Plant and belowground ecology in natural and managed ecosystems

Special issue in Plant & Soil: Advances in root ecology

Working with Amandine Erktan and Catherine Roument, I am excited to announce the release of our edited special issue in Plant & Soil on advances in root ecology.  Our editorial can be found here, and the full special issue can be accessed by clicking on the button below.

FRED is alive!

We've been working for several years to build a global database of fine-root traits. Lovingly dubbed the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED), version 2.0 is now fully available for download. Click the tab below to learn more and get FRED! Once there, you can send us your comments and feedback.  FRED is on a journey and you can help make it better.

Recent Publications

See CR, ML McCormack, SE Hobbie, H Flores-Moreno, WL Silver, PG Kennedy. Global patterns in fine-root decomposition: climate, chemistry, mycorrhizal association and woodiness. Ecology Letters, 22: 946-953 (2019).

Li F, H Hu, ML McCormack, D Feng, X Liu, W Bao. A community-level economics spectrum of fine-roots driven by nutrient limitations in subalpine forests. Journal of Ecology, 107: 1238-1249 (2019).
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Dybzinski R, A Kelvakis, J McCabe, S Panock, K Anuchitlertchon, L Vasarhelyi, ML McCormack, GG McNickle, H Poorter, C Trinder, CE Farrior. How are nitrogen availability, fine-root mass, and nitrogen uptake related empirically? Implications for models and theory. Global Change Biology, 25: 885-899 (2019).

Li L, ML McCormack, F Chen, H Wang, Z Ma, D Guo.  Different responses of absorptive roots and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to fertilization provide diverse nutrient acquisition strategies in Chinese fir. Forest Ecology and Management, 433: 64-7 (2019).

Caplan JS, SJ Meiners, H Flores-Moreno, ML McCormack. Fine-root traits are linked to species dynamics in a successional plant community. Ecology, 100: e02588 (2019).

Wang C, ML McCormack, D Guo, J Li. Angiosperms and gymnosperms differ in patterns of root carbon allocation along environmental gradients. Journal of Biogeography, 46: 123-133 (2019). ​​

McCormack ML, AS Powell, CM Iversen. Letter: Better plant data at the root of ecosystem models. Eos, (2018).

Mueller KE, DR LeCain, ML McCormack, DM Blumenthal, M Carlson, E Pendall. Root responses to climate change in a semiarid grassland: integrating biomass, length, and lifespan in a 5-year field experiment. Journal of Ecology, 106: 2176-2189 (2018).

Mao Z, Y Wang, ML McCormack , N Rowe, X Deng, X Yang, S Xia, J Nespoulous, RC Sidle, D Guo, A Stokes. Mechanical properties of fine roots as a function of topology and anatomy. Annals of Botany, mcy076 (2018).

Erktan A*, ML McCormack*, C Roumet*, Editorial: Frontiers in root ecology: recent advances and future challenges. Plant and Soil, 424: 1-9 (2018).

Ma Z, D Guo, X Xu, M Lu, RD Bardgett, DM Eissenstat, ML McCormack, LO Hedin. Evolutionary history resolves global organization of root functional traits. Nature, 555: 94-97 (2018).

Zhu K*, ML McCormack*, RA Lankau, JF Egan, N Wurzburger. Soil carbon and nitrogen relate to mycorrhizal association of forest trees across eastern North America. Journal of Ecology, 106: 524-535 (2018). *Authors contributed equally to this work.

*Denotes equal contribution among authors