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University of Nebraska–Lincoln

School of Natural Resources

From Earth to Sky and Everything In Between

Dave Wedin

David A. Wedin


Hi, I’m David Wedin, professor in plant and ecosystem ecology at the School of Natural Resources.

My research interests include grassland and savanna ecology, carbon and nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, landscape ecology and fire ecology. They also include nitrogen-use-efficiency and resource allocation in plants and stable isotope studies of plant-soil feedbacks.

Current research projects in Nebraska include the Sandhills Biocomplexity Project, subtitled “Spatiotemporal coupling of ecological and geological dynamics in the Nebraska Sandhills” and the ecosystem consequences of ponderosa pine establishment in the Nebraska Sandhills at the planted Nebraska National Forest at Halsey.

In the biocomplexity project that I co-lead with two other researchers, 15 total co-investigators from diverse disciplines will use a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation take an integrated approach to studying the dynamics of the Nebraska Sandhills from the last few thousand years to today, particularly the interactions of water, dunes and vegetation as the grass cover is stripped or recovers. The Sandhills are a model system for biocomplexity studies, in particular studies that integrate the perspectives of ecologists and geologists to understand how ecological interactions, geomorphology (landscape structure and development) and climate interact to shape a landscape.

Regarding pine establishment in the Sandhills, revisiting in a more sophisticated way notions of landscape influence on climate, near the end of the 20th century, hypotheses that changes in land cover may have significant feedbacks on climate at various scales returned to the fore in ecology and biogeochemistry. The documented site history, relatively uniform soils, and age (70 years on average) of the experimental ponderosa pine plantings at NNF make them uniquely suited to address these issues in the Great Plains.

Before coming to UNL, from 1992 1998, I was an assistant and associate professor in the Department of Botany at the University of Toronto.

I also have chaired the Initiative in Ecological and Evolutionary Analysis Graduate Students Grant Program in spring 2000.

I was a guest instructor in April 1999 for “Interactions between element cycles and ecosystems,” a graduate course at Wageningen Agricultural University in The Netherlands. From 1997-2000, I was associate editor of “American Naturalist.” In 1997, I was a member of the Ontario Graduate Scholarships Review Panel, and in 1996 I was a member of the Conservation and Restoration Biology Grant Review Panel of the U.S. National Science Foundation.

I have a bachelor’s degree in biology from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and a Ph.D in ecology from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. I’ve been at UNL since 1998.

Personnel Information

Name Dave A. Wedin
University Title Professor
Address 411 Hardin Hall, Lincoln NE 68583-0974
Affiliation (index) Courtesy appt in Agro/Hort, SBS
Phone 402-472-9608
Fax 402-472-2946
Email dwedin1@unl.edu
Related Websites http://sandhills-biocomplexity.unl.edu/
http://gdex.unl.edu
http://www.cedarcreek.umn.edu/biblio/citation/iaWedin.html

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Key Publications

  • Tjoelker, M.G., J.M. Craine, D. Wedin, P.B. Reich and D. Tilman. 2005. Linking leaf and root trait syndromes among 39 grassland and savannah species. New Phytologist, 167:493-508.
  • Wedin, D.A. 2004. C4 Grasses: Resource use, ecology and global change. 2004. Pages 15-50 in Moser, L.E., B.L. Burson, and L.E. Sollenberger (ed.) Warm-Season (C4) Grasses. Monograph No. 45. ASA, CSSA, SSSA. Madison, WI.
  • Reich, P.B., D. Tilman, S. Naeem, D.S. Ellsworth, J. Knops, J. Craine, D. Wedin, and J. Trost. 2004. Species and functional group diversity independently influence biomass accumulation and its response to CO2 and N. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (PNAS) 101:10101-10106.
  • Craine, J.M., D.A. Wedin, F.S. Chapin and P.B. Reich. 2002. Relationship between the structure of root systems and resource use for 11 North American grassland plants. Plant Ecology 165:85-100.
  • Craine, J. M., D. A. Wedin, and P. B. Reich. 2001. The response of soil CO2 flux to changes in atmospheric CO2, nitrogen supply, and plant diversity. Global Change Biology7:947-953.
  • Wedin, D.A. and D. Tilman. 1996. Influence of nitrogen loading and species composition on the carbon balance of grasslands. Science, 274:1720-1723.

