Peter Reich
Professor and F.B. Hubachek, Sr. Chair (1991- present)
Distinguished McKnight University Professor (2003- present)
Regents Professor (2007- present)
Resident Fellow, Institute on the Environment (2008 - present)
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at the Univ. Western Sydney, Foundation Director (2011-present)
Department of Forest Resources
1530 Cleveland Avenue North
St. Paul, MN 55108
Phone: 612-624-4270
FAX: 612-625-5212
preich@umn.edu
Education
Ph.D. (1983) Department of Natural Resources
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
-Major in environmental biology and plant ecology-
M.S. (1977) School of Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife
University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
-Major in forest ecology-
B.A. (1974) Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont
-Majors in creative writing and physics-
Awards (selected)
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Member (elected in 2011)
- BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology (2010)
Courses taught
- Forest Ecology
- Plant Physiological Ecology
- Dynamics of Global Change: Plant Ecology
- Plant Responses to Air Pollution
- Climate Change Seminar
- Scaling Seminar
- Landscape Ecology
- Tree Physiology
- Tropical Forest Ecology
- Plant Nutrition, Species Ecology and Nutrient Cycling
- Patch Dynamics
- Ecophysiology of Managed & Natural Ecosystems
- Science & Policy of Global Environmental Change
Invited lectures/plenary talks >150
Conference presentations (as author or co-author) Approximately 210, 1980-2011.
Publications (Refereed, >370 total; > 350 journal articles, >20 book chapters)
Research themes
- Global climate (and other environmental) change effects on temperate and boreal forests
- Interactions among CO2, N, diversity, moisture and temperature in grassland ecosystems
- Natural and anthropogenic disturbance as drivers of ecosystem change
- Scaling from leaves and roots to ecosystems and landscapes
- Global patterns of plant physiology and chemistry
- Linking plant traits, resources, disturbances, community dynamics and ecosystem structure/function
- Understanding boreal forests and how they interact with humans in the face of climate, economic and social change
- Understanding factors that control plant invasion patterns, the relative importance of these factors, and the direction of relationships between factors controlling plant invasions
My research seeks to understand the structure and function of plants, soils, communities and ecosystems, and their interactions, and how and why they will change in the future, given countless local to global environmental challenges. Given the complexity of ecological change, these processes almost invariably include complex interactions driven by or involving disturbance, species effects, multiple resource limitations, biogeochemistry, and competition. My approach can be ecophysiological, community, ecosystem, or landscape; or frequently, an integrated approach across scales. My focus is on questions, not on disciplinary boundaries.
My interests are primarily in the area of terrestrial ecology and tend to focus on the broad ecotone of central North America, where boreal forests, northern hardwood/eastern deciduous forests, oak woodlands/savannas, and grasslands converge and mix. However, I am involved in projects that address similar themes and issues in many other biomes and geographic locations, including work in Australia, Europe, and South America.
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