Evan Kane

Contact

eskane@mtu.edu
906-482-6303 x1318
Forest Service Building 123

Professor

PhD, Forest Ecology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
MS, Forestry, Michigan Technological University
BS, Applied Ecology and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University

Belowground Processes

I am broadly interested in nutrient dynamics in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, particularly in "hotspots" of soil carbon storage. As such, research has focused on belowground changes in northern peatlands, boreal ecosystems, and temperate forests, and the corresponding changes in dissolved chemistry. Ecosystem change is a pretty relative concept, but study designs incorporating experimental manipulation or natural disturbances can be particularly persuasive in learning an ecosystem's secrets.

Natural disturbances offer great opportunities to determine how ecosystems reorganize, and wildfires in particular can dramatically alter how long carbon can stay in above and belowground components of an ecosystem. Besides, getting outside and seeing first-hand how disturbances such as flooding or wildfire have altered the functioning of an ecosystem is just really exciting!

Areas of Expertise

Soil carbon
Plant/soil relationships
Decomposition
Dissolved organic carbon
Wildfire
Black carbon

Recent Publications

(* asterisk denotes student mentee)

Richardson JL, Desai AR, Thom J, Lindgren K, Laudon H…Kane ES…Matsumara M. 2023. On the Relationship Between Aquatic CO2 Concentration and Ecosystem Fluxes in Some of the World’s Key Wetland Types. Wetlands, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-023-01751-x.

*Eberhard EK, Kane ES, Marcarelli AM. 2023. Heterogeneity in habitat and nutrient availability facilitate the co‑occurrence of N2 fxation and denitrification across wetland–stream–lake ecotones of Lakes Superior and Huron. Biogeochemistry, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-023-01090-3.

Potter S and 22 authors including Kane ES. 2023. Burned area and carbon emissions across northwestern boreal North America from 2001–2019. Biogeosciences, 20, 2785–2804, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2785-2023.

*Uhelski DM, Kane ES, Heckman KA, Chimner RA. 2023. Fire History and Long-Term Carbon Accumulation in Hemi-boreal Peatlands. Ecosystems, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00851-3.

Defrenne CE, Moore JAM, Tucker CL, Lamit LJ, Kane ES, Kolka RK, Chimner RA, Keller JK, Lilleskov EA. 2023. Peat loss collocates with a threshold in plant-mycorrhizal associations in drained peatlands encroached by trees. New Phytologist, http://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18954.

*Meingast KM, Kane ES, Marcarelli AM, Wagenbrenner JW, Beltrone VG. 2023. Seasonal trends of DOM character in soils and stream change with snowmelt timing. Water Resources Research, 59, e2022WR032014. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR032014.

Rober AR, Lankford AJ, Kane ES, Turetsky MR, Wyatt KH. 2023. Structuring Life After Death: Plant Leachates Promote CO2 Uptake by Regulating Microbial Biofilm Interactions in a Northern Peatland Ecosystem. Ecosystems, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00820-w.