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ben sullivan

Benjamin Sullivan

Associate Professor, Applied Soil Ecology

Summary

Our lab seeks to understand the fundamental role of soils in our world. We seek to tell the stories that are invisible to the naked eye. We study biological, chemical, and physical properties and processes along the atmosphere-plant-soil continuum. Learn more about our ongoing research and who we are, please visit .

As humans have ever-greater and wide-ranging impacts on the biosphere, it is critical that we understand the mechanisms that control ecosystem processes so that we may anticipate the impact of future environmental change.

Education

B.S. University of Montana, 2002
M.S. Northern Arizona University, 2007
Ph.D. Northern Arizona University, 2011

Publications

Journals

2023

Plant Ecol 224, 953–963

Mizell, G.M., Kim, T., Sullivan, B.W. et al.

2023

Ecosystems 26, 1428–1440

Morra, B., Richardson, W., Stringham, T. & Sullivan, B. W.

2023

J Environ Manage. 2023 Jul 1;337:117724

Morra B, Brisbin H, Stringham T, Sullivan BW.

2023

Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 128(5), e2022JG007325

Reed, C. C., Dunham-Cheatham, S. M., Castle, S. C., Vuono, D. C., & Sullivan, B. W.

2023

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10, 1071771

Blum, M. E., Stewart, K. M., Cox, M., Shoemaker, K. T., Bennett, J. R., Sullivan, B. W., Wakeling, B. F., & Bleich, V. C.

2023

Rhizosphere, 27, 100737

Morra, B., Reed, C., Poulson, S. R., & Sullivan, B. W.

2022

Ecological Applications, Volume32, Issue7 October 2022 e2677

C.C. Reed, A.A. Berhe, K.C. Moreland, J. Wilcox, B.W. Sullivan

2022

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 10 (2023) 14

M.E. Blum, K.M. Stewart, M. Cox, K.T. Shoemaker, J.R. Bennett, B.W. Sullivan, B.F. Wakeling, V.C. Bleich

2021

Ecosystems, 24(5), 1125–1141

C.C. Reed, A G. Merrill, W. M. Drew, B. Christman, R. A. Hutchinson, L. Keszey, M. Odell,S. Swanson, P. S. J. Verburg, J. Wilcox, S.C. Hart, B. W. Sullivan

2020

Ecological Restoration, vol. 38 no. 1 42-53

Dunham-Cheatham, S. M., Freund, S. M., Uselman, S., Leger, E. A., Sullivan, B. W.

2020

Agricultural and Forest Meteorology

Cooper, A.E., Kirchner, J.W., Wolf, S., Lombardozzi, D.L., Sullivan, B., Tyler, S.W. and A.A. Harpold

Biogeochemical recuperation of lowland tropical forest during succession

2019

Ecology, e02641. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2641

Sullivan, B. W., R.L. Nifong, M.K. Nasto, S. Alvarez-Clare, C. Dencker, F.M. Soper, K.T. Shoemaker, F. Yoko Yashida, J. Zaragoza-Castells, E.A. Davidson and C.C. Cleveland.

Leaf cutter ants engineer large nitrous oxide hot spots in tropical forests.

2019

Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 286: 20182504.

Soper, F.M., B.W. Sullivan, B.B. Osborne, A.N. Shaw, L. Phillipot, C.C. Cleveland.

Resource limitation modulates the fate of dissimilated nitrogen in a dual-pathway Actinobacterium.

2019

Frontiers in Microbiology, 10, 3 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00003

Vuono, D.C., R.W. Read, J. Hemp, B.W. Sullivan, J.A. Arnone III, I. Neveux, B. Blank, C. Staub, E. Loney, D. Miceli, M. Winkler, R. Chakraborty, D.A. Stahl, J.J.Grzymski.

2019

New Phytologist, 223(4), 1795--1808

Urza, A. K., Weisberg, P. J., Chambers, J. C., Sullivan, B. W.

A framework for evaluating estimates of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in forests

2018

The American Naturalist 192(5) 618-629.

Winbourne J., M. Harrison, B.W. Sullivan, S. Alvarez-Clare, S. Rafaela Lins, L. Martinelli, M.K. Nasto, D. Piotto, S. Rolim, M. Wong, S. Porder

Actinorhizal species influence plant and soil nitrogen in semiarid shrub-dominated ecosystems in the western Great Basin

2018

Journal of Arid Environments 157, 48-56

Freund, S.M., F.M. Soper, S.R. Poulson, P.C. Selmants, B.W. Sullivan

Building flux capacity: Citizen scientists increase resolution of soil greenhouse gas fluxes

2018

PLoS ONE 13(7) e0198997.

Reed, C.C., J. Winters, S.C. Hart, R. Hutchinson, M. Chandler, G. Venicx, B.W. Sullivan

Charcoal increases microbial activity in eastern Sierra Nevada forest.

2018

Forests 92 (3): 93, DOI:10.3390/f9020093.

