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

Courses Taught

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

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

Prior to 2005