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  • 2007 Montreal testate amoebae workshop
  • 2009 Peatland archives workshop
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Earth & Environmental Science Department

Lehigh University

Office: 244 STEPS
Phone: 610-758-6580

My current schedule

 

 

Links:

International Society for Testate Amoeba Research (ISTAR)

Paleoecological section of the Ecological Society of America

Neotoma paleoecology database

PalEON: Paleo-ecological observatory network

American Quaternary Association

Paleoclimatology focus group at the American Geophysical Union

 

 

 

 

 

Robert K. Booth

I am an ecologist interested in patterns, rates, and mechanisms of climate variability and the influence of this variability on the structure and function of ecosystems. My research generally utilizes the rich record of environmental variability preserved in the sediments of peatlands and lakes, although when possible I couple these studies with investigations of contemporary ecology and climatology. Much of the research in my lab is designed to address issues in global change, with current projects focused on the climatology of prolonged drought events, the reconstruction of past environmental variability using biological and geochemical proxies, and the responses of forest and peatland systems to climate variability and change.

Profile

• Associate Professor (2011-)
• Frank S. Hook Assistant Professor (2010-2012)
• Assistant Professor (2006-2011)
• Assistant Scientist (2005), University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Post-doctoral Fellow (2003-05), University of Wisconsin-Madison
• PhD (2003), University of Wyoming
• MS (1998), Georgia Southern University
• BS (1995), The Pennsylvania State University

Courses Taught

• Science of Environmental Issues (EES-4)
• Conservation & Biodiversity (EES-28)
• Ecology (EES-152)
• Wetland Science (EES-386)
• Senior Seminar (EES-380)
• Reconstructing Environmental Change (EES-459)

Recent and ongoing research themes and projects

Ecological responses to climate variability We have been investigating the responses of forest vegetation and peatlands to climate variability, particularly moisture variability, using the sediment archive contained in lakes and peatlands. Some recent and ongoing studies include: Drought as a trigger for rapid state shifts in kettlehole ecosystems. Collaborators: Sara Hotchkiss (University of Wisconsin), Dante Fratta (University of Wisconsin), Alex Ireland (Lehigh University), Jennifer Schmitz (University of Wisconsin). (supported by NSF) (Link to project summary at NSF) Peatlands as Carbon and Water Sinks under Warm Climates in the Susitna Basin, South-Central Alaska. Collaborators: Z. Yu (Lehigh University), J. Ramage (Lehigh University), and B. Mark (Ohio State University). (supported by NSF) (Link to project summary at NSF) Reevaluating the classic model of floating peatland initiation and expansion. (Alex Ireland, PhD research) (Link to Alex's project summary at NSF) Climate variability and episodic plant invasions in the western Great Lakes region: the Holocene expansion of hemlock, beech, and yellow birch. Collaborators: S.T. Jackson (Univ of Wyoming), E. Pendall (Univ of Wyoming), Y. Huang (Brown University). (supported by NSF)
	Ecology, biogeography, and paleoenvironmental applications of testate amoebae. Several ongoing studies are focused on improving our understanding of the ecology and biogeography of testate amoebae, a group of protozoa that produce decay-resistant and morphologically distinct shells. A few recent and ongoing projects include: Ecology of testate amoebae in Sphagnum peatlands. Recent and ongoing work in the New Jersey Pine Barrens (Maura Sullivan, PhD research), Alaska and the Pacific Northwest (Markel et al., 2010; Michael Clifford, PhD research), North Carolina (Booth et al., 2008), and Patagonia (Julie Loisel, PhD research). The role of short-term environmental variability in structuring testate amoeba communities (Sullivan & Booth, 2011) Ecology of testate amoebae in the Florida Everglades (Travis Andrews, MS research)
Multiproxy archives of late Holocene climate variability from peatlands in North America We are conducting multiproxy paleoclimate studies on peatlands, particularly ombrotrophic peatlands, in North America. These studies are being coupled with modeling efforts and analyses of historical climate variability, to assess the dynamics and causes of past episodes of widespread drought. Some ongoing and recent projects include: Continental patterns of moisture anomalies associated with late Holocene mid-latitude megadroughts. (supported by NSF) (Link to project summary at NSF) Multiproxy archives of late Holocene climate variability from peatlands in eastern North America. Collaborators: S.T. Jackson (Univ of Wyoming), E. Pendall (Univ of Wyoming), Y. Huang (Brown University). (supported by NSF)(Link to project summary at NSF) Spatiotemporal patterns of climate, hydrological, and wetland vegetation change in the western Great Lakes region. Collaborators: D.A. Wilcox (SUNY at Brockport), S.J. Baedke (James Madison University), T.A. Thompson (Indiana Geological Survey), and others. (Supported by USGS-GCC)

