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Kate LajthaProfessor,
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Nutrient cycling in natural and human-disturbed ecosystems, soil organic matter dynamics, forest biogeochemistry.
Human activity has caused extensive changes in the rates of inputs of various nutrient and toxic elements to many natural ecosystems, often with dramatic effects on the functioning of those ecosystems. My lab studies the changes in biogeochemical cycling, and the effects on the vegetative community, that has arisen from human activities. Most of my current research is focused in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, which is OSU’s LTER site. We have established DIRT (Detrital Input and Removal Treatment) plots to examine the effects of changing detrital quality and quantity on soil organic matter stabilization, C balance, and nutrient cycling and availability, and we are working with other emerging DIRT sites in the U.S. and in Europe on cross-site comparisons.
Jay Frentress (MS expected 2009)
Kim Townsend (MS expected 2010)
Ricky Mauroner (MS expected 2010)
Jennifer Wig (PhD expected 2013)
BI 306H, Environmental Ecology.
BI 370H, Honors Ecology
BOT/FS/CSS 547, Forest Nutrient Cycling.
BI 370, General Ecology
Sollins, P., M. Kramer, M. Kleber, K. Lajtha, C. Swanston, T. Filley, A.
Aufdenkampe, R. Wagai, R. Bowden. 2009. Organic C and N stabilization across soils of contrasting mineralogy: further evidence from sequential density fractionation. Biogeochemistry, in press.
Cairns,^, M. A., K. Lajtha and P. A. Beedlow 2009. Carbon and nitrogen losses from forests of the Oregon Cascades over a successional gradient. Plant and Soil, in press.
Kramer, M.G., K. Lajtha, G. Thomas, P. Sollins. 2009. Contamination effects on soil density fractions from high N or C content sodium polytungstate Biogeochemistry (2009) 92:177–181
Crow, S. E., K. Lajtha, T. R. Filley, C. W. Swanston , R. D. Bowden, and B. A. Caldwell. 2009. Sources of plant-derived carbon and stability of organic matter in soil: implications for global change. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, in press.
Crow, S.E., K. Lajtha, J. Brant, B. Caldwell, Y. Yano, R. D. Bowden, and E. Sulzman. 2009. Increased coniferous needle inputs accelerate decomposition of soil organic matter in an old-growth forest. Forest Ecology and Management, in press.
van Verseveld, W.J., J. J. McDonnell, K. Lajtha. 2009. The role of hillslope hydrology in controlling nutrient loss, Journal of Hydrology, in press.
van Verseveld, W. J., J. J. McDonnell, and K. Lajtha. 2008. A mechanistic assessment of nutrient flushing at the catchment scale Journal of Hydrology 358:268-287.
Tóth, J.A., K. Lajtha, Z. Kotroczó, Z. Krakomperger, B. Caldwell, R.
Bowden, M. Papp. 2007. The Effect of Climate Change on Soil Organic Matter Decomposition. Acta Silv. Lign. Hung., 3: 75-85
Crow, S. E., C. W. Swanston, K. Lajtha, J. R. Brooks, and H. Keirstead.
2007. Density fractionation of forest soils: methodological questions and interpretation of incubation results and turnover time in an ecosystem context. Biogeochemistry 85:69-90.
Michener, R.M. and K. Lajtha, eds. 2007. Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.
Marshall, J.D., J.R. Brooks, and K. Lajtha. 2007. Sources of variation in the stable isotopic composition of plants. Pp. 22-60. In Stable Isotopes in Ecology and Environmental Science 2nd Edition Eds. R. Mitchener and K. Lajtha. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.
Beldin, S., B. Caldwell, P. Sollins, E. Sulzman, K. Lajtha, and S. Crow.
2007. Cation exchange capacity of density fractions from paired conifer/grassland soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils 43:837-841
Horváth, L., E. Führer and K. Lajtha. 2006. Nitric oxide and nitrous oxide emission from Hungarian forests: link with atmospheric N deposition. Atmospheric Environment 40: 7786–7795.
