Schwinning Lab

Plant Ecology

Yang Tse

Former Lab Personnel

Logan Maxwell, M.S. 2021

Logan

Logan's thesis was about ecological restoration of shrub communities (Artemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis (Wyoming sagebrush) and Coleogyne ramosissima (blackbrush)) on abandoned oil and gas pads on the Colorado Plateau. She investigated the physiological status of recruits on long-abandoned mines and conducted revegetation experiments with seends and transplants to quantify the costs and benefits of alternate restoration methods.

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Sierra DaSilva, M.S. 2020

Sierra

Sierra's thesis was entitled: "Allelopathy in the invasive warm-season grass Bothriochloa ischaemum: Investigation of its mechanism and effects on competitor species of the Edwards Plateau". She is currently preparing a manuscript for publication. Meanwhile, you can look up her thesis in the collection of the TSU library. Her thesis was published in Plant and Soil, which you can download here.

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Yali Ding, Visiting Scholar, 2017

Yali

Ding visited us while she was completing her Ph.D. at the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese National Academy of Sciences. She is an expert in the water relations of trees in the South China Karst, and we have collaborated with her on developing a new technique for integrating seasonal groundwater use using stable isotopes in water. Ding worked on a collaborative paper with us, now published in the Journal of Hydrology, which you can download here.

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Sarah Eisenmenger, M.S. 2018

Sarah

Sarah's thesis was "The effect of staggered planting times on competitive interactions and yield of a bean-corn intercrop". Her research showed that yield proportions in intercopping systems can be fine tuned by staggering the planting times for component crops. Specifically, earlier planting will have the result of increasing yield, at the cost of later-planted crop components. Her thesis is available in the collection of the TSU library.

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Nathan Custer, M.S. 2017

Nathan

Nate's thesis was on the topic of "Climate x ecotype interactions for three shrub species of the Mojave Desert: Which traits predict fitness variation across climate zones?" Nate's work is published in the Journal of Ecology, which you can download here.

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Beth Crouchet, M.S. 2016

Beth

Beth's thesis was entitled "Covariates of tree mortality associated with the 2011 Texas Drought". Her thesis was published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, which you can download here.

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Yun-Pong Nie, Assistant Professor, Visiting Scholar (2015)

Nie

Nie is a full time researcher in the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research centers on the ecohydrology of soil-limited karst ecosystems, including characteristics of water storage in karst, the water use and adaptive strategies of native plant species, as well as their responses to climate change. To reveal the underlying mechanisms, he draws on tools from the fields of soil science, hydrology, ecophysiology, ecology, and stable isotope biogeochemistry. His research team conducts field research in karst regions of Subtropical China. He can be contacted by email at nyp@isa.ac.cn

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Li Rong, Professor, Visiting Scholar (2014)

Li

Rong is a professor at Guizhou Normal University in the city of Guiyang, China. She is interested in examining the water relations of karst plants using stable isotope techniques.

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Scott Havill, M.S. 2012

Scott

Scott's thesis revolved around the idea of using fire for the control of invasive grasses, particularly, KR bluestem. His thesis was published in the Journal of Vegetation Science, which you can download here

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Lisa Jones, M.S. 2012

Lisa

Lisa's thesis research was on blackbrush restoration. Her work is published in Restoration Ecology and you can download it here.

 

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Heather Meckel

Heather

Heather's thesis research focussed on the way in which the invasive species Johnsongrass competes with native species during seedling establishment. This was published in PLOS ONE, downloadable here.

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Kelly Kukowski (nee Goodsheller), M.S. 2010

Kelly

Kelly did her thesis on the water use of Edwards Plateau trees during drought. She published one paper in Oecologia, which you can download here and was co-author on another collaborative paper that you can download here.

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Heather Dammeyer, M.S. 2010

Heather

Heather examined how clearcutting juniper trees affects the water availability of trees that are left behind. She published on this work in Hydrological Processes, which you can download here and was co-author on a collaborative paper that you can download here.

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Erin Ruckman (nee Rowley), M.S. 2009

Erin

Erin examined the effects of controlled burns on the cover of KR bluestem in Texas prairies and heat effects on seed viability. She published ine paper in Ecological Rstoration, which you can download here and another paper in Restoration Ecology, which you can download here.

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Former Undergraduate Research Assistants:

Adriana Puzon (2021-2022)

Kiley Wood (2018)

Derek Thomas (2018)

Elisabeth Sanchez (2018)

Whitney Wood 2017 – 2018)

Mi-Essha Burgess (2017 – 2018)

Gabriela Alvarez (2017 – 2018)

Alexa Brown (2017)

Bria Marty (2016 – 2017)

Matthew Harrison (2016 – 2017)

Jackson Johnson (2015 – 2017)

Jeremiah Leach (2014 – 2015)

Alexander Toder (2014-2015)

Cristina Zolezzi (2014)

Gisela Salgado (2014)

Thomas Montgomery (2014 – 2015)

Jeremiah Leach (2014 – 2015)

Silas Ott (2012)

John McIntyre (2011 – 2012)

Jeremy Allen (2011 – 2012)

Daniel Huston (2010 – 2011)

Rachel Snow (2010 – 2012)

Kevin Hancock (2009 – 2010)

Brian Forrest (2009 – 2010)

Bobby Cast (2008)

Nathan Levens (2007 – 2008)

Kelly Goodsheller (2007 – 2008)

Romey Swanson (2006 – 2007)

Anthony Rubino (2006)

Robert Landry (2006 – 2007)

 

 

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Lab News

Recent student presentations

Evan Simon presented his research at the 2022 TXSER in Austin entitled "The Relationship Between Elevation and Response of Trees of the Edwards Plateau to Drought." He won the first prize for an Oral Presentation by an Undergraduate Student.

Highlighted publications

A long-awaited Special Feature in the Journal of Ecology has finally been completed. These are our lab's contributions:

Schwinning, S., DeFalco, L.A., Esque, T.C. 2021.What common-garden experiments can tell us about climate responses in plants. Journal of Ecology 110: 986-996 pdf

Custer, N.A., Schwinning, S., Lortie, C.J., Esque, T.C., DeFalco, L.A. 2021. Local climate adaptations in two ubiquitous Mojave Desert shrub species, Ambrosia dumosa and Larrea tridentata. Journal of Ecology 110: 1072-1089. pdf

Other lab news

The following students have received research awards in 2022:

Evan Simons, who conducted research towards an undergraduate honors thesis, was awarded an undergraduate research followship by the College of Science and Engineering. He also won the first prize for the 'Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation' at the TXSER conference (Society for Ecological Restoration, Texas Chapter).

Owen Moorhead won the Ann Miller Gonzalez Graduate Research Grant from the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) to conduct an experiment in prairie restoration in collaboration with the Native Prairies Association of Texas (NPAT).

Silas Jenkins won the Ann Miller Gonzalez Graduate Research Grant from the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) to investigate the importance of mycorrhizal fungi for the survival of oak seedlings under drought.

Contact information
Susan Schwinning
601 University Drive
312 Supple Science Bldg
Texas State University
San Marcos, TX 78666, USA
Email: schwinn@txstate.edu

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Texas State University

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Comments on the contents of this site should be directed to Susan Schwinning