanisms that allow them to survive and remain active in the face of environmental stress. Physiological responses to stress have costs at the organismal level that can result in altered ecosystem-level C, energy, and nutrient flows. These large-scale impacts result from direct effects on active microbes' physiology and by controlling the composition of the active microbial community. We first consider some general aspects of how microbes experience environmental stresses and how they respond to them. We then discuss the impacts of two important ecosystem-level stressors, drought and freezing, on microbial physiology and community composition. Even when microbial community response to stress is limited, the physiological costs imposed on soil microbes are large enough that they may cause large shifts in the allocation and fate of C and N. For example, for microbes to synthesize the osmolytes they need to survive a single drought episode they may consume up to 5% of total annual net primary production in grassland ecosystems, while acclimating to freezing conditions switches Arctic tundra soils from immobilizing N during the growing season to mineralizing it during the winter. We suggest that more effectively integrating microbial ecology into ecosystem ecology will require a more complete integration of microbial physiological ecology, population biology, and process ecology.

Biology and Fertility of Soils, 2007

Amino sugars, being predominantly of microbial origin, can help elucidate the role of microbes in... more Amino sugars, being predominantly of microbial origin, can help elucidate the role of microbes in carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils. However, little is known about the microbial degradation and synthesis of soil amino sugars as affected by plant-derived organic materials. We conducted a 30-week microcosm study using three soils amended with soybean leaf or maize stalk to investigate changes in the amounts and patterns of amino sugars over time. The total soil amino sugar content initially increased during the incubation, but later decreased. Amino sugar content of soil amended with maize stalk peaked at an earlier time than it did for soybean leaf, suggesting nutrient quantity and substrate composition influence microbial transformation. Temporal dynamics of the proportion of total soil amino sugar to organic matter after plant material addition conformed to parabolic models (r > 0.8; p < 0.01), which tended to converge over time. The models predicted that the proportions w...

Microbial communities can potentially mediate feedbacks between global change and ecosystem funct... more Microbial communities can potentially mediate feedbacks between global change and ecosystem function, owing to their sensitivity to environmental change and their control over critical biogeochemical processes. Numerous ecosystem models have been developed to predict global change effects, but most do not consider microbial mechanisms in detail. In this idea paper, we examine the extent to which incorporation of microbial ecology into ecosystem models improves predictions of carbon (C) dynamics under warming, changes in precipitation regime, and anthropogenic nitrogen (N) enrichment. We focus on three cases in which this approach might be especially valuable: temporal dynamics in microbial responses to environmental change, variation in ecological function within microbial communities, and N effects on microbial activity. Four microbially-based models have addressed these scenarios. In each case, predictions of the microbial-based models differ-sometimes

Stand-replacing fires influence soil nitrogen availability and microbial community composition, w... more Stand-replacing fires influence soil nitrogen availability and microbial community composition, which may in turn mediate post-fire successional dynamics and nutrient cycling. However, fires create patchiness at both local and landscape scales and do not result in consistent patterns of ecological dynamics. The objectives of this study were to (1) quantify the spatial structure of microbial communities in forest stands recently affected by stand-replacing fire and (2) determine whether microbial variables aid predictions of in situ net nitrogen mineralization rates in recently burned stands. The study was conducted in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) and Engelmann spruce/subalpine fir (Picea engelmannii/Abies lasiocarpa) forest stands that burned during summer 2000 in Greater Yellowstone (Wyoming, USA). Using a fully probabilistic spatial process model and Bayesian kriging, the spatial structure of microbial lipid abundance and fungi-tobacteria ratios were found to be spatially structured within plots two years following fire (for most plots, autocorrelation range varied from 1.5 to 10.5 m). Congruence of spatial patterns among microbial variables, in situ net N mineralization, and cover variables was evident. Stepwise regression resulted in significant models of in situ net N mineralization and included variables describing fungal and bacterial abundance, although explained variance was low (R 2 ,0.29). Unraveling complex spatial patterns of nutrient cycling and the biotic factors that regulate it remains challenging but is critical for explaining post-fire ecosystem function, especially in Greater Yellowstone, which is projected to experience increased fire frequencies by mid 21 st Century.

Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 2015

The pilot certification process is an ambitious, nationwide endeavor designed to motivate importa... more The pilot certification process is an ambitious, nationwide endeavor designed to motivate important changes in life sciences education that are in line with the recommendations of the 2011 Vision and Change Report: A Call to Action (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 2011). It is the goal of the certification process to acknowledge departments that have progressed towards full implementation of the tenets of Vision and Change and to motivate departments that have not begun to adopt the recommendations to consider doing so. More than 70 life science departments applied to be part of the pilot certification process, funded by a National Science Foundation grant, and eight were selected based on initial evidence of transformed and innovative educational practices. The programs chosen represent a wide variety of schools, including two-year colleges, liberal-arts institutions, regional comprehensive colleges, research universities and minority serving institution...

Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2014

Cell Biology Education, 2011

Biology and Fertility of Soils, 2007

Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 2000

If changes in the composition of the soil microbial community alter the physiological capacity of... more If changes in the composition of the soil microbial community alter the physiological capacity of the community then such changes may have ecosystem consequences. We examined the relationships among community composition (PLFA), microbial biomass (CFDE), substrate utilization profiles (BIOLOG), lignocellulose degrading enzyme activities (β-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, β-xylosidase, phenol oxidase, peroxidase), and nutrient releasing enzyme activities (phosphatase, sulphatase) in a Tropeptic Haplustol

Global Change Biology, 2012

ABSTRACT We used microbial lipid analysis to analyze microbial biomass and community structure du... more ABSTRACT We used microbial lipid analysis to analyze microbial biomass and community structure during 6 years of experi-mental treatment at the Jasper Ridge Global Change Experiment (JRGCE), a long-term multi-factor global change experiment in a California annual grassland. The microbial community fingerprint and specific biomarkers varied substantially from year to year, in both control and experimental treatment plots. Possible drivers of the variability included plant growth, soil moisture, and ambient temperature. Surprisingly, background variation in the microbial community was of a larger magnitude than even very significant treatment effects, and this variation appeared to constrain responses to treatment. Microbial communities were mostly not responsive or not consistently responsive to the experimental treatments. Both arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi biomarker abundance (16 : 1 x5c) and the fungal to bacterial ratio were lower under nitrogen addition in most years. Bacterial lipid biomarker abundances (15 : 0 iso and 16 : 1 x7c) were higher under nitrogen addition in 2002, the year of largest microbial biomass, suggesting that bacteria could respond more to nitrogen addition in years of better growth conditions. Nitrogen addition and warming led to an interactive effect on the Gram-positive bacterial biomarker and the fungal to bacterial ratio. These patterns indicate that in California grassland ecosystems, microbial communities may not respond substantially to future changes in climate and that nitrogen deposition may be a determinant of the soil response to global change. Further, year-to-year variation in microbial growth or community composition may be important determinants of ecosystem response to global change.

Plant and Soil, 2006

In order to understand the role microbial communities play in mediating ecosystem response to dis... more In order to understand the role microbial communities play in mediating ecosystem response to disturbances it is essential to address the methodological and conceptual gap that exists between micro- and macro-scale perspectives in ecology. While there is little doubt microorganisms play a central role in ecosystem functioning and therefore in ecosystem response to global change-induced disturbance, our ability to investigate

studies focused on the transformation and sequestration of soil organic carbon (C) has dramatical... more studies focused on the transformation and sequestration of soil organic carbon (C) has dramatically increased in recent years due to growing interest in understanding the global C cycle. While it is readily accepted that terrestrial C dynamics are heavily influenced by the catabolic and anabolic activities of microorganisms, the incorporation of microbial biomass components into stable soil C pools (via microbial living cells and necromass) has received less attention. Nevertheless, microbialderived C inputs to soils are now increasingly recognized as playing a far greater role in stabilization of soil organic matter than previously believed. Our understanding, however, is limited by the difficulties associated with studying microbial turnover in soils. Here, we describe the use of an

Episodic stress events such as drying/rewetting and freeze/thaw are common in nature and they hav... more Episodic stress events such as drying/rewetting and freeze/thaw are common in nature and they have large impacts on the microbial processes that regulate ecosystem fluxes of C, N, and other elements. Soil microorganisms must acclimate to these stresses or die. Largely, microbes do acclimate effectively. However, even when community response to stress is limited, the physiological costs imposed on soil

It is important to characterize the variability of carbon (C) fluxes and stocks and the relations... more It is important to characterize the variability of carbon (C) fluxes and stocks and the relationship between biotic and abiotic factors and C sequestration, a proposed strategy to help mitigate climate change. An observation site to study C cycling was established on land enrolled in the USDA Conservation Reserve Program in southwestern Wisconsin in spring 2002 on silt-loam soil. The

