Short CV

Education
Ph.D. 1994 Stanford University, Biological Sciences
B.A. 1988 Amherst College, Biology

Selected Synergistic Activities
Ecological Society of America Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow (2001)
Co-Director, Carbon, Climate and Society IGERT program
Chair, Ecological Society of America Biogeosciences Section (2006 - 2008)
Director, North American Nitrogen Center (2006 - present)
Member, Ecological Society of America Rapid Response Team, 2004-present
Member, Ecological Society of America Visions Committee, 2002-2004
Member, Ecological Society of America Research Committee, 2001-2003
Member, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) Science Advisory Board, 1999-2001
Member, SCOPE International Nitrogen Project Scientific Advisory Committee, 1996-2002

Editorial Boards
Associate Editor, Biogeochemistry, 1998-2003
Associate Editor, Ecological Applications, 2001-present

Selected Publications (See IBL Publications Page for more complete list.)

Townsend, A.R., G.P. Asner and C.C. Cleveland. 2008. The biogeochemical heterogeneity of tropical forests. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 23(8):424-431.

Galloway, JN; Townsend, AR; Erisman, JW; Bekunda, M; Cai, ZC; Freney, JR; Martinelli, LA; Seitzinger, SP; Sutton, MA. 2008. Transformation of the nitrogen cycle: Recent trends, questions, and potential solutions. Science 320 (5878): 889-892.

Nemergut, D.N, A.R. Townsend et al. 2008. The effects of chronic nitrogen fertilization on alpine tundra soil microbial communities: implications for carbon and nitrogen cycling. Environmental Microbiology, in press.

Reed, S.C., C.C. Cleveland and A.R. Townsend. 2008. Tree species control rates of free-living nitrogen fixation in a lowland tropical forest. Ecology, in press.

Bern, C.R. and A.R. Townsend. 2008. Accumulation of atmospheric sulfur in Costa Rican soils. JGR-Biogeosciences, in press.

Wieder, WR; Cleveland, CC; Townsend, AR. 2008. Tropical tree species composition affects the oxidation of dissolved organic matter from litter. Biogeochemistry 88 (2): 127-138.

Townsend, A.R., L.A. Martinelli and R.W. Howarth. The Global Nitrogen Cycle, Biodiversity and Human Health. in, Biodiversity and Human Health, O. Sala and C. Parmesan, eds. To be published by Island Press in summer of 2008.

Bern, C.R., S. Porder and A.R. Townsend. 2007. Erosion and landscape development decouple strontium and sulfur in the transition to dominance by atmospheric inputs. Geoderma, 142:274-284.

McKenzie, V. and A.R. Townsend. Parasitic and Infectious Disease Responses to a Changing Global Nitrogen Cycle. 2007. EcoHealth, 4(4):384-396.

Townsend, A.R., C.C. Cleveland, G.P.Asner and M.M.C. Bustamante. 2007. Controls over foliar N:P ratios in tropical forests.  Ecology, 88(1): 107-118.

Reed, S.C., C.C. Cleveland and A.R. Townsend.  2007. Climate and nutrient regulation of free-living N-fixation in a lowland tropical forest.  Biotropica, 39(5):585-592. 

Galloway, J.N., A.R. Townsend, J.W. Erisman, S. Seitzinger, L.A. Martinelli, M. Bekunda, M. Sutton,  J. Freney and Z. Cai.  2007. Human alteration of the global nitrogen cycle:  threats, benefits and opportunities.  UNESCO-SCOPE Policy Brief, April 2007. PDF

Cleveland, C.C., D.R. Nemergut, A.R. Townsend and S. Schmidt. 2007. Increases in soil respiration following labile carbon additions linked to rapid shifts in soil microbial community composition. Biogeochemistry, 82 (3): 229-240.

Townsend, A.R. and E.A. Davidson.  2006.  Denitrification across landscapes and waterscapes.  Ecological Applications 16 (6): 2055-2056.

