Departments:

• University of California, Berkeley BA
• Montana State University MS
• Oregon State University PhD
• NASA Ames/American Academy of Sciences Post Doctoral

• Kramer Lab Web Page

Our lab group studies interactions among climate, the biosphere and the pedosphere.  We examine the structure and function of the Earth’s surface from a biogeochemical perspective — particularly in the context of climate change and the forcing factors that drive earth surface structure and function. Our work is presently focused on two primary themes: mechanisms of carbon stabilization in soil and the biogeochemical effects of winds on the earth’s surface.

Courses

Research

Current Research Focus 1) The influence of climatic and pedogenic thresholds on soil carbon dynamics and soil water movement across a time-climate gradient in Hawaii in volcanic ash soils 2) Long-term edaphic and forest impacts of extratropical cyclonic windstorm activity on weathering rates of soils in temperate rainforest biomes of the northern and southern hemispheres under contrasting lithology 3) The use of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) models and Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models to understand the biogeochemical impact of snow redistribution and sublimation processes in Yellowstone National Park from wind 4) The use of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to understand how microbial-driven nitrogen transformations influence the accumulation of carbon on mineral soil particles and 5) The impact of rapid land use change and agriculture on excess nitrate leaching across a clay confinement gradient in Karst terrain in Central Florida.

• Ecosystem Science, Carbon Cycle Science, Soil Geochemistry, Stable Isotopes, Soil Science, Climate Change, Global Change

Recent Publications

Machmuller, Megan¹; Kramer, Marc G. ³;Cyle, K. Taylor²; Hill, Nick²; Hancock, Dennis²; Thompson, Aaron^1,2* [In Press] Emerging land use practices rapidly increase soil carbon in Southeastern US farmlands. Nature Communications.

Mobley, D. Richter, K.Lajtha, M.G. Kramer [2015]. Losses of deep soil C and N during secondary forest development and succession. Global Change Biology

S.D. Frey¹, S. Ollinger^1,2, K. Nadelhoffer³, R. Bowden⁴, E. Brzostek⁵, A. Burton⁶, B.A. Caldwell⁷, S. Crow⁸, C.L. Goodale⁹, A.S. Grandy¹, A. Finzi¹⁰, M.G. Kramer¹¹, K. Lajtha⁷, J. LeMoine³, M. Martin², W.H. McDowell^l, R. Minocha¹², J.J. Sadowsky¹, P. Templer¹⁰, and K. Wickings¹[2014]. Temperate Forest Stores more Carbon in Soil than Trees in Response to Nitrogen Addition. Biogeochemistry Letters.

SafeeqM. G. E. Grant², M. G.  Kramer³, and B. Staab³ [2014] A geohydrologic framework for characterizing summer streamflow sensitivity to climate warming in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences

W Buettner; M. G Kramer; O.A Chadwick; A. Thompson. [2014]. Mobilization of colloidal carbon during iron reduction events in basaltic soils. Geoderma.

Luce, C. B.Staab, M. G.  Kramer, S. Wenger, D. Isaak, C. McConnell. [2014]. Sensitivity of Summer Stream Temperatures to Climate Variability in the Pacific Northwest. Water Resources Research.  

LajthaK. K.  Townsend^b, M. G Kramer^c,  F. Peterson^b,  C.Swanston^d, R. D. Bowden^e, K. Nadelhoffer[2014]. Changes to Particulate and Mineral-Associated Soil Carbon after 50 Years of Detrital Manipulations.   Biogeochemistry.

Throop, H. L., Lajtha, K., & Kramer, M. (2013). Density fractionation and ¹³C reveal changes in soil carbon following woody encroachment in a desert ecosystem. Biogeochemistry, 1-14.

Sanderman, J., & Kramer, M. G. (2013). Differential production yet chemical similarity of dissolved organic matter across a chronosequence with contrasting nutrient availability in Hawaii. Biogeochemistry Letters, 1-11.

Kramer, M. G., Sanderman, J., Chadwick, O. A., Chorover, J., & Vitousek, P. M. (2012). Long-term carbon storage through retention of dissolved aromatic acids by reactive particles in soil. Global Change Biology, 18(8), 2594-2605.

