Robert K. Booth

I am an ecologist interested in patterns, rates, and mechanisms of climate variability and the influence of this variabilty 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 variablity and change. Several studies also are directed toward improving our knowledge of the ecology and biogeography of testate amoebae, a group of moisture-sensitive protozoa that produce decay-resistant and morphologically distinct tests, in an effort to refine and extend the use of these organisms as environmental and paleoenvironmental indicators.

Profile

Assistant Professor (2006), Lehigh University
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

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 at multidecadal-to-millennial timescales, using the sediment archive contained in lakes and peatlands. Some recent and ongoing studies include:

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) (Link to Lehigh news article)
Reevaluating the classic model of floating peatland initiation and expansion in kettlehole peatlands: the potential role of multidecadal climate varaibility. (Alex Ireland, ongoing PhD research)

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 the New Jersey Pine Barrens (Maura Sullivan, ongoing PhD research), Alaska (Erin Markel, MS research), and Pocosin peatlands of North Carolina (Booth et al., 2008).
The potential role of seasonal-to-interannual environmental variability in structuring testate amoeba communities (Maura Sullivan, ongoing PhD 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 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) (pdf of paper describing project) (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)

Selected publications (2001-)

Booth, R.K. in press. Testing the climate sensitivity of peat-based paleoclimate reconstructions in mid-continental North America. Quaternary Science Reviews.
Markel, E., R.K. Booth, & Y. Qin. in press. Testate amoebae and δ¹³C of Sphagnum as surface-moisture proxies in Alaskan peatlands. The Holocene.
Talbot, J., P.J.H. Richard, N.T. Roulet, & R.K. Booth. in press. Assessing long-term hydrological and ecological responses to drainage in a raised bog using paleoecology and a hydrosequence. Journal of Vegetation Science. (link to pdf) (email me for pdf)
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, 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)
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)
Booth, R.K. 2007. 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)
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. (pdf)
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)
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)
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)