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Brining Science to the Adirondacks and the Adirondacks to Science

Colin Beier, Ph.D.

Research Ecologist
Adirondack Ecological Center & Huntington Wildlife Forest
email: cbeier@esf.edu
voice (518) 582 4551 x106
fax (518) 582 2181

Research Interests

Forest Ecology and Physiology
Dendrochronology (Tree Ring Research)
Climate Change Impacts on Forest Communities
Ecology and Management of Coastal Temperate Rainforests
Forest Ecosystem Services
Wilderness Conservation
Policy and Management of U.S. National Forests
Inertia and Adaptive Capacity of Public Institutions
Forest Management for Renewable Energy

Prospective Students

I am interested in mentoring students pursuing either disciplinary or interdisciplinary research topics related to global climate change, wilderness conservation, forest ecology and management, ecological-economic modeling, and public lands policy and management, i.e., integrative research that addresses the sustainability of coupled human and natural systems. Because I am located at the Adirondack Ecological Center, in the heart of the Adirondack Park, my students will have excellent field and laboratory opportunities, and may even choose to reside here in the Adirondacks as a part of their research program. I also have ongoing research projects and access to facilities in the temperate rainforests of southeastern Alaska and northern British Columbia, Canada. My philosophy is to encourage innovative and collaborative research, and to allow students to develop projects based on their interests and abilities. Please send me an email for more information or to set up some time to chat.

Recent Publications

Beier CM, Lovecraft AL and FS Chapin, III. 2009. Growth and collapse of a resource system: an adaptive cycle of change in public lands governance and forest management in Alaska. Ecology and Society (in press).

Horton JL, Clinton BD, Walker JF, Beier CM and ET Nilsen. 2009. Variation in soil and forest floor characteristics along gradients of ericaceous, evergreen shrub cover in the southern Appalachians. Castanea (in press).

Beier CM, Patterson TM and FS Chapin, III. 2008. Ecosystem services and emergent vulnerability in managed ecosystems: a geospatial decision-support tool. Ecosystems 11(6): 923-938.

Beier CM. 2008. Influence of political opposition and compromise on conservation outcomes in the Tongass National Forest, Alaska. Conservation Biology 22(6): 1485-1496.

Beier CM, Sink SE, Hennon PE, D'Amore DV and GP Juday. 2008. Twentieth-century warming and the dendroclimatology of declining yellow-cedar forests in southeastern Alaska. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 38(6): 1319-1334.

Hennon PE, D'Amore DV, Wittwer D, Johnson A, Schaberg P, Hawley G, Beier CM, Sink SE and GP Juday. 2007. Climate warming, reduced snow, and freezing injury could explain the demise of yellow-cedar in Southeast Alaska. World Resource Review 18(2): 427-450.

Beier CM, Horton JL, Walker JF, Clinton BD and ET Nilsen. 2005. Carbon limitation leads to suppression of first year oak seedlings beneath evergreen understory shrubs in Southern Appalachian hardwood forests. Plant Ecology. 176(2): 131-142.

Chapin FS, Peterson G, Berkes F, Callaghan TV, Anglestam P, Apps M, Beier CM, Bergeron Y, Crepin AS, Danell K, Elmqvist T, Folke C, Forbes B, Fresco N, Juday GP, Niemela J, Shvidenko A and G Whiteman. 2004. Resilience and vulnerability of northern regions to social and environmental change. Ambio 33: 344-349.

Walker JF, Miller OK, Horton JL, Beier CM, Clinton BD and ET Nilsen. 2002. Distribution of ectomycorrhizal fungi on tree seedlings grown in gradients of ericaceous shrubs in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Inoculum 53(3):58.

Recent Scientific Talks
Beier CM. 2009. A systems framework and methodology for geospatial assessment of ecosystem services. International Association for Landscape Ecology – U.S. Chapter Conference, Snowbird, Utah.

Beier CM, Patterson TM, Chapin FS. 2008. Landscape-scale assessment of emergent vulnerability: ecosystem services and disturbance feedbacks. Resilience 2008 – Stockholm University and Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.

Beier CM, Patterson TM, Chapin FS. 2007. Mapping social-ecological vulnerability at the regional scale: ecosystem services, societal importance, and disturbance impacts. North American Forest Ecology Workshop, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Invited talk.
Beier CM, Sink SE, Juday GP, Hennon PE, D’Amore DV. 2006. Climatic factors in the widespread decline of yellow-cedar in the mixed-conifer temperate rainforests of southeastern Alaska. Ecological Society of America, Memphis, TN.

Currently Funded Research
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Using LiDAR to assess the roles of climate and land-cover dynamics as drivers of changes in biodiversity. Project begins fall 2009, led by Giorgos Mountrakis (ESF), with Ben Zuckerberg (Cornell), William Porter (ESF) and Lianjun Zhang (ESF).

NY State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Biofuels Roadmap for New York State. ESF subcontract led by Tim Volk, with Valerie Luzadis, Tom Amidon, Bob Malmsheimer, and several others.

USDA Forest Service - Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC). Importance of calcium-rich substrates for supporting refugia of biodiversity and productivity in an increasingly acidified landscape. Project ongoing during summer and fall 2009.