Recent and representative publications

2012 and currently in press

• Ireland, A.W. & R.K. Booth. In press. Upland deforestation triggered an ecosystem state-shift in a kettle peatland. Journal of Ecology.

• Booth, R.K., S.T. Jackson, V.A. Sousa, M.E. Sullivan, T.A. Minckley, & M.J. Clifford. In press. Multidecadal drought and amplified moisture variability drove rapid forest community change in a humid region. Ecology.

• Minckley,T.A., R.K. Booth, & S.T. Jackson. In press. Response of arboreal pollen abundance to Late Holocene drought events in the Upper Midwest, USA. The Holocene. (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

• Chambers, F.M., R.K. Booth, F. De Vleeschouwer, M. Lamentowicz, G. Le Roux, D. Mauquoy, J.E. Nichols, & B. van Geel. In press. Development and refinement of proxy-climate indicators from peats. Quaternary International. (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

• R.J. Payne, R.J. Telford, J.J. Blackford, A. Blundell, R.K. Booth,D.J. Charman, Ł. Lamentowicz, M. Lamentowicz, E.A.D Mitchell, G. Potts, G.T. Swindles, B.G. Warner, & W. Woodland. In press. Testing peatland testate amoeba transfer functions: Appropriate methods for clustered training-sets. The Holocene. (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

2011

• Sullivan, M.E. & R.K. Booth. 2011. The potential influence of short-term environmental variability on the composition of testate amoeba communities in Sphagnum peatlands. Microbial Ecology 62:80-93. (link to pdf)(email me for pdf)

• Ireland, A.W. & R.K. Booth. 2011. Hydroclimatic variability drives episodic expansion of a floating peat mat in a North American kettlehole basin. Ecology 92: 11-18. doi:10.1890/10-0770.1 (link to pdf)(email me for pdf)

• Heger, T.J, R.K. Booth, M.E. Sullivan, D.M. Wilkinson, B.G. Warner, T. Asada, Y. Mazei, R. Meisterfeld, & E.A.D. Mitchell. 2011. Rediscovery of Nebela ansata (Amoebozoa: Arcellinida) in eastern North America: biogeographical implications. Journal of Biogeography 38:1897-1906. (link to pdf)(email me for pdf)

• van Bellen, S., M. Garneau, & R.K. Booth. 2011. Holocene carbon accumulation rates from three ombrotrophic peatlands in boreal Quebec, Canada: impact of climate-driven ecohydrological change. The Holocene 21: 1217-1231. (link to pdf)(email me for pdf)

• Thompson, T.A., K. Lepper, A.L. Endres, J.W. Johnston, S.J. Baedke, E. Argyilan, R.K. Booth, & D.A. Wilcox. 2011. Mid Holocene lake level and shoreline behavior during the Nipissing phase of the upper Great Lakes at Alpena, Michigan, USA. Journal of Great Lakes Research 37:567-576. (link to pdf)(email me for pdf)

