Research Interests

Terrestrial ecosystems and the global atmosphere are closely linked. My research focuses on the interactions between plants, soils, and the atmosphere, and how these interactions are being altered by global environmental change. There is still much to be learned about basic mechanisms of whole plant function and responses to the environment, especially in the linkages between CO2, water, and nutrient relations. Understanding these processes becomes even more complex when considering disturbances like increasing atmospheric CO2 and pollution, climate change, and land use change.

Research in my lab involves field and lab measurements of plant ecophysiology and biogeochemistry in a variety of ecosystems ranging from natural areas and wildlands to urbanized and highly disturbed areas. Tools include measurements of sap flux and ecosystem water relations to improve our understanding of whole plant physiology, canopy-atmosphere interactions, and ecohydrology.  We also use stable isotope tracers in the atmosphere, water, and organic matter as integrators of plant gas exchange and ecosystem biogeochemistry.  The goal is to improve our ability to quantify the role of terrestrial ecosystems in the earth system, as well as the effects of global change on ecosystems and the services they provide to society.

Degrees

1998 Ph.D. Duke University
1995 M.S. Duke University
1993 B.A. Barnard College, Columbia University

Honors and Awards

Current Graduate Students

Current Post-docs

Recent Courses Taught

Links

Home page

The UTES project

BASIN network

Recent Papers

Pataki DE, Bowling DR, Ehleringer JR. 2003. Seasonal cycle of carbon dioxide and its isotopic composition in an urban atmosphere: anthropogenic and biogenic effects. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres. 108(D23), 4735.

Pataki DE, Ellsworth DW, King JS, Leavitt SW, Lin G, Pendall E, Siegwolf R, van Kessel C, Ehleringer JR. 2003. Tracing changes in ecosystem function under elevated CO2. Bioscience. 53(9):805-818.

Pataki DE, Ehleringer JR, Flanagan LB, Yakir D, Bowling DR, Still C, Buchmann N, Kaplan JO, Berry JA. 2003. The application and interpretation of Keeling plots in terrestrial carbon cycle research. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 17(1), 1022.

Pataki, D.E., T.E. Huxman, D.N. Jordan, S.F. Zitzer, J.S. Coleman, S.D. Smith, R.S. Nowak, J.R. Seemann. 2000. Water use of two Mojave Desert shrubs under elevated CO2. Global Change Biology 6(8): 889-898.

Pataki, D.E., R. Oren, and W.K. Smith. 2000. Sap flux of co-occurring species in a western subalpine forest during seasonal soil drought. Ecology 81(9) 2557-2566.

Oren R., J.S. Sperry, G.G. Katul, D.E. Pataki, B.E. Ewers, N. Phillips, K.V.R. Schäfer. 1999. Survey and synthesis of intra- and interspecific variation in stomatal sensitivity to vapour pressure deficit. Plant, Cell and Environment 22: 1515-1526.