Justin Prouty Wright

Associate Professor of Biology

Office:

258 Biological Sciences, Durham, NC 27708

Campus Box:

Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708-0338

Phone:

(919) 613-8096

Email:

justin.wright@duke.edu

http://www.biology.duke.edu/wrightlab/

My research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of patterns of biological diversity across the planet. I am particularly interested in two broad questions: 1)How does the modification of the environment by organisms affect community structure and ecosystem function? and 2) what aspects of biodiversity matter most in the regulation of ecosystem function? While much of my research has focused on wetland plant communities, I am willing to study any organism and work in any ecosystem to answer the questions that interest me. I have worked in systems ranging from tropical streams to desert shrublands. My research program combines observational and experimental approaches with modeling to develop and test hypotheses and build towards synthetic ecological theory.

Education

Ph.D., Cornell University 2002
B.A., Williams College 1996

Journal Articles

Cleland, E. E., E. M. Lind, N. M. DeCrappeo, E. DeLorenze, R. A. Wilkins, P. B. Adler, J. D. Bakker, et al. “Belowground Biomass Response to Nutrient Enrichment Depends on Light Limitation Across Globally Distributed Grasslands.” Ecosystems 22, no. 7 (November 1, 2019): 1466–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00350-4. Full Text

Simonin, Marie, Kristofor A. Voss, Brooke A. Hassett, Jennifer D. Rocca, Si-Yi Wang, Raven L. Bier, Christy R. Violin, Justin P. Wright, and Emily S. Bernhardt. “In search of microbial indicator taxa: shifts in stream bacterial communities along an urbanization gradient..” Environmental Microbiology 21, no. 10 (October 2019): 3653–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.14694. Full Text

Craig, M. E., N. Lovko, S. L. Flory, J. P. Wright, and R. P. Phillips. “Impacts of an invasive grass on soil organic matter pools vary across a tree-mycorrhizal gradient.” Biogeochemistry 144, no. 2 (July 30, 2019): 149–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-019-00577-2. Full Text

Ury, Emily A., Steven M. Anderson, Robert K. Peet, Emily S. Bernhardt, and Justin P. Wright. “Succession, regression and loss: does evidence of saltwater exposure explain recent changes in the tree communities of North Carolina's Coastal Plain?.” Annals of Botany, April 6, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcz039. Full Text

Firn, Jennifer, James M. McGree, Eric Harvey, Habacuc Flores-Moreno, Martin Schütz, Yvonne M. Buckley, Elizabeth T. Borer, et al. “Leaf nutrients, not specific leaf area, are consistent indicators of elevated nutrient inputs..” Nature Ecology & Evolution 3, no. 3 (March 2019): 400–406. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0790-1. Full Text

Ficken, C. D., and J. P. Wright. “Nitrogen uptake and biomass resprouting show contrasting relationships with resource acquisitive and conservative plant traits.” Journal of Vegetation Science, January 1, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12705. Full Text

Reese, Aspen T., Fátima C. Pereira, Arno Schintlmeister, David Berry, Michael Wagner, Laura P. Hale, Anchi Wu, et al. “Microbial nitrogen limitation in the mammalian large intestine..” Nat Microbiol 3, no. 12 (December 2018): 1441–50. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-018-0267-7. Full Text

Lee, M. R., S. L. Flory, R. P. Phillips, and J. P. Wright. “Site conditions are more important than abundance for explaining plant invasion impacts on soil nitrogen cycling.” Ecosphere 9, no. 10 (October 1, 2018). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2454. Full Text

Hassett, B. A., E. B. Sudduth, K. A. Somers, D. L. Urban, C. R. Violin, S. Y. Wang, J. P. Wright, R. M. Cory, and E. S. Bernhardt. “Pulling apart the urbanization axis: patterns of physiochemical degradation and biological response across stream ecosystems.” Freshwater Science 37, no. 3 (September 1, 2018): 653–72. https://doi.org/10.1086/699387. Full Text

Hodapp, Dorothee, Elizabeth T. Borer, W Stanley Harpole, Eric M. Lind, Eric W. Seabloom, Peter B. Adler, Juan Alberti, et al. “Spatial heterogeneity in species composition constrains plant community responses to herbivory and fertilisation..” Ecol Lett 21, no. 9 (September 2018): 1364–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13102. Full Text