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NJAES Faculty Expertise Database

Joan Ehrenfeld
Professor
 Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
ENR 126
14 College Farm Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone: 732-932-1081
Fax: 732-932-8746
Email: ehrenfel@rci.rutgers.edu

Expertise Summary
  My research is centered on the overlap between ecosystems ecology and plant ecology. I have been pursuing various research that explores the interrelationships between plants (especially root biology and mycorrhizae) and soil (including soil processes such as decomposition and nitrogen cycling, soil structure, and the biology of soil organisms). I am involved in research in a wide variety of ecosystems in New Jersey, including the Pinelands, the hardwood forests of the northwestern hills, and the red maple swamps of the northeastern Piedmont province: this range of ecosystems reflects my long-term interests in wetland ecology, as well as in upland forest ecology.

Current projects include: a) studies of the effects of exotic plant species on soil function in hardwood forests, b) a comprehensive study of hardwood swamps (vegetation, soils, and hydrology) in urban and suburban environments; c) studies of the interactions between lichens, mosses and vascular plants in the New Jersey Pinelands, with an emphasis on their importance in sand mine restoration.

Research Projects
  • Regional Water Quality Coordination Project - A Proposal for Regional Coordination within USEPA Region 2
  • DETERMINANTS OF THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF NEW JERSEY WETLANDS
  • Weedy Plant Invasions on Public Conservation Lands: Using Citizen Scientists to Answer Ecological Questions
  • Belowground competition: a mechanism to explain the invasiveness of exotic forest understory shrubs

    • Selected Publications
    Effects of Exotic Plant Species on Soil Properties in Hardwood Forests of New Jersey.
      Journal: Water, Air and Soil Pollut.
     Authors: Kourtev, P., J.G. Ehrenfeld and W. Huang
    Growth and mycorrhizal infection of woody plant roots as potential limits to the restoration of woodlands on landfills.
      Journal: Restoration Ecology
     Authors: Parsons, W.F.J., J.G. Ehrenfeld, and S.N. Handel
    Volume: 6    Pages: 280-289
    On the nature of environmental gradients: temporal and spatial variability of soils and vegetation in the New Jersey Pinelands.
      Journal: J. Ecology
     Authors: Ehrenfeld, J.G., X. Han, W.F.J. Parsons, and W. Zhu
    Volume: 85    Pages: 785-798

     

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