Recent Journal Articles and Book Chapters

  • Sridhar, V., K.G. Hubbard, and D.A. Wedin. 2006. Assessment of soil moisture dynamics of the Nebraska Sandhills using long-term measurements and a hydrology model. J. of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering. 132:463-473.
  • Eggemeyer, K.D., T. Awada, D.A. Wedin, F.E. Harvey and X. Zhou. 2006. Ecophysiology of two native invasive woody species and two dominant warm-season grasses in the semiarid grasslands of the Nebraska Sandhills. International Journal of Plant Science. 167:991-999.
  • Tjoelker, M.G., J.M. Craine, D. Wedin, P.B. Reich and D. Tilman. 2005. Linking leaf and root trait syndromes among 39 grassland and savannah species. New Phytologist, 167:493-508.
  • Sanderson, M.A., R.H. Skinner, D.J. Barker, G.R. Edwards, B.F. Tracy, and D.A. Wedin. 2004. Plant species diversity and management of temperate forage and grazing land ecosystems. Crop Science, 44:1132-1144.
  • Reich, P.B., D. Tilman, S. Naeem, D.S. Ellsworth, J. Knops, J. Craine, D. Wedin, and J. Trost. 2004. Species and functional group diversity independently influence biomass accumulation and its response to CO2 and N. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (PNAS) 101:10101-10106.
  • Craine, J.M., D.A.Wedin, F.S. Chapin III, and P.B.Reich. 2003. The dependence of root system properties on root system biomass of 10 North American grassland species. Plant and Soil, 250:39-47. (UNL ARD #13772).
  • Craine, J. M., D. A. Wedin, and D. Tilman. 2002. Determinants of growing season soil CO2 flux in a Minnesota grassland. Biogeochemistry, 59:303-313.
  • Murphy, K.L., I.C. Burke, M.A. Vinton, W.K. Lauenroth, M.R. Aguiar, D.A. Wedin, R.A. Virginia, P.N. Lowe. 2002. Regional analysis of litter quality in the central grassland region of North America. Journal of Vegetation Science, 13:395-402.
  • Wedin, D.A. C4 Grasses: Resource use, ecology and global change. 2004. In Moser, L.E., B.L. Burson, and L.E. Sollenberger (ed.) 2004. Warm-Season (C4) Grasses. Monograph No. xx. ASA, CSSA, SSSA. Madison, WI.
  • Craine, J.M., D.A. Wedin, F.S. Chapin and P.B. Reich. 2002. Relationship between the structure of root systems and resource use for 11 North American grassland plants. Plant Ecology 165:85-100.
  • Knops, J.M.H., K.L. Bradley, and D.A. Wedin. 2002. Mechanisms of plant species impacts on ecosystem nitrogen cycling. Ecology Letters 5:454-466.
  • Craine, J. M., D. A. Wedin, and P. B. Reich. 2001. The response of soil CO2 flux to changes in atmospheric CO2, nitrogen supply, and plant diversity. Global Change Biology 7:947-953.
  • Reich, P.B., D.W. Petersen, D.A. Wedin and K. Wragge. 2001. Fire and vegetation effects on productivity and nitrogen cycling across a forest-grassland continuum. Ecology 82:1703-1719.
  • Tilman, D., P.B. Reich, J. Knops, D.Wedin, T. Mielke and C. Lehman. 2001. Diversity and productivity in a ling-term grassland experiment. Science 294:843-845.
  • Gholz, H.L., D. A. Wedin, S. Smitherman, M. Harmon and W.J. Parton. 2000. Long-term dynamics of pine and hardwood litter in contrasting environments: toward a global model of decomposition. Global Change Biology 6:751-766.
  • Wedin, D.A. and M. P. Russelle. 2006. Nutrient cycling in forage production systems. Pages 137-148 in K.J. Moore, R.F. Barnes, C.J. Nelson and M. Collins (eds.) Forages: the Science of Grassland Agriculture,. Blackwell Publishing, Ames, IA.
  • Wedin, D.A. 2004. C4 Grasses: Resource use, ecology and global change. 2004. Pages 15-50 in Moser, L.E., B.L. Burson, and L.E. Sollenberger (ed.) Warm-Season (C4) Grasses, Monograph No. 45. ASA, CSSA, SSSA. Madison, WI.
  • Tilman, D, J. Knops, D. Wedin and P. Reich. 2002. Plant diversity and composition: effects on productivity and nutrient dynamics of experimental grasslands. Pages 21-35 in M. Loreau, S. Naeem and P. Inchausti (eds). Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Synthesis and Perspectives, Oxford U. Press.

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