Cleveland, C. C. and A. R. Townsend. 2006. Nitrogen and phosphorus additions cause substantial losses of soil carbon from a lowland tropical rain forest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(27):10,316-10,321.

Cleveland, C.C.,  S.C. Reed and A.R. Townsend.  2006. Nutrient regulation of organic matter decomposition in a tropical rain forest. Ecology 87: 492-503.

Martinelli, L. A., R. W. Howarth, E. Cuevas, S. Filoso, A. T. Austin, L. Donoso, V. Huszar, D. Keeney, L. L. Lara, C. Llerena, G. McIssac, E. Medina, J. Ortiz-Zayas, D. Scavia, D. W. Schindler, D. Soto, and A. Townsend. 2006. Sources of reactive nitrogen affecting ecosystems in Latin America and the Caribbean: current trends and future perspectives. Biogeochemistry 79:3-24.

Mahowald, NM, P Artaxo, AR. Baker, TD Jickells, GS Okin, JT Randerson and AR Townsend. 2005. The impacts of biomass burning emissions and land use change on Amazonian atmospheric phosphorus cycling and deposition. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 19 (4): Art. No. GB4030

Palmer, M.A., E. Bernhardt, E. Chornesky, S.L. Collins, A. Dobson, C. Duke, B. Gold, R. Jacobson, S. Kingsland, R. Kranz, M. Mappin, M. L. Martinez, F. Micheli, J.L. Morse, M. Pace, M. Pascual, S. Palumbi, J. Reichman, W.H. Schlesinger, A. Townsend, and M. G. Turner. 2005. Ecological science and sustainability for the 21st century. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 3(1): 4–11.

Bern, C.B., A.R. Townsend and G.L. Farmer. 2005. Unexpected dominance of parent-material strontium in a tropical forest on highly weathered soils. Ecology, 86(3):626-632.

Asner, G.P., A. R. Townsend, M. M.C. Bustamante, G. B. Nardoto, and L. P. Olander. 2004. Pasture Degradation in the Central Amazon: Linking Changes in Carbon and Nutrient Cycling with Remote Sensing. Global Change Biology, 10 (5): 844-862

Galloway, J. N., G. Asner, E. W. Boyer, D. G. Capone, C. Cleveland, F. J. Dentener, P. Greene, E. Holland, R. W. Howarth, D. M. Karl, A. F. Michaels, S. P. Seitzinger, A. R. Townsend, C. Vorosmarty (alphabetical after first). 2004. Global and Regional Nitrogen Cycles: Past, Present and Future. Biogeochemistry, 70 (2): 153-226

Townsend, A. R., R. W. Howarth , F. A. Bazzaz , M. S. Booth , C. C. Cleveland , S. K. Collinge , A. P. Dobson , P. R. Epstein, E. A. Holland , D. R. Keeney , M. A. Mallin , P. Wayne and A. Wolfe. 2003. Human health effects of a changing global nitrogen cycle. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1(5):240-246.

Palmer, M.A., E. Bernhardt, E. Chornesky, S.L. Collins, A. Dobson, C. Duke, B. Gold, R. Jacobson, S. Kingsland, R. Kranz, M. Mappin, M. L. Martinez, F. Micheli, J.L. Morse, M. Pace, M. Pascual, S. Palumbi, J. Reichman, W.H. Schlesinger, A. Townsend, and M. G. Turner. 2004. Ecology for a Crowded Planet. Science, 304 (5675): 1251-1252.

Seastedt, T.R., W.D. Bowman, D. McKnight, A.R. Townsend and M. Williams. 2004. The Landscape Continuum: A Conceptual Model for High Elevation Ecosystems. BioScience, 54(2):111-121.

Cleveland, C. C., A.R. Townsend, B. C. Constance and S. K. Schmidt. 2003. Soil microbial dynamics and biogeochemical cycling in lowland tropical rain forests and pastures of southwestern Costa Rica. Ecological Applications 13(2): 314-326.

