Howard E. Epstein
Department Chair, Professor
My current research efforts are in the arctic tundra of North America and Russia, and the temperate forests of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic. In the Arctic, we are examining the recent dynamics of arctic tundra vegetation in response to changing climate and disturbances, and the effects that these vegetation changes have on other arctic ecosystem properties. In the U.S. Mid-Atlantic we are examining carbon cycling along successional gradients from old-field to old-growth, as well as carbon-water interactions in topographically complex watersheds.
Publications
- Disequilibrium of fire-prone forests sets the stage for a rapid decline in conifer dominance during the 21stcentury
2018; Scientific Reports; Serra-Diaz, J.M. | Maxwell, C. | Lucash, M.S. | Scheller, R.M. | Laflower, D.M. |... - Reviews and syntheses: Changing ecosystem influences on soil thermal regimes in northern high-latitude permafrost regions
2018; Biogeosciences; Loranty, M.M. | Abbott, B.W. | Blok, D. | Douglas, T.A. | Epstein, H.E. |... - State of the climate in 2017
2018; Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society; Abernethy, R. | Ackerman, S.A. | Adler, R. | Albanil Encarnación, A. | Aldeco, L.S. |... - Seasonal and Long-Term Changes to Active-Layer Temperatures after Tall Shrubland Expansion and Succession in Arctic Tundra
2018; Ecosystems; Frost, G.V. | Epstein, H.E. | Walker, D.A. | Matyshak, G. | Ermokhina, K. - MODIS-Based Estimates of Global Terrestrial Ecosystem Respiration
2018; Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences; Ai, J. | Jia, G. | Epstein, H.E. | Wang, H. | Zhang, A. |... - Spatial Heterogeneity of the Temporal Dynamics of Arctic Tundra Vegetation
2018; Geophysical Research Letters; Reichle, L.M. | Epstein, H.E. | Bhatt, U.S. | Raynolds, M.K. | Walker, D.A. - Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Classification
2018; Phytocoenologia; Walker, D.A. | Daniëls, F.J.A. | Matveyeva, N.V. | Šibík, J. | Walker, M.D. |... - Vulnerability to forest loss through altered postfire recovery dynamics in a warming climate in the Klamath Mountains
2017; Global Change Biology; Tepley, A.J. | Thompson, J.R. | Epstein, H.E. | Anderson-Teixeira, K.J. - Circumpolar arctic tundra biomass and productivity dynamics in response to projected climate change and herbivory
2017; Global Change Biology; Yu, Q. | Epstein, H. | Engstrom, R. | Walker, D. - Seasonal and inter-annual variability in litter decomposition and nitrogen availability in a mid-Appalachian watershed
2017; Ecosphere; Atkins, J.W. | Epstein, H.E. | Welsch, D.L.
Teaching
Terrestrial Ecology (EVSC 5220)
Analyzes the patterns and processes in terrestrial ecosystems. Topic include macro- and micro-meteorological factors such as producer, consumer, and decomposer processes; hydrologic and biogeochemical pathways; and changes through space and time.
Fundamentals of Ecology (EVSC 3200)
Studies energy flow, nutrient cycling and allocation in natural ecosystems, organization of species at the population and community levels, and interaction between people and the biosphere.