Teri C. Balser - Associate Professor

Soil and ecosystem ecology, microbial community ecology, biogeochemistry, microbial mediation of ecosystem response to global changes

Contact Information

Phone: (608)262-0132
Fax: (608)265-2595
Email: tcbalser@wisc.edu
Office: 354 Soil Science Building

Program Affiliations

Education

• A.B. Earth Sciences (Geology), 1992, Dartmouth College
• A.B. Biology, 1992, Dartmouth College
• Ph.D. Soil Science, 2000, University of California, Berkeley

Teaching and Research

I teach three courses, and participate in many others. I teach Soil Science 323, Soil Biology. The course is designed for students majoring in biology, soil science, environmental sciences, plant pathology, forestry, or ecology. It covers the nature and activities of organisms inhabiting soil, the effects of soil biota on nutrient cycling; biotic and biogeochemical responses to soil disturbance; and the role of soil organisms in environmental quality, including bioremediation of contaminated soils.

My second course, Soil Science 623, Microbial Communities and Global Change is for graduate students, postdocs, and faculty from any department who are interested in exploring the role that soil microorganisms play in ecosystem responses to current global changes (e.g. in climate, atmospheric chemistry, land cover and management, and invasive species). We discuss when, why and how to include soil microbiology in ecological studies. We typically have students from several departments across campus who bring a range of perspectives to the course.

The third course I teach is Environmental Studies/Soil Science 101, Forum on the Environment. This class is an overview of environmental issues, including air and water quality, soil, environmental justice, and environmental history. We explore careers in environmental studies, and discuss solutions to environmental issues. The course is open to all and includes students from 79 different majors, ranging from freshman to seniors.

My research interests center on understanding microbiological control over biogeochemical cycles. My goal is to better understand and predict how ecosystems respond to and recover from disturbance, management, or changes in global climate and land use. Research in my lab is designed to integrate microbial population ecology with ecosystem-scale questions, and spans soil and ecological disciplines. I address two fundamental questions: 1) How should we measure microbial community structure and function, in order to link microbiology and nutrient cycling at the ecosystem scale? 2) What is the relative importance of microbial community characteristics versus abiotic factors (such as soil physical and chemical environment) in controlling nutrient cycles and soil response to changes in climate or management regimes? I ask whether microbial communities from different ecosystems respond the same way to a given change in environment, and do we even need to measure microbial community characteristics in order to predict the response of nutrient cycles to environmental change?

I use a variety of techniques to characterize microbial communities in soil. I currently have the capability to perform lipid analysis, gene-based assays, enzyme activity measurements. In addition, I study nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycling using tools such as stable isotope tracers, process potential assays, and trace gas analysis. The work takes place in the field as well as the lab, in areas such as Hawaii, Alaska, California, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Germany, and various agricultural, prairie and forest sites in Wisconsin.

Current research in my lab includes:

• Carbon storage studies. I am interested in the role of microbial communities in soil carbon turnover and sequestration. I have projects in California and northern Wisconsin looking at the importance of fungal versus bacterial biomass and activity, in carbon cycling. We also have research investigating the importance of elevated CO 2 and invasitve plant species in soil carbon cycling.

• Ecology of nitrogen cycling . I study microbial community control over nitrogen cycling in terrestrial systems such as restored wetlands, and tropical and temperate forests. Current study sites are in the UW Arboretum, and in the Hawaiian Islands. This work will contribute information about the mechanistic basis of nitrogen cycling in perturbed ecosystems. In the future, I plan to expand the work further to include additional Wisconsin sites in wetland, agronomic, and forest soils receiving external N input.

• Global and ecological change research. We have a variety of projects ongoing that address current issues in global and ecological change. We are investigating the impacts of invasive plant species in wetlands, an invasive insect in forests of the Northeast U.S., the importance of plant and microbial diversity in urban rain garden functioning, and the effects of elevated CO2 and nitrogen deposition on carbon cycling in invaded wetlands and grassland ecosystems.

• Microbial diversity and ecosystem functioning . I am involved in projects in California and Switzerland looking at the relationships between plant and microbial diversity, as well as the role of microbial diversity in nutrient cycling.

• Collaborative research and visiting scholars program. We are committed to interdisciplinary research, and to the inclusion of microbiological detail in large scale ecological research. Toward that end we are active collaborators with research groups around the world, and we invite students and postdocs to visit us in Madison to learn lipid analysis and microbial techniques. Our website (still under construction), www.ecosystem-microbiology.wisc.edu, explains more.

Publications

• Kao, J., T. Balser. 200x. In press. The impact of nutrient availability on rhizosphere microbial communities under native and invasive Hawaiian forest species. Microbial Ecology xx:xxx.


