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Colin Beier, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Adirondack Ecological Center
Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management
cbeier@esf.edu
Academic Year
311 Bray Hall
1 Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 13210
Voice: (315) 470-6578
Fax: (315) 470-6535
Summer
Adirondack Ecological Center
6312 State Route 28N
Newcomb, NY 12852
Voice: (518) 582-4551 x106
Fax: (518) 582-2181
Research Interests/ Beier Lab
- Forest Ecology
- Social-Ecological Systems (or Coupled Human-Nature Systems)
- Ecosystem Services Assessment & Decision-Support
- Landscape Ecology, GIS & Remote Sensing
- Climate Change & Dendroclimatology
- Ecological Economics & Sustainability Science
- Renewable Energy Systems & Sustainable Feedstocks
- Policy & Management of Complex Forest Landscapes
Prospective Students
Our group pursues a range of research topics related to the functions, dynamics and sustainability of forest landscapes during the Anthropocene – the current geological age in which humans have fundamentally shaped all of the Earth’s basic life support systems. Sustainability science is a blend of basic and applied research that draws from multiple disciplines and recognizes that humans are integral parts of the Earth system, capable of inducing rapid and irreversible changes (within human time scales). Topics studied currently by our group include: impacts of simultaneous climate and land use change on terrestrial biodiversity; climate change and acid rain impacts on forest productivity and health in the Adirondacks; relationships between calcium availability, acid rain and terrestrial biodiversity across the Northern Forest; advanced geoinformatics and web-based mapping/analysis tools; sustainable feedstock and renewable energy production systems based on woody biomass; forest governance and ecosystem services in Chile; and ecosystem services assessment and decision-support in a variety of systems, from Alaskan rainforest to green infrastructure in Syracuse, NY. My philosophy is to mentor students to develop innovative, rigorous and collaborative research, and to encourage students to follow their strongest interests and abilities. Please send me an email for more information or to set up some time to chat.
Graduate Advisees
Daniel Bishop
dbishop@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: MS
- Graduate Advisor(s): Beier
- Area of Study: Forest Ecosystem Science & Appl
Cheryl Bondi
cabondi@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: PHD
- Graduate Advisor(s): Beier
- Area of Study: Water & Wetland Resource Studies
- Undergraduate Institute: Salem State College (Biology)
- Previous Graduate Study: Humboldt State University (Biology )
Graduate Research Topic
My dissertation research focuses on the role of Calcium in northern hardwood forest floor ecology. I am studying community structure and trophic interactions between snails, arthropods and terrestrial salamanders in forests with varying levels of available Calcium in the organic soil horizon. In a landscape that has undergone historically high levels of acid deposition, this research will provide insight into the effects that Calcium leaching may have on the leaf litter fauna and bottom up processes in northeastern forests.
Research Interests
My main interests as a biologist are amphibian ecology and biology. I study the distribution and habitat relationships of these species in the context of a changing environment, whether anthropogenic or natural. I received my Masters degree in Biology from Humboldt State University where my thesis research focused on the spatial ecology of a western pond turtles in response to changes in flow regime. Past research I have been involved with includes habitat models for an obligate stream breeding frog and population studies on the cascade frog of the Lassen Mountains, California.
Jesse Caputo
jcaputo@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: PHD
- Graduate Advisor(s): Beier and Volk
- Area of Study: Ecology and Ecosystems
- Previous Graduate Study: University of Mass Amherst* (Forestry )
Homepage
Web Link
Personal Statement
Throughout history, forest ecosystems have provided human communities with a multitude of products, services, and values, including energy sources, structural materials, food, clean water, and important spiritual, cultural, and aesthetic values. My broad interests lie in understanding how the conservation and management of forestlands can continue to provide a diverse suite of goods and services, including both commodities and ecosystem services, as both the physical environment and human needs change and evolve over time.
Graduate Research Topic
The impacts of specific silvicultural systems, particularly those intended to produce biomass for energy production, on the provision of energy feedstocks and other commodities, as well as a broad suite of ecosystem services over time.
ESF Willow Project
Web Link
Abigail Larkin
amlarkin@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: PHD
- Graduate Advisor(s): Beier
- Area of Study: EFB Conservation Biology
- Undergraduate Institute: Xavier University OH (Biology)
- Previous Graduate Study: SUNY ESF (EFB )
Link
Web Link
Graduate Research Topic
Wilderness Perception Mapping in the Adirondack Park, NY
Daniela Manuschevich
dimanusc@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: PHD
- Graduate Advisor(s): Beier
- Area of Study: Economics, Governance and Human Dimensions
- Undergraduate Institute: Pontifica University of Catolica de Ch
Graduate Research Topic
I'm interested in drivers and consequences of Land-use and land-cover change (LULCC). In particular I'm interested in the ongoing process of LUCC in south central Chile. In the last 40 years exotic tree plantations have expanded rapidly over eroded soils and farmlands and now are becoming a representative land use in the region. Nevertheless, political positions in regards to this change are diverse among different stakeholder. On the other hand, I am interested the landscape consequences of this change in land use over environmental variables such as soil quality, biodiversity and fire probability. My main goal is to understand the human-natural interaction in this system and how this interaction can be sustained in the long-term.
John Wiley
jwileyjr@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: PHD
- Graduate Advisor(s): Beier and McGee
- Area of Study: Ecology
- Undergraduate Institute: Hanover College (Biology)
- Previous Graduate Study: Ohio University (Plant Biology/Forest)
Graduate Research Topic
Secondary successional processes and habitat trends based on chronosequential decomposition of LiDAR-derived vegetation height profiles in relation to edaphic and climatic gradients across the landscape.
