Teri C. Balser - Associate Professor

Soil and ecosystem ecology, microbial community ecology, biogeochemistry, microbial mediation of ecosystem response to global changes. Teaching and learning - pedagogies that create engagement.

Contact Information

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

Program Affiliations

Department of Soil Science
Director, Institute for Cross-College Biology Education
Faculty Associate, Office of Human Resource Development
Gender and Women's Studies Program
Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Center
Microbiology Doctoral Training Program

Education

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

Institute for Cross-College Biology Education

The mission of the Institute for Cross-College Biology Education (ICBE) is to provide infrastructure, leadership, and a forum for consultation needed to achieve the best possible education in biology for students at UW-Madison, for future students (K-12), and for informal learners of all ages.

Teaching and Research Overview

I am involved in teaching several courses. I have primary responsibility for 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. I use active learning to engage students and challenge them to apply what we learn to their own life and other courses.

I also periodically teach a graduate level seminar course (SS875), called Microbial Communities and Global Change. The course attracts graduate students, postdocs, and faculty 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 read primary literature and discuss when, why and how to include soil microbiology in ecological studies. We typically have participants from several departments across campus bringing a range of perspectives to the course.

The third course I teach is Environmental Studies/Soil Science 101, Forum on the Environment. This class takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding current environmental issues including air, water and soil quality, environmental justice, and environmental history. Using a small-group active learning format students explore environmental careers and issues, and discuss approaches to addressing environmental challenges. The course is open to all and includes students from all campus majors, ranging from freshman to seniors. Coupled with the course are a graduate seminar called ‘Teaching Large Classes’, and an undergraduate internship course for peer-facilitation.

Biannually I teach a unit in Biocore/Biology 333, Biological Interactions. The Biology Core Curriculum (Biocore) is an award-winning intercollege honors program (http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/biocore/). It is a challenging four-semester introductory biology sequence that provides a broad, in-depth, and integrated background for students interested in any area of biological science. I teach a unit on the environmental consequences of bacterial genetic mobility in soil (antibiotic resistance transfer).

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?

Current research in my lab includes:

• Soil carbon and feedbacks to climate change. We are interested in the role of microbial communities in soil carbon turnover and sequestration. We have projects in California, Wisconsin and in Borneo looking at the importance of microbial community structure and activity in carbon cycling. In addition, we have an ongoing project to study the role of temperature stress in determining microbial utilization of soil carbon. We have a postdoctoral researcher and two current PhD candidates focused in this area.


• Ecology of nitrogen cycling. We study microbial community control over nitrogen cycling in terrestrial systems such as restored wetlands, and tropical and temperate forests. Study sites have included the UW Arboretum, in California and in the Hawaiian Islands. This work will contribute information about the mechanistic basis of nitrogen cycling in perturbed ecosystems. In the future, we hope 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.

• 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 lab wiki site (http://balserlab.wikispaces.com/) explains more.

Selected Publications

Balser, T., and D. Wixon. 200x. In press. Microbial community composition and temperature response across a latitudinal gradient of tropical, temperate and taiga soils. Global Change Biology.

Vatovec, C., and T. Balser. 200x. In press. Podcasts as tools in introductory environmental studies. J. Microbiology and Biology Education.

Jokela, W.E., J.H. Grabber, D.L. Karlen, T.C. Balser, and D.E. Palmquist. 200x. In press. Cover crop and manure effects on soil quality indicators in a corn silage system. Agronomy J.

Ushio, M., R. Wagai, T.C. Balser, and K. Kitayama. 200x. In press. Variations in soil microbial community composition of a tropical montane forest ecosystem: does tree species matter? Soil Biology and Biochemistry.

Liang, C., and T.C. Balser. 2008. Preferential sequestration of microbial amino sugars in subsoils of six soil profiles in Wisconsin, USA. Geoderma 148:113-119.

Liang, C., H.W. Read, and T.C. Balser. 2008. Reliability of bacterial muramic acid as a biomarker is influenced by methodological artefacts from streptomycin. Microbiology Ecology. DOI 10.1007/s00248-008-9406-7.

Liang, C., R. Fujinuma, and T.C. Balser. 2008. Comparing PLFA and amino sugars for microbial analysis in an upper Michigan old growth forest. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 40:2063-2065.

Metzger, K.M., E.A.H. Smithwick, D.B. Tinker, W.H. Romme, T.C. Balser, and M.G. Turner. 2008. Influence of coarse wood and pine saplings on nitrogen mineralization and microbial communities in young post-fire Pinus contortata. Forest Ecology and Management 256:59-67.

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

Kao-Kniffin, J., and T. Balser. 2007. Soil fertility and the impact of exotic invasion on microbial communities in Hawaiian forests. Microbiology Ecology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00248-007-9323-1

Lucas, R., B. Casper, J. Jackson, and 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, and M. Wallenstein. 2007. Stress Effects on Microbial Communities and the Implications for Ecosystem Function. Ecology 88:1386-1394.

Liang, C., X. Zhang, and T.C. Balser. 2007. Net microbial amino sugars accumulation process in soil as influenced by different plant material inputs. Biology and Fertility of Soils 44:1-7. 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, and T.C. Balser. 2006. Effect of plant materials on microbial transformation of amino sugars in three soil microcosms. Biology and Fertility of Soil 43:631-639. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00374-006-0142-1

Liang, C., R. Fujinuma, L. Wei, and T.C. Balser. 2007. Tree species-specific effects on soil microbial residues in an upper Michigan old growth forest system. Forestry doi:10.1093/forestry/cpl035

Balser, T.C., K. McMahon, D. Bart, D. Bronson, D. Coyle, N. Craig, M. Flores, K. Forshay, S. Jones, A. Kent, and 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

Mentzer, J.L., R. Goodman, and T.C. Balser. 2006. Linking soil process and microbial ecology in freshwater wetland ecosystems. Plant and Soil 289:17-34. DOI 10.1007/s11104-006-9105-4

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

Fraterrigo, J.M., T.C. Balser, and M.G. Turner. 2006. Microbial community variation and its relationship with nitrogen mineralization in historically altered forests. Ecology 87:570-579.

Smithwick, E., M. Turner, T. Chapin, M. Mack, and T. Balser. 2005. Spatiel heterogeneity in ecosystem processes after severe fire in a black spruce (P. mariana) forest, Alaska, (USA). Biogeochemistry 76:513-537.

Bartelt-Ryser, J., J. Joshi, B. Schmid, H. Brandl, and 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, and 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. 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.

Balser, T.C., A. Kinzig, and M.K. Firestone. 2001. 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.

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