Townsend, A.R., G.P. Asner, C.C. Cleveland, M.E. Lefer and M. M. C. Bustamante. 2002. Unexpected changes in soil phosphorus dynamics following tropical deforestation to cattle pasture. Journal of Geophysical Research,VOL. 107, NO. D20, 8067.

Townsend, A.R., G.P. Asner, P.P. Tans and J.W. C. White. 2002. Tropical land use effects on atmospheric 13C imply a sizable terrestrial carbon sink in equatorial latitudes. Geophysical Research Letters,VOL. 29, NO. 10, 10.1029

Neff, J.C., A.R. Townsend, G. Gleixner, S.J. Lehman, J. Turnbull and W.D. Bowman. 2002. Variable effects of nitrogen additions on the stability and turnover of organic carbon. Nature, 419: 915-917.

Cleveland, C.C., A.R. Townsend and S. K. Schmidt. 2002. Phosphorus limitation of microbial processes in moist tropical forests. Ecosystems 5:680-691.

Asner, G.P, A.R. Townsend and B.H. Braswell. 2000. Satellite observation of El Niño effects on Amazon forest productivity. Geophysical Research Letters, 27(7):981-984.

Townsend, A.R. (ed.) 1999. Nitrogen Cycling in the Temperate and Tropical Americas. Biogeochemistry 46(1-3) and also published as a book (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht).

Cleveland, C.C., A.R. Townsend, D.S. Schimel, H.Fisher, R.W. Howarth, L.O. Hedin, S.S. Perakis, E.F. Latty, J.C. Von Fischer, A. Elseroad and M.F. Wasson. 1999. Global patterns of terrestrial biological nitrogen (N2) fixation in natural ecosystems. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 13(2):623-645.

Matson, P.A., W.H. McDowell, A.R. Townsend and P.M. Vitousek. 1999. The globalization of N deposition: ecosystem consequences. Biogeochemistry 46(1-3):67-83

Martinelli, L., M. Piccolo, A.R. Townsend, P.M. Vitousek, E. Cuevas, W. McDowell, G.P. Robertson, O.C. Santos and K. Treseder. 1999. Nitrogen stable isotopic composition: tropical vs. temperate forests. Biogeochemistry 46(1-3):45-6

Townsend, A.R., B.H. Braswell, E.A. Holland and J.E. Penner. 1996. Spatial and temporal patterns in terrestrial carbon storage due to deposition of anthropogenic nitrogen. Ecological Applications 6(3):806-814.

Howarth, R.W., G.Billen, D. Swaney, A.R. Townsend, N. Jaworkski, K. Lajtha, J.A. Downing, R. Elmgren, N. Caraco, T. Jordan, F. Berendse, J. Freney, V. Kudeyarov, P. Murdoch and Z. Zhao-Liang. 1996. Riverine inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus to the North Atlantic Ocean: fluxes and human influences. Biogeochemistry 35(l):75-116.

Popular Writing

Columnist (since 2001) for the Boulder Daily Camera (circulation 41,000). All columns listed below approximately 500-550 words, and are available on request.

Taking Stock, Boulder Daily Camera, Dec. 31st, 2001

Diseases on the Move, Boulder Daily Camera, Feb. 5th, 2002

Too Much of a Good Thing, Boulder Daily Camera, March 24th, 2002

Going, going, gone, Boulder Daily Camera, May 5th, 2002

Rainforests on Fire, Boulder Daily Camera, June 16th, 2002

Blowin' in the Wind, Boulder Daily Camera, July 21st, 2002

What’s the World Worth?, Boulder Daily Camera, September 1st, 2002

Lifeblood of the Planet, Boulder Daily Camera, October13th, 2002

Intruder Alert, Boulder Daily Camera, November 24th, 2002

The Road Less Polluted, Boulder Daily Camera, January 5th, 2003

History Lessons, Boulder Daily Camera, February 16th, 2003

Deadlier than Fire, Boulder Daily Camera, May 11th, 2003

Long Odds, Boulder Daily Camera, June 22nd, 2003