Jennifer Yantachka
jeyantac@syr.edu
- Degree Sought: MS
- Graduate Advisor(s): Beier
- Area of Study: Ecology
- Undergraduate Institute: Cornell University (Biological Sciences)
Graduate Research Topic
One of the ways acid deposition affects biota is through the leaching of soil calcium. Snails are sensitive to calcium availability and are a major source of supplementary calcium for breeding songbirds. I am studying songbird abundance and diversity along calcium gradients in the Adirondack Mountains to understand how acidification is influencing songbird populations.
Peer Reviewed Publications
Beier CM, Woods AM, Hotopp K, Mitchell MJ, Gibbs JP, Dovciak M, Leopold DJ, Lawrence GB, Page B. In press. Changes in faunal and vegetation communities along a soil calcium gradient in Adirondack northern hardwood forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research
Beier CM, Stella JA, Dovciak M, McNulty SA. Accepted with revisions. Local climatic drivers of ice cover changes on montane lakes at the boreal-temperate ecotone. Climatic Change
Beier CM, Signell SA, Luttman A, DeGaetano AT. 2011. High resolution climate change mapping with gridded historical climate products. Landscape Ecology DOI: 10.1007/s10980-011-9698-8. Online
Beier CM. 2011. Factors influencing adaptive capacity in the reorganization of forest management in Alaska. Ecology and Society 16 (1): 40. Online
Resilience Alliance. 2010. Assessing Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems: Workbook for Practitioners. Version 2.0. Online
Horton JL, Clinton BD, Walker JF, Beier CM, Nilsen ET. 2009. Variation in soil and forest floor characteristics along gradients of ericaceous shrub cover in the southern Appalachians. Castanea 74(4): 340-352.
Beier CM, Lovecraft AL, Chapin FS. 2009. Growth and collapse of a resource system: an adaptive cycle of change in public lands governance and forest management in Alaska. Ecology & Society 14(2): 5. Online
Stager JC, McNulty SA, Beier CM, Chiaranzelli J. 2009. Historical patterns and effects of changes in Adirondack climates since the early 20th century. Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies 15(2): 22-38.
Beier CM, Patterson TM, Chapin FS. 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, Juday GP. 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 P, D’Amore D, Wittwer D, Johnson A, Schaberg P, Hawley G, Beier CM, Sink S, Juday G. 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, Nilsen ET. 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 G, Niemela J, Shvidenko A, Whiteman G. 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, Nilsen ET. 2002. Distribution of ectomycorrhizal fungi on tree seedlings grown in gradients of ericaceous shrubs in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Inoculum 53(3): 58.
Manuscripts In Review & Preparation
Beier CM, Bishop DA, Signell SA, DeGaetano AT. In preparation. Landscape analysis of prediction error in high-resolution gridded historical climate products for the US Northeast. Journal of Applied Climatology & Meteorology
Beier CM, et al. In preparation. Landscape coupling of ecosystem services. Ecological Economics
Beier CM. In preparation. Land use policy and ecosystem services in a complex forest landscape. Landscape Ecology
Grants Current & Pending
Vidon, P, Mitchell MJ, Beier CM. Determination of Climatic and Geomorphological Drivers of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Forested Landscapes of the US Northeast. USDA-CSREES ($77,807 - current).
Beier CM, Groffman P, Limburg KE, Volk TA. Impacts of Forest Management on Regulating Services in Northern Forest Watersheds: Development of the Forest Ecosystem Services Toolkit. USDA Forest Service - Northeastern States Research Cooperative ($115,117 - current)
Dovciak M, Beier CM, Lawrence G, Battles J. Global Change Fingerprints in Montane Boreal Forests: Implications for Biodiversity and Management of the Northeastern Protected Areas. USDA Forest Service - Northeastern States Research Cooperative ($87,489 - current)
McNulty SA, Beier CM, Signell SA. Application of GIS to Resource Inventory for Unit Management Planning. NYS Department of Environmental Conservation ($115,000 - current).
Mountrakis G, Beier CM, Porter WF. Using LiDAR to Assess the Roles of Climate and Land-Cover Dynamics as Drivers of Changes in Biodiversity. NASA ROSES ($910,800 - current).
Beier CM, Dovciak M. Coupling Local-Scale Climate Change and Forest Ecosystems in the Adirondack Mountains, NY. USDA-CSREES ($51,799 – current).
Im J, Dovciak M, Beier CM, Quackenbush L. Characterization of Montane Forest Ecosystems Using Advanced Remote Sensing Technology. USDA-CSREES ($79,543 – current).
Dovciak M, Beier CM. Forest Change in the Adirondacks Over Forty Years of Multiple Stressors. USDA-CSREES ($54,034 – current)
Beier CM, Mitchell MJ, Gibbs JP, Dovciak M, Fierke M. Impacts of Acidic Deposition and Soil Calcium Depletion on Terrestrial Biodiversity and Food Webs in Northern Hardwood Forests. USDA-Northeastern States Research Cooperative – Theme Two ($144,488 – current).
Angermeier P, Frimpong E, Limburg K, Bennett E, Beier CM, Beard D. Spatial Analysis of Relationships among Conservation Practices, Aquatic Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being. USGS Aquatic Gap Program ($265,500 - current).
Beier CM, Limburg KE, Luzadis VA, Feldpausch-Parker A. WSC - Wood Bioenergy and Water Sustainability in the Northern Hardwood Forest. Collaborative multi-institution proposal led by P. Groffman (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies). National Science Foundation ($865,000 ESF ($5,000,000 total) – pending).
