Current Projects
Climate Interactions with Forest Fragmentation (CLIFF)
The CLIFF site at Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts creates drought and high-moisture conditions across and edge gradient in an oak-dominated northern-hardwood forest. The lab has been working with researchers at Harvard Forest to collect data on tree stem methane emissions, belowground communities, and fine root structure.
Belowground Impacts of Climate and Forest Fragmentation
The lab is working to measure fine root biomass and characteristics over depth across CLIFF site treatments.
Tree Stem Methane Emissions
The drivers of tree-stems methane emissions are not well understood. We are collaborating with researchers at Harvard Forest to understand how root systems contribute to tree stem methane emissions at the CLIFF site.
Tracking the Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is an invasive insect threatening eastern hemlock trees along the East Cost. HWA has moved northward over the past decades, and Hanover is at the northern extent of its current range. Students in the Tumber-Dávila Lab are monitoring hemlocks at Fullington Farm for the insect’s characteristic woolly coating.
Grants
Coming soon!
Publications
Tumber-Dávila SJ, *Lucey T, Boose ER, Laflower D, *León-Sáenz A, Wilson BT, MacLean MG, Thompson JR. Hurricanes pose a substantial risk to New England forest carbon stocks. Global Change Biology. 2024. 30, e17259. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17259
Chari NR, Tumber-Dávila SJ, Phillips RP, Bauerle TL, Brunn M, Hafner BD, Klein T, Obersteiner S, Reay MK, Ullah S, Taylor BN Estimating the global root exudate carbon flux. Biogeochemistry. 2024. 167 (7), 895–908. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-024-01161-z
Bachofen C, Tumber-Dávila SJ, Mackay DS, McDowell NG, Carminati A, Klein T, Stocker BD, Mencuccini M, Grossiord C. Tree water uptake patterns across the globe. New Phytololgist. 2024. 242 (5), 1891–1910. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19762
Sriskandarajah N, Wüst-Galley C, Heller S, Leifeld J, Määttä T, Ouyang Z, Runkle BRK, Schiedung M, Schmidt MWI, Tumber-Dávila SJ, Malhotra A. Belowground plant allocation regulates rice methane emissions from degraded peat soils. Scientific Reports. 2024. 14 (1), 14593. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-64616-1
Provete DB, Moreno S, D’Bastiani E, Santiago-Rosario LY, Tumber-Dávila SJ. We Are Stronger Together: Building Community to Face Barriers for Latin American and Underrepresented Ecologists. Bull Ecol Soc Am. 2024. 105(4):e02180. http://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.2180
Laughlin DC, Siefert A, Fleri JR, Tumber-Dávila SJ, Hammond WM, Sabatini FM, Damasceno G, Aubin I, Field R, Hatim MZ, Jansen S, Lenoir J, Lens, F, McCarthy, JK, Niinemets, Ü, Phillips, OL, Attorre, F, Bergeron Y, Bruun HH, Byun C, Ćušterevska R, Dengler J, De Sanctis M, Dolezal J, Jiménez-Alfaro B, Hérault B, Homeier J, Kattge J, Meir P, Mencuccini M, Noroozi J, Nowak A, Peñuelas J, Schmidt M, Škvorc Ž, Sultana F, Ugarte RM, Bruelheide H. Rooting depth and xylem vulnerability are independent woody plant traits jointly selected by aridity, seasonality, and water table depth. New Phytologist. 2023. 240: 1774-1787. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19276
Stocker BD, Tumber-Dávila SJ, Konings AG, Anderson MB, Hain C, Jackson RB. Global patterns of water storage in the rooting zones of vegetation. Nature Geoscience. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01125-2
Cheng, SJ, Gaynor KM, Moore AC, Darragh K, Estien CO, Hammond JW, Mills KL, Lawrence C, Baiz MD, Khadempour L, McCary MA, Ignace D, Rice MM, Tumber-Dávila SJ, Smith JA. Championing inclusive terminology in ecology and evolution. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.12.011
Feldman A, Gianotti D, Dong J, Akbar R, Crow W, McColl K, Nippert J, Tumber-Dávila SJ, Holbrook NM, Rockwell F, Scott R. Remotely Sensed Soil Moisture Can Capture Dynamics Relevant to Plant Water Uptake. Water Resources Research. 2023. e2022WR033814. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022wr033814
Tumber-Dávila, SJ, Schenk, HJ, Du, E, Jackson, RB. Plant sizes and shapes above- and belowground and their interactions with climate. New Phytologist. 2022. 235: 1032-1056. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18031
Tumber‐Dávila SJ, Malhotra A. Fast plants in deep water: introducing the whole‐soil column perspective. New Phytologist. 2020. Jan;225(1):7-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16302
Ouimette AP, Ollinger SV, Lepine LC, Stephens RB, Rowe RJ, Vadeboncoeur MA, Tumber-Dávila SJ, Hobbie EA. Accounting for carbon flux to mycorrhizal fungi may resolve discrepancies in forest carbon budgets. Ecosystems. 2019. Sep;16:1-5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00440-3