Carter, Z., Sullivan, B. W., Qualls, R. G., Blank, R., Schmidt, C., Verburg, P.

Deconstruction of a plant-arthropod community reveals influential plant traits with nonlinear effects on arthropod assemblages.

2018

Functional Ecology DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13060.

Harrison, J., Philbin, C., Gompert, Z., Forister, G., Hernandez, L., Sullivan, B. W., Wallace, I., Beltran, L., Dodson, C., Francis, J., Schlageter, A., Shelef, O., Yoon, S., Forister, M. L.

Legume Abundance Along Successional And Rainfall Gradients In Neotropical Forests

2018

Nature Ecology and Evolution 2, 11014-1111

Gei, M., D. Rozendaal, L. Poorter, F. Bongers, J. Sprent, M. Garner, T.M. Aide, J. Andrade, P. Balavanera, J. Becknell, P.H. Brancalion, G.A. Cabral, R. César, R. Chazdon, R. Cole, G. Colletta, B. de Jong, J.S. Denslow, D. Dent, S. DeWalt, J. Dupuy, S. Durán, M. do Espírito Santo, G. Fernandes, J. Ferrera Nunes, B. Finegan, V.G. Moser, J. Hall, J.L. Hernandez-Stefanoni, A. Junqueira, D. Kennard, E. Lebrija-Trejos, S. Lecher, M. Lohbeck, E. Marin-Spiotta, M. Martinez-Ramos, J. Meave, D. Menge, F.

Regime shift in the littoral ecosystem of volcanic lake Atitlán in Central America: combined role of stochastic event and invasive plant species

2018

Freshwater Biology 63(9), 1088-1106

Rejmankova, E., B.W. Sullivan, J. Aldad, J. Snyder, S. Castle, F. Morales.

Remotely sensed canopy nitrogen correlates with nitrous oxide emissions in a lowland tropical rainforest

2018

Ecology 99(9), 2080-2089.

Soper, F.M., B.W. Sullivan, M.K. Nasto, B.B. Osborne, D. Bru, C. Balzotti, P. Taylor, G. Asner, A.R. Townsend, L. Philippot, S. Porder, C.C. Cleveland

2018

PloS One, 3 (10), e0205760

Uselman SM, Davison J, Baughman OW, Sullivan BW, Miller WW, Leger EA

2017

Ecosystems 20 (6): 1089-1103.

Osborne, B. B., Nasto, M. K., Asner, G. P., Balzotti, C. S., Cleveland, C. C., Sullivan, B. W., Taylor, P. G., Townsend, A. R., Porder, S.

2017

Oecologia 185: 513

Castle, S. C., Sullivan, B. W., Knelman, J., Hood, E., Nemergut, D. R., Schmidt, S. K., Cleveland, C. C.

Temperature and rainfall interact to control carbon cycling in tropical forests.

2017

Ecology Letters 20 (6): 779-788.

Taylor, P.G., Cleveland, C. C., Wieder, W. R., Sullivan, B. W., Doughty, C. E., Dobrowski, S., Townsend, A.R.

A comparison of plot-based, satellite and Earth system model estimates of tropical NPP.

2015

Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 29(5), 626–644.

Cleveland, C. C., Taylor, P., Chadwick, K. D., Doughty, C., Malhi, Y., Smith, W. K., Sullivan, B. W., Wieder, W. R., Townsend, A. R.

Proximate controls on semiarid soil greenhouse gas fluxes across 3 million years of soil development.

2015

Biogeochemistry, 125(3), 375-391.

Sullivan, B. W., Nasto, M. K., Hart, S. C., Hungate, B. A.

2014

Ecology 95 (3). 668-681

Sullivan, B.W., S. Alvarez-Clare, S.C. Castle, S. Porder, S. Reed, L. Schreeg, A. Townsend, C.C. Cleveland.

2014

Ecology Letters 17(10): 1282–1289.

Nasto, M.K., S. Alvarez-Clare, Y. Lekberg, B.W. Sullivan, A.R. Townsend, C.C. Cleveland.

<p>Paradoxically, symbiotic dinitrogen (N<sub>2</sub>) fixers are abundant in nitrogen (N)-rich, phosphorus (P)-poor lowland tropical rain forests. One hypothesis to explain this pattern states that...

2014

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 111 (22), 8101-8106.

Sullivan, B.W., W.K. Smith, A.R. Townsend, M.K. Nasto, S.C. Reed, R. Chazdon, C.C. Cleveland

2013

Global Change Biology 19 (7), 2149-2157.

Sullivan, B.W., P.C. Selmants, S.C. Hart.

2013

Soil Biology and Biochemistry 58, 293-301.

Sullivan, B.W., S.C. Hart.

Effects of water additions on pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) water relations, growth, and mortality across a three million year old soil age gradient in northern Arizona, USA.

2012

Plant and Soil 357, 89-102.

Looney, C.L., B.W. Sullivan, J.M. Kane, T.E. Kolb, S.C. Hart.

Videos

2016

Vimeo.com

Sullivan, B and Drew, M