Faculty Profile
Ruth Yanai
Distinguished Professor
Department of Sustainable Resources Management
176 Baker
Highest Education
Ph.D. Yale University (Forest Ecology), 1990.
Areas of Study
- Multiple-Element Limitation in Northern Hardwood Ecosystems (MELNHE)
- Quantifying Uncertainty in Ecosystem Studies (QUEST)
- Forest ecology, ecosystem nutrient cycling, roots, and forest soils.
Courses Taught
- Writing for Scientific Publication (FOR 694)
- Capstone in Natural Resources (FOR 692)
Current Graduate Advisees
Erica Albertson
[email protected]
- Degree Sought: MS
- Graduate Advisor(s): Yanai
- Area of Study: Forest Resources Management
Graduate Research Topic
Effects of nutrient availability on microbial communities and nutrient cycling in decomposing leaves.
Sofia Arreaga
[email protected]
- Degree Sought: MS
- Graduate Advisor(s): Drake and Yanai
- Area of Study: Forest Resources Management
Personal Statement
I am a Renewable Natural Resources Engineer with a background in biological, chemical, physical, mathematical, and social sciences, focused on understanding and managing ecosystems. I am currently pursuing a Masters degree in Natural Resources Management. My passion is to propose innovative and sustainable solutions for the conservation and optimization of natural resources, contributing to a balance between economic development, social well-being, and environmental sustainability. My research focuses on improving the accuracy of forest biomass estimations, a key indicator for assessing the carbon stored in forests. In my study, conducted in the Huntington Wildlife Forest, I explicitly incorporate the uncertainty associated with allometric equations, especially for large trees, an aspect that is often overlooked. This approach enables more reliable assessments and can contribute to improving forest monitoring and accounting systems in different contexts worldwide.
Oswaldo Carrillo
[email protected]
- Degree Sought: PHD
- Graduate Advisor(s): Yanai and Stehman
- Area of Study: Forest Resources Management
Personal Statement
Oswaldo Carrillo has a master's degree in applied statistics from the Colegio de Postgraduados, he has 10 years of experience in the area of Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) for REDD+. He has carried out different statistical analyzes on MRV for REDD+ and has carried out MRV trainings in different countries in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. From 2016 to 2021, he was the head of CONAFOR's MRV system for REDD+, in which he coordinated the preparation of two national GHG inventories in the land sector, a national Forest Emission Reference Level (NREF), a subnational Forest Reference (NRF), a national REDD+ performance report, among others. He is an active member of the roster of experts of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for the technical assessments of FREL / NRF. Currently, he is a member of the Latin-American and Caribbean SilvaCarbon team (through the US Forest Service) as a Latin America SilvaCarbon Greenhouse Gas Estimation Statistical Expert and he is a doctoral student at the Environmental Sciences and Forestry Collage of the State University of New York.
Graduate Research Topic
Methods to improve uncertainties estimation of land GHG emission reductions
Sara Sternick
[email protected]
- Degree Sought: MS
- Graduate Advisor(s): Yanai
- Area of Study: Forest Resources Management
Personal Statement
I graduated with a BS in Biology from UMass Amherst in 2020, with a minor in natural resource conservation. I have worked at ecology research stations in both Georgia and Oregon doing seasonal technician work, and now I am pursuing an MS at SUNY ESF!
