Eric A. Davidson
Senior Scientist
Woods Hole Research Center
P.O. Box 296
Woods Hole, MA 02543
508-548-9375 ext. 132 (voice)
508-540-9700 (fax)
edavidson@whrc.org
Further Information: http://www.whrc.org/about_us/whos_who/CV/edavidson.htm
Education
Ph.D.: North Carolina State University, Department of Forestry, 1986
Dissertation title: Gaseous Nitrogen Losses from Two Forested Watersheds via Nitrification and Denitrification.
B.A.: Oberlin College, 1978, Highest Honors in Biology,
Professional Experience
Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center, 1999 to present. Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center, 1994-1998. Assistant Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center, 1991-1993.
National Research Council Associate. NASA Ames Research Center, 1989-1991.
Post Doctorate Research Associate in Soil Microbiology. Dept. of Plant and Soil Biology, University of California, Berkeley. 1986-1989.
Peace Corps Volunteer. 1979 1981. Public health project in Zaire.
Research Interests
Biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, including the effects of management, land use change, and climatic change on soil C and N stocks, trace gas emissions from soils, and leaching of plant nutrients to streams and groundwater. Study areas include the Brazilian Amazon Basin and Cerrado region, the forests of New England, and a coastal pond watershed of Cape Cod.
Recent publications
BOOKS
Davidson, E.A. 2000. You Can't Eat GNP. Perseus Publishing, Cambridge, MA, 247pp.
SELECTED RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS:
Davidson, E.A., F.Y. Ishida, D.C. Nepstad. 2004. Effects of an experimental drought on soil emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and nitric oxide in a moist tropical forest. Global Change Biology 10:718-730.
Davidson, E.A., Neill, C. Krusch, A.V., Ballester, V.V.R., Markewitz, D. and Figueiredo, R.de O. 2004. Loss of nutrients from terrestrial ecosystems to streams and the atmosphere following land use change in Amazonia. pp. 147- 158 In: DeFries, R., Asner, G., and Houghton R. (eds.), Ecosystems and Land Use Change. Geophysical Monograph Series 153, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.
Davidson, E.A., C.J.R. de Carvalho, I.C.G. Vieira, R.O. Figueiredo, P. Moutinho, F.Y. Ishida, M.T.P. dos Santos, J.B. Guerrero, K. Kalif, and R.T. Sabá. 2004. Nutrient limitation of biomass growth in a tropical secondary forest: early results of a nitrogen and phosphorus amendment experiment. Ecological Applications 14:S150-S163.
Borken, W., K. Savage, E. A. Davidson and S. E. Trumbore, Effects of experimental drought on soil respiration and radiocarbon efflux from a temperate forest soil, Global Change Biology, in press.
Markewitz, D. E.A. Davidson, P. Moutinho, and D.C. Nepstad. 2004. Nutrient loss and redistribution after forest clearing on a highly weathered soil in Amazonia. Ecological Applications 14:S177-S199.
Hollinger DY, Aber J, Dail B, Davidson EA, Goltz SM, Hughes H, Leclerc M, Lee JT, Richardson AD, Rodrigues C, Scott NA, Varier D, Walsh J. 2004. Spatial and temporal variability in forest-atmosphere CO2 exchange. Global Change Biology 10:1689-1706. Borken, W. E.A. Davidson, K. Savage, J. Gaudinski, and S.E. Trumbore. 2003. Drying and wetting effects on carbon dioxide release from organic horizons. Soil Science Society of America Journal 67:1888-1896.
Davidson, E.A., J. Chorover, and D.B. Dail. 2003. A mechanism of abiotic immobilization of nitrate in forest ecosystems: The ferrous wheel hypothesis. Global Change Biology 9:228-236.
Savage, K.E., and E.A. Davidson. 2003. A comparison of manual and automated systems for soil CO2 flux measurements: tradeoffs between spatial and temporal resolution. J. Exp. Botany 54:891-899.
Davidson, E.A., K. Savage, P. Bolstad, D.A. Clark, P.S. Curtis, D.S. Ellsworth, P.J. Hanson, B.E. Law, Y. Luo, K.S. Pregitzer, J.C. Randolph, D. Zak. 2002. Belowground carbon allocation in forests estimated from litterfall and IRGA-based soil respiration measurements. Agriculture and Forest Meteorology 113:39-51.
Davidson, E.A., K. Savage, L.V. Verchot, and R. I. Navarro. 2002. Minimizing artifacts and biases in chamber-based measurements of soil respiration. Agriculture and Forest Meteorology 113:21-37.
Current projects
Biogeochemistry of Tropical Forests, Savannas, and Agriculture:
Dynamics of Biogeochemical Cycles in Secondary Vegetation of Amazonia, NASA-LBA
The Role of Soils in Determining the Transition between Savanna and Forest Vegetation in Brazil, A.W. Mellon Foundation
Carbon Cycling in Temperate Forests:
Responses of Autotrophic and Heterotrophic Respiration in Soils to Seasonal and Interannual Variation of Temperature and Precipitation in a Temperate Forest, NIGEC, NSF
Long-term CO2 exchange and biomass measurements in a spruce-hemlock stand near Howland, Maine, NIGEC
Economically Viable Forest Harvesting Practices that Increase Carbon Sequestration, DOE
Nitrogen Studies:
Impact of Canopy Nitrogen Deposition on Forest Carbon Storage: A Manipulative Experiment at the Howland AmeriFlux Site, DOE and USDA-FS
Mechanisms of Abiotic Nitrate Immobilization in Temperate Forest Soils, NSF
Near-Source Atmospheric Deposition as a Potential Nitrogen Source to Coastal Lagoons, NOAA
Research Coordination Network: Denitrification - Integration Across Landscapes and Waterscapes, NSF
Synergistic Activities
Science Steering Committee Member, Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA), 1996 - present.
Co-organizer and consultant, International Nitrogen Initiative, 2002 to present.
Subject Editor, Global Change Biology, June 2001 to present.
Board of Directors Member (since 1999) and Vice President (since 2001) of the Oyster Pond Environmental Trust, Woods Hole, MA.