Shuijin Hu
Bio
Research:
Microbial mediation of plant and ecosystem responses to global change components. We are currently investigating the mechanisms through which soil microorganisms mediate plant and ecosystem responses to elevated atmospheric CO2, O3 and N inputs. Our major focus is on how microorganisms respond to alterations in C and N availability under these global change components, and what are the implications of the resulting changes in terms of ecosystem C storage.
Microbial interactions and pathogen/disease suppression. We want to know whether and how the structure, diversity and activities of soil microbial and mesofaunal communities influence the population dynamics and activities of soilborne pathogenic fungi, Pythium spp. and Rhizoctonia spp. in particular.
Microbial mediation of plant interactions. We are interested in understanding how microbes, mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi in particular, modulate the interactions among coexisting plant species. Effects of disturbance on the structure and activities of soil organisms. Our current research examines how disturbance such as conventional farming and elevated atmospheric CO2 affects soil microbes and soil food web interactions and how the resulting alterations in soil organisms influence C and N cycling.
Focused Areas:
- Soil Microbial Ecology
- Ecosystem Ecology
Current Projects:
- Greenhouse gas emissions from agroecosystems
- Mycorrhizal effects on soil C and N dynamics under elevated CO2 and climate
warming - Endophytic bacteria in switchgrass and their effects on soil C and N cycling
Teaching:
- Soil/Ecosystem Ecology, PP590/790E
- Ecology, Evolution & Biodiversity, BO 595E (co-teaching)
- Climate Chang and Agriculture. PP590/PP790 (Special Topics)
- New and re-emerging plant diseases in the US (Discussion group) (PP610Y/810Y)
Honors and Awards:
- 2002: William Boright Hewitt Award, American Phytopathological Society
- 2002: NSF China: Outstanding Young Scientist Fellowship
- 1996: NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Bioscience Related to the Environment
Publications
- Association of Organic Carbon With Reactive Iron Oxides Driven by Soil pH at the Global Scale , GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES (2022)
- Legume cover crop type and termination method effects on labile soil carbon and nitrogen and aggregation , AGRONOMY JOURNAL (2022)
- Long-term regional evidence of the effects of livestock grazing on soil microbial community structure and functions in surface and deep soil layers , SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY (2022)
- Plant nitrogen nutrition: The roles of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi , JOURNAL OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY (2022)
- Autopolyploidy-driven range expansion of a temperate-originated plant to pan-tropic under global change , ECOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS (2021)
- Climate change drivers alter root controls over litter decomposition in a semi-arid grassland , SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY (2021)
- Climate warming promotes deterministic assembly of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities , GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY (2021)
- Form of nitrogen input dominates N effects on root growth and soil aggregation: A meta-analysis , SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY (2021)
- Legacy effect of grazing intensity mediates the bottom-up controls of resource addition on soil food webs , JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY (2021)
- Microbial metabolic efficiency and community stability in high and low fertility soils following wheat residue addition , APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY (2021)