Favorite Quote
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir
Recent Publications
Blumenthal, N.M., H.M. Stevens, S. Goswami, R.D. Yanai, T.J. Fahey, and M.C. Fisk. N and P co-limitation of forest growth in northern hardwood forests. Ecology, 106(10): e70217. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70217 | PDF
Fahey, T.J., M.C. Fisk, K.E. Gonzales, J.L. Butt, and R.D. Yanai. 2025. Co-limitation in northern hardwood forest ecosystems: A synthesis of recent studies. Environmental Reviews, 33: 1-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/er-2024-0128 | PDF
Harrington, H.C., M.B. Green, J.L. Campbell, W.H. McDowell, A.S. Wymore, R.D. Yanai. 2025. Stuck at Home: Machine Learning Models Predicting Solute Concentrations of One Stream Fail to Predict Solute Concentrations in Other Streams. Hydrological Processes, 39 (5): e70142. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70142 | PDF
Zukswert, J.M., T.J. Fahey, M.A. Vadeboncoeur, D.S. Hong, and R.D. Yanai. 2025. Changes in foliar chemistry and nutrient resorption in northern hardwood forests in response to long-term experimental nitrogen and phosphorus addition. Oikos 2025(6): e10867. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10867 | PDF
Zukswert, J.M., M.A. Vadeboncoeur, , T.J. Fahey, and R.D. Yanai. 2025. Treatment effects of nitrogen and phosphorus addition on foliar traits in six northern hardwood tree species. Oecologia 207, 23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-025-05664-w | PDF
Young, A.R., B.N. Innusa, R. Biche, and R.D. Yanai. 2024. Exploring effects of nutrient availability, species composition, stand age, and mesofaunal exclusion on leaf litter decomposition in northern hardwood forests. Forests, 15(11):1911. https://doi.org/10.3390/f15111911 | PDF | Dataset
Bashian-Victoroff, C., R.D. Yanai, T.R. Horton, L.J. Lamit. 2024. Nitrogen and phosphorus availability affect fruiting of ectomycorrhizal fungi in a temperate hardwood forest. Fungal Ecology, 73:101388. doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2024.101388| PDF
Mann, T.A., R.D. Yanai, T.J. Fahey, and A.B. Reinmann. 2024. Nitrogen and Phosphorus Addition Affect Soil Respiration in Northern Hardwood Forests. Ecosystems, 27:765–778. doi.org/10.1007/s10021-024-00912-1 | PDF
Butler, B.J., E.M. Sass, J.G.P. Gamarra, J.L. Campbell, M. Olguín, C. Wayson, and R.D. Yanai. 2024. Uncertainty in REDD+ Reporting: Results from a Survey of Report Authors. Carbon Balance and Management, 19(1):1-11. doi.org/10.1186/s13021-024-00267-z | PDF
Yanai, R.D., J.E. Drake, H.L. Buckley, B.S. Case, P. Lilly, and R.C. Woollons. 2024. Propagating uncertainty in predicting individuals and means illustrated with foliar chemistry and forest biomass. Ecosystems, 27:259-264. https://10.1007/s10021-023-00886-6 | PDF
Zukswert, J.M.*, M.A. Vadeboncoeur, and R.D. Yanai. 2024. Responses of stomatal density and carbon isotope composition to N, P, and Ca fertilization in sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton). Tree Physiology, 44(1):tpad142 https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpad142 | PDF
Nash, J.M.*, M.A. Vadeboncoeur, G.G. McGee, C.W. Woodall, R.D. Yanai. 2023. Biomass accumulation in trees and downed wood in northern hardwood forests: repeated measures of a successional chronosequence in New Hampshire, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 54(4): 431-446 https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2023-0060| PDF
Li, S., M.C. Fisk, R.D Yanai, and T.J. Fahey. 2023. Co-limitation of root growth by nitrogen and phosphorus in early successional northern hardwood forests. Ecosystems, 27: 33–44 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00869-7 | PDF
Pu, G., J.L. Campbell, M.B. Green, J.L. Merriam, D. Zietlow, and R.D. Yanai. 2023. Uncertainty in stream water fluxes of solutes at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA. Hydrological Processes, 37(8), e14961 doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14961 |PDF
