Joshua P. Schimel

Professor, Chair

Contact:

schimel@lifesci.ucsb.edu

Office: Bren Hall 4304

(805) 893-7688

Area of Emphasis:

Terrestrial ecosystem ecology.

• Faculty in Environmental Studies and EEMB Depts.

• Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

My research sits at the interface of ecosystem and microbial ecology. I am interested in the role of soil microbes in controlling ecosystem scale processes. I am particularly interested in the linkages between plant and soil processes, and how changes in microbial community structure affects ecosystem-scale dynamics. My work is now focusing on three ecosystems: the Arctic tundra in Alaska, the taiga forest of Alaska, and the California annual grassland-oak savanna.

Website: EEMB Profile

Current Projects:
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Selected Publications

Wallenstein, M. McMahon, S., and J. Schimel. 2007. Bacterial and fungal community structure in Arctic tundra tussock and shrub soils. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 59 (2): 428-435.

Schimel, J.P., T.C. Balser, and M. Wallenstein. 2007. Microbial stress-response physiology and its implications for ecosystem function. Ecology. In press.

Numata, I., Chadwick, O.A., Roberts, D.A. Schimel, J.P., Sampaio, F.F., Leonidas, F.C., and Soares, J.V. 2007. Temporal nutrient variation in soil and vegetation of 1 post-forest pastures as a function of soil order, pasture age, and management, Rond ônia, Brazil. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 118: 159-172.

Fierer, N., B. P. Colman, J. P. Schimel, and R. B. Jackson. 2006. Predicting the temperature dependence of microbial respiration in soil: A continental-scale analysis, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 20, GB3026, doi:10.1029/2005GB002644.

Schimel, J.P., J. Fahnestock, G. Michaelson, C. Mikan, C.-L. Ping, V.E. Romanovsky, and J. Welker. 2006. Cold-season production of CO2 in Arctic soils: can laboratory and field estimates be reconciled through a simple modeling approach? Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research. 38: 249-256.

Li, X., T. Meixner, J.O. Sickman, A.E. Miller, J.P. Schimel, and J.M. Melack. 2006. Decadal-scale dynamics of water, carbon and nitrogen in a California chaparral ecosystem: DAYCENT modeling results. Biogeochemistry. 77: 217-245.

Schimel, J.P. and F.S. Chapin III. 2006. Microbial processes in the Alaskan boreal forest. In: Alaska's Changing Boreal Forest. Chapin, F.S. III, M.W. Oswood, K. van Cleve, L.A. Viereck, and D.L. Verbyla (Eds.) Oxford University Press. Pp. 227-240.

Chapin, F.S. III, A.D. McGuire, R.W. Ruess, M.W. Walker, R. Boone, M. Edwards, B. Finney, L.D. Hinzman, J.B. Jones, G.P. Juday, E.S. Kasischke, K.Kielland, A.H. Lloyd, M.W. Oswood, C.-L. Ping, E. Rexstad, V. Romanovsky, J. Schimel, E. Sparrow, B. Sveinbjornsson, D.W. Valentine, K. Van Cleve, D.L. Verbyla, L.A. Viereck, R.A. Werner, T.L. Wurtz, and J. Yarie. 2006. Summary and synthesis: Past and future changes in the Alaskan boreal forest. In: Alaska's Changing Boreal Forest. Chapin, F.S. III, M.W. Oswood, K. van Cleve, L.A. Viereck, and D.L. Verbyla (Eds.) Oxford University Press. Pp. 332-338.

Miller, A.E., J.P. Schimel, T. Meixner, J.O. Sickman, and J.M. Melack. 2005. Episodic rewetting enhances carbon and nitrogen release from chaparral soils. Soil Biology & Biochemistry. 37: 2195-2204.

Chapin, F. S. III, M. Sturm, M. C. Serreze, J. P. McFadden, J. R. Key, A. H. Lloyd, A. D. McGuire, T. S. Rupp, A. H. Lynch, J. P. Schimel, J. Beringer, W. L. Chapman, H. E. Epstein, E. S. Euskirchen, L. D. Hinzman, G. Jia, C. L. Ping, K. D. Tape, C. D. C. Thompson, D. A. Walker, and J. M. Welker. 2005. Role of Land-Surface Changes in Arctic Summer Warming. Science 310: 657-660.

Weintraub, M.N., and J.P. Schimel. 2005. The seasonal dynamics of amino acids and other nutrients in Alaskan Arctic tundra soils. Biogeochemistry. 73: 359-380

Schimel, J.P., J. Bennett, and N. Fierer. 2005. Microbial community composition and soil N cycling: is there really a connection? In: Biological diversity and function in soils. Bardgett, R.D., D.W. Hopkins, and M.B. Usher (Eds.) Cambridge University Press. Pp. 171-188.

Weintraub, M.N. and J.P. Schimel. 2005. Seasonal protein dynamics in Alaskan Arctic tundra soils. Soil Biology & Biochemistry. 37: 1469-1475.

Schimel, J.P., and C. Mikan. 2005. Changing microbial substrate use in Arctic tundra soils through a freeze-thaw cycle. Soil Biology & Biochemistry. 37: 1411-1418.

Fierer, N., J.M. Craine, K. McLauchlan, and J.P. Schimel. 2005. Litter quality and the temperature sensitivity of decomposition. Ecology. 86: 320-326.

Weintraub, M.N., and J.P. Schimel. 2005. Nitrogen cycling, spread of shrubs control changes in carbon balance of arctic tundra ecosystems. BioScience. 55: 408-415.

Sturm, M. J. Schimel, G. Michaelson, J. Welker, S.F. Oberbauer, G.E. Liston, J. Fahnestock, V.E. Romanovsky. 2005. Winter biological processes could help convert Arctic tundra to shrubland. BioScience 55: 17-26.

Schimel, J.P. 2004. Playing scales in global biogeochemistry: from microbial ecology to global cycles. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 101: 12400-12401.

Schimel, J. P., and J. Bennett. 2004. Nitrogen mineralization: challenges of a changing paradigm. Ecology 85: 591-602.

Schimel, J.P., C. Bilbrough, and J.M. Welker. 2004. The effect of increased snow depth on microbial activity and nitrogen mineralization in two Arctic tundra communities. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 36: 217-227.

Teaching Interests and Courses:

ES 100, Environmental Ecology
ES/EEMB 171, Ecosystem Processes