About
We seek to understand general controls over ecosystem structure and function in sites that range from tropical wet forest to arctic tundra. Our lab group is unified by our interest and delight in plant form and function. We look to plant community ecology to understand the relative importance of biological versus environmental controls over ecosystem dynamics. We pursue our research in the context of global environmental change with particular focus on ecosystems that have been impacted by climate warming, nutrient deposition, altered disturbance regimes, or biological invasions.
Contact: Michelle C. Mack
Department of Biology and Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University
PO Box 5620
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Email: michelle.mack@nau.edu
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Recent Mack Lab Publications
Michelle C. Mack, Xanthe J. Walker, Jill F. Johnstone, Heather D. Alexander, April M. Melvin, Mélanie Jean, Samantha N. Miller. 2021. Carbon loss from boreal forest wildfires offset by increased dominance of deciduous trees. Science. 372: 280-283. DOI: 10.1126/science.abf3903 [View]*
*Check out the features on this article in NAU News, NewScientist, E&E News, The Conversation, and Grist!
Xanthe J. Walker, Brian K. Howard, Mélanie Jean, Jill F. Johnstone, Carl Roland, Brendan M. Rogers, Edward A.G. Schuur, Kylen K. Solvik, Michelle C. Mack. 2021. Impacts of pre-fire conifer density and wildfire severity on ecosystem structure and function at the forest-tundra ecotone. PLOS ONE. 16: e0258558. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0258558 [View]
Melissa A. Boyd, Logan T. Berner, Adrianna C. Foster, Scott J. Goetz, Brendan M. Rogers, Xanthe J. Walker, Michelle C. Mack. 2021. Historic declines in growth portend trembling aspen death during a contemporary leaf miner outbreak in Alaska. Ecosphere. 12:e03569. DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3569 [View]
Julia E.M. Stuart, Hannah Holland-Moritz, Lily R. Lewis, Melanie Jean, Samantha N. Miller, Stuart F. McDaniel, Noah Fierer, Jose Miguel Ponciano, Michelle C. Mack. 2021. Host identity as a driver of moss-associated N2 fixation rates in Alaska. Ecosystems. 24: 530-547. DOI: 10.1007/s10021-020-00534-3 [View]
Haley R. Dunleavy, Michelle C. Mack. 2021. Long-term experimental warming and fertilization have opposing effects on ectomycorrhizal root enzyme activity and fungal community composition in Arctic tundra. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 154: 108151. DOI:10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108151 [View]
Xanthe J. Walker, Heather D. Alexander, Logan Berner, Melissa A. Boyd, Michael M. Loranty, Sue Natali, Michelle C. Mack. 2021. Positive response of tree productivity to warming is reversed by increased tree density at the Arctic tundra-taiga ecotone. 51: 1323-1338. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. DOI: 10.1139/cjfr-2020-0466 [View]