Young, A.R.*, R. Minocha, S. Long, J. E. Drake, and R.D. Yanai. 2023. Responses of physical, chemical, and metabolic leaf characteristics to depth within mature sugar maple crowns and to nitrogen and phosphorus addition. Tree Physiology, 43(7):1118-1129. DOI:10.1093/treephys/tpad04 | PDF
Lin, J., J.G.P. Gamarra, J.E. Drake, A. Cuchietti, and R.D. Yanai. 2023. Scaling up uncertainties in allometric models: How to see the forest, not the trees. Forest Ecology and Management, 537: 120943. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2023.120943 | PDF
Yanai, R.D., A.R. Young, J.L. Campbell, J.A.Westfall, C.J. Barnett, G.A. Dillon, M.B. Green, and C.W. Woodall. 2023. Measurement error in a national forest inventory: results from the Northern Region of the USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 53(3): 163-177. DOI: 10.1139/cjfr-2022-0062 | PDF
Gonzales, K.E.*, R.D. Yanai, T.J. Fahey, and M.C. Fisk. 2023. Evidence for P limitation in eight northern hardwood stands: Foliar concentrations and resorption by three tree species in a factorial N by P addition experiment. Forest Ecology and Management, 529: 120696, DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120696 | PDF
Rice, A.M.*, Johnston, M.T., Libenson, A.J., and Yanai, R.D. 2022. Tree variability limits the detection of nutrient treatment effects on sap flux density in a northern hardwood forest. PeerJ, 10:e14410 DOI:10.7717/peerj.14410 | PDF
Rastetter, E.B., B.L. Kwiatkowski, D.W. Kicklighter, A. Barker Plotkin, H. Genet, J. B. Nippert, K. O'Keefe, S.S. Perakis, S. Porder, S.S. Roley, R.W. Ruess, J.R. Thompson, W.R. Wieder, K. Wilcox, and R.D. Yanai. 2022. N and P constrain C in ecosystems under climate change: role of nutrient redistribution, accumulation, and stoichiometry. Ecological Applications, e2684. DOI: 10.1002/eap.2684 | PDF
Hong D.S.*, K.E. Gonzales, T.J. Fahey, and R.D. Yanai. 2022. Foliar nutrient concentrations of six northern hardwood species responded to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization but did not predict tree growth. PeerJ, 10:e13193. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13193|PDF
Nash, J.M.*, F.M. Diggs, and R.D. Yanai. 2022. Length and colonization rates of roots associated with arbuscular or ectomycorrhizal fungi decline differentially with depth in two northern hardwood forests. Mycorrhiza, 32:213-219. DOI:10.1007/s00572-022-01071-8 | PDF
Shan, S., H. Devens, T.J. Fahey, R.D. Yanai, and M.C. Fisk. 2022. Fine root growth increases in response to nitrogen addition in phosphorus-limited northern hardwood forests. Ecosystems, 25:1589–1600. DOI: 10.1007/s10021-021-00735-4 | PDF
Yanai, R.D. T.A. Mann*, D. Hong, G. Pu*, and J.M. Zukswert*. 2021. The Current State of Uncertainty Reporting in Ecosystem Studies: A Systematic Evaluation of Peer-Reviewed Literature. Ecosphere, 12( 6):e03535.DOI:10.1002/ecs2.3535 | PDF
Sahu, S.K., K.S. Bakar, J. Zhan, J.L. Campbell, and R.D. Yanai., 2020. Spatio-temporal Bayesian modeling of precipitation using rain gauge data from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA. Joint Statistical Meetings Proceedings, Statistical Computing Section. Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association. pp.77-92. Sujit Sahu webpage |PDF
Yanai, R.D., C. Wayson, D. Lee, A.B. Espejo, J.L Campbell, M.B. Green, J.M. Zukswert, S.B. Yoffe, J.E. Aukema, A.J. Lister, J.W. Kirchner , and J.G.P. Gamarra. 2020. Improving Uncertainty in Forest Carbon Accounting for REDD+ Mitigation Efforts. Environmental Research Letters, 15:24002. DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/abb96f
See, C.R., M.B. Green, R.D. Yanai, A.S. Bailey, J.L. Campbell, and J. Hayward. 2020. Quantifying uncertainty in annual runoff due to missing data. PeerJ, 8:e9531. DOI:10.7717/peerj.9531|PDF
Yanai, R.D., Y. Yang, A.D. Wild, K.T. Smith, and C.T. Driscoll. 2020. New Approaches to Understand Mercury in Trees: Radial and Longitudinal Patterns of Mercury in Tree Rings and Genetic Control of Mercury in Maple Sap.Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 231(5): 248. DOI: 10.1007/s11270-020-04601-2 | PDF
Kattge, J., et.al. 2020. Twelve years of TRY towards a third generation of plant trait data assimilation and sharing. Global Change Biology, 26(1):119-188. DOI:10.1111/gcb.14904 | PDF