Justin Prouty Wright

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

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 125, no. 2 (February 2020): 255–64. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcz039. Full Text

Kattge, Jens, Gerhard Bönisch, Sandra Díaz, Sandra Lavorel, Iain Colin Prentice, Paul Leadley, Susanne Tautenhahn, et al. “TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access.” Global Change Biology 26, no. 1 (January 2020): 119–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14904. Full Text

Rocca, Jennifer D., Marie Simonin, Emily S. Bernhardt, Alex D. Washburne, and Justin P. Wright. “Rare microbial taxa emerge when communities collide: freshwater and marine microbiome responses to experimental mixing.” Ecology, December 16, 2019, e02956. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2956. Full Text

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

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

Pages

Anciaux, Sarah K., Benjamin P. Colman, Emily S. Bernhardt, Justin Wright, and Bonny McGill. “Investigation of the bioaccumulation of silver nanoparticles.” In Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 241. AMER CHEMICAL SOC, 2011.

Ewing, H. A., K. Hogan, F. Keesing, H. M. Bugmann, A. R. Berkowitz, L. J. Gross, J. T. Oris, and J. P. Wright. “The role of modeling in undergraduate education.” In Models in Ecosystem Science, edited by C. D. Canham, J. J. Cole, and W. K. Lauenroth, 413–27. PRINCETON UNIV PRESS, 2003.