2010

• Booth, R.K. 2010. Testing the climate sensitivity of peat-based paleoclimate reconstructions in mid-continental North America. Quaternary Science Reviews 29: 720–731. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.11.018 (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

• Booth, R.K., M. Lamentowicz, & D.J. Charman. 2010. Preparation and analysis of testate amoebae in peatland paleoenvironmental studies. Mires and Peat 7, Article 02, 1-7 (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

• Markel, E., R.K. Booth, & Y. Qin. 2010. Testate amoebae and δ¹³C of Sphagnum as surface-moisture proxies in Alaskan peatlands. The Holocene 20: 463-475. doi:10.1177/0959683609354303 (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

• Booth, R.K., S.T. Jackson, & M. Notaro 2010. Using peatland archives to test paleoclimate hypotheses. PAGES news 18: 6-8. (link to PAGES site to download entire special issue on "Peatlands:Paleoenvironments and Carbon Dynamics") (email me for pdf of just this article)

• Talbot, J., P.J.H. Richard, N.T. Roulet, & R.K. Booth. 2010. Assessing long-term hydrological and ecological responses to drainage in a raised bog using paleoecology and a hydrosequence. Journal of Vegetation Science 21: 143-156. (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

• Booth, R.K. & B. Meyers. 2010. Environmental controls on pore number in Hyalosphenia papilio: implications for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Acta Protozoologica 49: 29-35. (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

• Nichols, J.E., R.K. Booth, S.T. Jackson, E.G. Pendall, & Y. Huang. 2010. Differential hydrogen isotopic ratios of Sphagnum and vascular plant biomarkers in ombrotrophic peatlands as a quantitative proxy for precipitation—evaporation balance. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 74: 1407-1416. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2009.11.012 (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

2009

• Tweiten, M.A., S.A. Hotchkiss, R.K. Booth, R.R. Calcote, & E.A. Lynch. 2009. The response of a jack pine forest to late-Holocene climate variability in northwestern Wisconsin. The Holocene 19: 1049-1061. (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

• Jackson, S.T., J. Betancourt, R.K. Booth, & S.T. Gray. 2009. Ecology and the ratchet of events: climate variability, niche dimensions, and species distributions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 106 (supplement 2): 19685-19692. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0901644106 (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

• Qin, Y., R.K. Booth, Y. Gu, Y. Wang, & S. Xie. 2009. Testate amoebae as indicators of 20th century environmental change in Lake Zhangdu, China. Fundamental and Applied Limnology 175: 29-38. (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

2008

• Booth, R.K. 2008. Testate amoebae as proxies for mean annual water-table depth in Sphagnum-dominated peatlands of North America. Journal of Quaternary Science 23:43-57. (pdf)

• Booth, R.K., M.E. Sullivan, & V.A. Sousa. 2008. Ecology of testate amoebae in a North Carolina pocosin and their potential use as environmental and paleoenvironmental indicators. Ecoscience 15: 277-289. (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)

• Charman, D.J., R.K. Booth, M. Mäkilä, & A. Sirin. 2008. Chapter 4: Peatlands and climate change. In: Parish, F., Sirin, A., Charman, D., Joosten, H., Minayeva, T., Silvius, M. and Stringer, L. (Eds.), Assessment of peatlands, biodiversity and climate change, UNEP-GEF, Global Environment Centre, Kuala Lumpur and Wetlands International, Wageningen. (Link to chapter) (link to entire report)

2007

• Jackson, S.T. & R.K. Booth. 2007. Validation of pollen studies. Pages 2413-2422 in Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science , S.A. Elias (ed.), Elsevier Scientific Publishing, Inc. (pdf)

• Wilcox, D.A., T.A. Thompson, R.K. Booth, & J.R. Nicholas. 2007. Lake-level variability and water availability in the Great Lakes. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1311, 25 p. (download from USGS)

• Capps, D.K., T.A. Thompson, & R.K. Booth. 2007. A post-Calumet shoreline along southern Lake Michigan. Journal of Paleolimnology 37:395–409. (pdf)