• Murphy, M., T. Balser, N. Buchmann, et al. 2008. Linking tree biodiversity to belowground process in a young tropical plantation: Impacts on soil CO2 flux. Forest Ecol. Mgmt: 255(7):2577-2588.


• Lucas, R., B. Casper, J. Jackson, T. Balser. 2007. Nitrogen addition alters microbial community structure but not extracellular enzyme activity in New Jersey pinelands Soil Biology and Biochemistry 39, 2508-2519.


• Schimel, J., T.C. Balser, M. Wallenstein, 2007. Stress Effects on Microbial Communities and the Implications for Ecosystem Function, Ecology 88, 1386-1394.


• Liang, C., X. Zhang, T.C. Balser, 2007. Net microbial amino sugars accumulation process in soil as influenced by different plant material inputs. Biology and Fertility of Soils DOI 10.1007/s00374-007-0170-5


• Kao-Kniffin, J.T., and Balser, T.C., 2007. Elevated CO2 differentially alters belowground plant and soil microbial community structure in reed canary grass-invaded experimental wetlands. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 39, 517-525.


• Liang, C., X. Zhang, K.F. Rubert IV, T.C. Balser. 2006. Effect of plant materials on microbial transformation of amino sugars in three soil microcosms. Biology and Fertility of Soil http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00374-006-0142-1


• Balser, T.C., K. McMahon, D. Bart, D. Bronson, D. Coyle, N. Craig, M. Flores, K. Forshay, S. Jones, A. Kent, A. Shade. 2006. Bridging the gap between micro- and macroscale perspectives on ecosystem response to disturbance. Plant and Soil 289, 59-70 DOI 10.1007/s11104-006-9104-5


• Liang, C., R. Fujinuma, L. Wei, T.C. Balser. 2006. Tree species-specific effects on soil microbial residues in an upper Michigan old growth forest system. Forestry doi:10.1093/forestry/cpl035


• Mentzer, J.L., R. Goodman, T.C. Balser. 2006. Linking soil process and microbial ecology in freshwater wetland ecosystems. Plant and Soil DOI 10.1007/s11104-006-9105-4


• Mentzer, J.L., R. Goodman, T.C. Balser. 2006. Microbial seasonal response to hydrologic and fertilization treatments in a simulated wet prairie. Plant and Soil 284 pp. 85-100.


• Fraterrigo, J.M., T.C. Balser, M.G. Turner. 2006. Microbial community variation and its relationship with nitrogen mineralization in historically altered forests, Ecology87, 570-579.


• Bartelt-Ryser, J., J. Joshi, B. Schmid, H. Brandl, T. Balser. 2005. Soil feedbacks of plant diversity on soil microbial communities and subsequent plant growth. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 7:27-49.


• Smithwick, E., M. Turner, K. Metzger, T. Balser, 2005. Variation in NH4+ mineralization and microbial communities with stand age in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests, Yellowstone National Park (USA) Soil Biol. Biochem. 37:1546-1559.


• Balser, T.C. and M.K. Firestone, 2005. Linking microbial community composition and soil processes in two California ecosystems. Biogeochem. 73:395-415.


• Balser, T.C. 2005. Humification, p. 195-207, In D. Hillel, et al., eds. Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment, Vol. 2. Elsevier, Oxford UK.


• Balser, T.C., K.K. Treseder, and M. Ekenler. 2005. Using lipid analysis and hyphal length to quantify AM and saprotrophic fungal abundance along a soil chronosequence. Soil Biol. Biochem. 37:601-604.


• Balser, T.C., J.W. Kirchner, and M.K. Firestone. 2002. Analytical and methodological variability in microbial community level physiological profiles. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 66:519-523.


• Balser, T.C., A. Kinzig, and M.K. Firestone. 2002. Linking soil microbial communities and ecosystme functioning. Chapt. 12. In Kinzig, A., S. Pacala, and D. Tilman (eds.) The Functional Consequence of Biodiversity: Empirical Progress and Theoretical Extensions. Princeton University Press, Princeton.


• Balser, T.C. 2002. The impact of long-term nitrogen addition on microbial community composition in three Hawaiian forest soils, p. 500-504. In Galloway, J., E. Cowling, J.W. Erisman, J. Wisniewski, and C. Jordan (eds.) Optimizing Nitrogen and Management in Food and Energy Production and Environmental Protection. Swets and Zeitlinger B.V., Lisse.


• Balser, T.C. 2001. The impact of long-term nitrogen addition on microbial community composition in three Hawaiian forest soils. TheScientificWorld 1(S2):500-504.


• Waldrop, M.W., T.C. Balser, and M.K. Firestone. 2000. Linkages between microbial community composition and enzyme activities in soil. Soil Biol. Biochem. 32:1837-1846.

Awards and Honors