Crow, S. E., E. W. Sulzman, W.D. Rugh, R.D. Bowden, and K. Lajtha. 2006.
Isotopic analysis of respired CO_2 during decomposition of separated soil organic matter pools. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38: 3279-3291.
Sollins, P., C. Swanston, M. Kleber, T. Filley, M. Kramer, S. Crow, B.
Caldwell, K. Lajtha, and R. Bowden. 2006. Organic C and N stabilization in a forest soil: evidence from sequential density fractionation Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38:3313-3324.
Brenner, R. E., R. D. Boone, J. B. Jones, K. Lajtha, and R. W. Ruess.
2006. Successional and physical controls on the retention of nitrogen in an undisturbed boreal forest ecosystem. Oecologia 148:602-611.
Carreira, J.A., B. Viñegla, and K. Lajtha. 2006. Secondary CaCO_3 and precipitation of P-Ca compounds control the retention of soil P in arid ecosystems. Journal of Arid Environments 64:460-473.
Horváth, L., E. Führer and K. Lajtha. 2005. Nitric oxide and nitrous oxide emission from Hungarian forests: link with atmospheric N deposition. Biogeosciences Discussions, 2, 703–723, 2005
Holub, S.M., K. Lajtha, J.D.H. Spears, J.A. Tóth, S.E. Crow, B.A.Caldwell, M. Papp, and P.T. Nagy. 2005. Organic matter manipulations have little effect on gross and net nitrogen transformations in two temperate forest mineral soils in the U.S.A and central Europe. Forest Ecology and Management 214:320-330.
Sulzman, E.W., J.B. Brant, R.D. Bowden, and K. Lajtha. 2005.
Contribution of aboveground litter, belowground litter, and rhizosphere respiration to total soil CO_2 efflux in an old growth coniferous forest. Biogeochemistry 73:231 - 256
Lajtha, K., S. Crow, Y. Yano, S.S. Kaushal, E.W. Sulzman, P. Sollins, and J.D.H. Spears. 2005. Detrital controls on soil solution N and dissolved organic matter in soils: a field experiment. Biogeochemistry, 76:261-281.
Cairns, M. A., and K. Lajtha. 2005. Effects of succession on nitrogen export in the west-central Cascades, Oregon. Ecosystems 8:583-601.
Yano, Y., K. Lajtha, P. Sollins, and B.A. Caldwell. 2005. Chemistry and dynamics of dissolved organic matter in a temperate coniferous forest on Andic soils: Effects of litter quality. Ecosystems 8: 286 - 300
Yano, Y., K. Lajtha, P. Sollins, and B.A. Caldwell. 2004. Chemical and seasonal controls on the dynamics of dissolved organic matter in a coniferous old-growth stand in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Biogeochemistry 71:197-223.
Spears, J.D.H. and K. Lajtha. 2004. The imprint of coarse woody debris on soil chemistry in the western Oregon Cascades, Biogeochemistry 71:163-175.
Johnston, C.A., P. Groffman, D.D. Breshears, Z.G. Cardon, W. Currie, W.
Emanuel, J. Gaudinski, R.B. Jackson, K. Lajtha, K. Nadelhoffer, D.
Nelson Jr., W. Mac Post, G. Retallack, R. Stallard, L. Wielopolski.
2004. The frontier below: Carbon cycling in soil. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2: 522-528.
Holub, S.M. and K. Lajtha. 2004. The fate and retention of organic and inorganic 15 N-nitrogen in an old-growth forest soil in Western Oregon. Ecosystems 7:368-380.
K. Nadelhoffer, J. Aitkenhead, R. Boone, R. Bowden, J. Canary, J. Kaye, K. Lajtha, W. McDowell, P. Micks, and A. Ricca. 2004. The DIRT experiment: litter and root influences on forest soil organic matter stocks and function. Chapter 15 in: D. Foster and J. Aber (eds.), Forests in Time: The Environmental Consequences of 1000 Years of Change in New England. Yale University Press, pp. 300-315.