2006

• Booth, R.K., M. Notaro, S.T. Jackson, & J.E. Kutzbach.  2006. Widespread drought episodes in the western Great Lakes region during the past 2000 years: geographic extent and potential mechanisms.   Earth and Planetary Science Letters 242: 415-427. (pdf)

• Nichols, J.E., R.K. Booth, S.T. Jackson, E.G. Pendall, & Y. Huang. 2006. Paleohydrologic reconstruction based on n-alkane distributions in ombrotrophic peat. Organic Geochemistry 37: 1505-1513. (pdf)

• Booth, R.K., J.E. Kutzbach, S.C. Hotchkiss, & R.A. Bryson. 2006. A reanalysis of the relationship between strong westerlies and precipitation in the Great Plains and Midwest regions of North America . Climatic Change 76: 427-441. (pdf)

• Jackson, S.T., R.K. Booth, Y. Huang, E.G. Pendall, J.E. Nichols, T.A. Minckley, & M. Taylor. 2006. Late Holocene hydrological variability in ombrotrophic peatlands of eastern North America. PAGES news 14(2): 26-28. (link to PAGES site to download newsletter) (download just this article)

Prior to 2005

• Booth, R.K., S.C. Hotchkiss, & D.A. Wilcox. 2005. Discoloration of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tape as a proxy for water-table depth in peatlands: validation and assessment of seasonal variability. Functional Ecology 19:1040-1047. (pdf)

• Booth, R.K & J.R. Zygmunt. 2005. Biogeography and comparative ecology of testate amoebae inhabiting Sphagnum -dominated peatlands in the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain regions of North America . Diversity and Distributions 11: 577-590. (pdf)

• Booth, R.K., S.T. Jackson, S.L. Forman, J.E. Kutzbach, E.A. Bettis, III, J. Kreig, and D.K. Wright. 2005. A severe centennial-scale drought in continental North America 4200 years ago and apparent global linkages. The Holocene 15: 321-328. (pdf)

• Booth, R.K., S.T. Jackson, & C.E.D. Gray. 2004. Paleoecology and high-resolution paleohydrology of a kettle peatland in Upper Michigan . Quaternary Research 61: 1-13. (pdf)

• Johnston, J.W., S.J. Baedke, R.K. Booth, D.A. Wilcox, & T.A. Thompson. 2004. Late Holocene lake-level variation in southeastern Lake Superior: Tahquamenon Bay , Michigan . Journal of Great Lakes Research 30 (Supplement 1): 1-19. (pdf)

• Booth, R.K. & S.T. Jackson. 2003. A high-resolution record of late Holocene moisture variability from a Michigan raised bog. The Holocene 13: 865-878. (pdf) (link to data at NOAA paleoclimatology)

• Booth, R.K., F.J. Rich, & S.T. Jackson. 2003. Paleoecology of mid-Wisconsinan peat clasts from Skidaway Island , Georgia . Palaios 18: 63-68. (pdf)

• Booth, R.K. 2002. Testate amoebae as paleoindicators of surface-moisture changes on Michigan peatlands: modern ecology and hydrological calibration . Journal of Paleolimnology 28: 329-348. (pdf)

• Jackson , S.T. & R.K. Booth. 2002. The role of late Holocene climate variability in the expansion of yellow birch in the western Great Lakes region. Diversity and Distributions 8: 275-284. (pdf)

• Booth, R.K., S.T. Jackson, & T.A. Thompson. 2002. Paleoecology of a northern Michigan lake and the relationship among climate, vegetation, and Great Lakes water-levels. Quaternary Research 57: 120-130. (pdf)

• Booth, R.K. 2001. Ecology of testate amoebae in two Lake Superior coastal wetlands: implications for paleoecology and environmental monitoring. Wetlands 21: 564-576. (pdf)

2011 RK Booth