Microorganisms have a variety of evolutionary adaptations and physiological acclimation mechanism... more Microorganisms have a variety of evolutionary adaptations and physiological acclimation mechanisms that allow them to survive and remain active in the face of environmental stress. Physiological responses to stress have costs at the organismal level that can result in altered ecosystem-level C, energy, and nutrient flows. These large-scale impacts result from direct effects on active microbes&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; physiology and by controlling the composition of the active microbial community. We first consider some general aspects of how microbes experience environmental stresses and how they respond to them. We then discuss the impacts of two important ecosystem-level stressors, drought and freezing, on microbial physiology and community composition. Even when microbial community response to stress is limited, the physiological costs imposed on soil microbes are large enough that they may cause large shifts in the allocation and fate of C and N. For example, for microbes to synthesize the osmolytes they need to survive a single drought episode they may consume up to 5% of total annual net primary production in grassland ecosystems, while acclimating to freezing conditions switches Arctic tundra soils from immobilizing N during the growing season to mineralizing it during the winter. We suggest that more effectively integrating microbial ecology into ecosystem ecology will require a more complete integration of microbial physiological ecology, population biology, and process ecology.

Biology and Fertility of Soils, 2007

Amino sugars, being predominantly of microbial origin, can help elucidate the role of microbes in... more Amino sugars, being predominantly of microbial origin, can help elucidate the role of microbes in carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils. However, little is known about the microbial degradation and synthesis of soil amino sugars as affected by plant-derived organic materials. We conducted a 30-week microcosm study using three soils amended with soybean leaf or maize stalk to investigate changes in the amounts and patterns of amino sugars over time. The total soil amino sugar content initially increased during the incubation, but later decreased. Amino sugar content of soil amended with maize stalk peaked at an earlier time than it did for soybean leaf, suggesting nutrient quantity and substrate composition influence microbial transformation. Temporal dynamics of the proportion of total soil amino sugar to organic matter after plant material addition conformed to parabolic models (r > 0.8; p < 0.01), which tended to converge over time. The models predicted that the proportions w...

Microbial communities can potentially mediate feedbacks between global change and ecosystem funct... more Microbial communities can potentially mediate feedbacks between global change and ecosystem function, owing to their sensitivity to environmental change and their control over critical biogeochemical processes. Numerous ecosystem models have been developed to predict global change effects, but most do not consider microbial mechanisms in detail. In this idea paper, we examine the extent to which incorporation of microbial ecology into ecosystem models improves predictions of carbon (C) dynamics under warming, changes in precipitation regime, and anthropogenic nitrogen (N) enrichment. We focus on three cases in which this approach might be especially valuable: temporal dynamics in microbial responses to environmental change, variation in ecological function within microbial communities, and N effects on microbial activity. Four microbially-based models have addressed these scenarios. In each case, predictions of the microbial-based models differ-sometimes

Stand-replacing fires influence soil nitrogen availability and microbial community composition, w... more Stand-replacing fires influence soil nitrogen availability and microbial community composition, which may in turn mediate post-fire successional dynamics and nutrient cycling. However, fires create patchiness at both local and landscape scales and do not result in consistent patterns of ecological dynamics. The objectives of this study were to (1) quantify the spatial structure of microbial communities in forest stands recently affected by stand-replacing fire and (2) determine whether microbial variables aid predictions of in situ net nitrogen mineralization rates in recently burned stands. The study was conducted in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) and Engelmann spruce/subalpine fir (Picea engelmannii/Abies lasiocarpa) forest stands that burned during summer 2000 in Greater Yellowstone (Wyoming, USA). Using a fully probabilistic spatial process model and Bayesian kriging, the spatial structure of microbial lipid abundance and fungi-tobacteria ratios were found to be spatially structured within plots two years following fire (for most plots, autocorrelation range varied from 1.5 to 10.5 m). Congruence of spatial patterns among microbial variables, in situ net N mineralization, and cover variables was evident. Stepwise regression resulted in significant models of in situ net N mineralization and included variables describing fungal and bacterial abundance, although explained variance was low (R 2 ,0.29). Unraveling complex spatial patterns of nutrient cycling and the biotic factors that regulate it remains challenging but is critical for explaining post-fire ecosystem function, especially in Greater Yellowstone, which is projected to experience increased fire frequencies by mid 21 st Century.