Spiotta, O.A.Chadwick, M.G. Kramer, M.Carriah (2011) Mobile organic carbon contributes to deep soil carbon storage.J. Geophys. Res., 116, G03011, doi:10.1029/2010JG001587

B. Richter, S. S. Andrews, S.Billings, C. A. Cambardella, N. Cavallaro, J. DeMeester, A. J. Franzluebbers, S. Grandy, S. Grunwald, J.Gruver, A. S. Hartshorn, H. Janzen, M. G. Kramer, J. K. Ladha, K. Lajtha, G. Liles, D.  Markewitz, P. J. Megonigal, A. Mermut, C. Palm, C. Rasmussen, C. J. Richardson, D. A. Robinson, P. Smith, C Stiles, R. L. Tate, A. Thompson,  A. J. Tugel, H. van Es, L. West, S. Wills, D. Yaalon, and T. M. Zobeck.(2011). Soils and human-soil relations are changing rapidly: Proposals from SSSA’s new Cross-Division Work Group on Soil Change. SSSAJ: Volume 75: Number 5 • November–December 2011.

Ge, Shaokui; Smith, R, Kramer, M.G.; Carruthers, R., (2011 Dynamics of photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and estimates in coastal northern California. Theoretical and Applied Climatology: 105(1-2):107-118, DOI: 10.1007/s00704-010-0368-6.

Kleber, Markus,Nico, P.,Plante, A.; Filley, T., Kramer, M. G.,Swanston, C.; Sollins, P. (2011) Stability of soil organic matter against decomposition:  turnover time can be independent of “inherent chemical recalcitrance”. Global ChangeBiology. 17(2):1097–1107.

Robert Mikutta, K. Kaiser, N. Dörr, A. Vollmer,O. A. Chadwick , J. Chorover , M. G. Kramer , G. Guggenberger. 2010. Mineral impact on organic nitrogen across a long-term soil chronosequence (0.3 4100 kyr). Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 74(7):2142-2164.

Kramer, Marc G., K. Lajtha, G.Thomas, P. Sollins. 2009. Contamination effects on soil density fractions from high N or C content sodium polytungstate. Biogeochemistry 92:177–181.

Phillip Sollins, Marc G. Kramer, Christopher Swanston, Kate Lajtha, Timothy Filley. 2009. Sequential Density Fractionation across Soils of Contrasting Mineralogy: Evidence for both Microbial-and Mineral-Controlled Soil Organic Matter Stabilization. Biogeochemistry. 96:209–231.

Robert Mikutta, G. Schaumann, D. Gildemeister, S. Bonnevillec, M.G.  Kramer, J. Chorover, O. A. Chadwick, G. Guggenberger. 2009. Biogeochemistry of mineral-organic associations across a long- term mineralogical soil gradient (0.3-4100 kyr), Hawaiian Islands. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 73(7):2034-2060.

Watson, Fred, T.. N. Anderson, M.G. Kramer, J. Detka, T. Masek^, Simon Cornish, Steve Moore.2009. Book Chapter “Effects of Wind, Terrain and Vegetation on Snowpack in Ecology of Mammals in Central Yellowstone, Springer Verlag. Ch5: 67-85.

Sollins, Phillip, C. Swanston, and M. Kramer. 2007. Stabilization and destabilization of soil organic matter – a new focus.Biogeochemistry 85:1-7.

Sollins, Phillip, C. Swanston, M. Kleber, T. Filley, M.G. Kramer, S.Crow, B. Caldwell, K. Lajtha, and R. Bowden. 2006. Organic C and N stabilization in a forest soil: evidence from sequential density fractionation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 38: 3313-3324.

Kao, David M.G. Kramer A. Love J. Dungan and A. Pang^.  2005.  Visualizing distributions from multi-return lidar data to understand forest structure.  Special issue on Geovisualization with The Cartographic Journal. 41(1): 1-14.

DeGayner, Eugene, M.G. Kramer, J. G. Doerr, M. J. Robertsen.  2005. Windstorm disturbance effects on forest structure and black bear dens southeast Alaska. Ecological Applications.  15(4):1306-1316.

Kramer, Marc, G., R.S. Sletten, P. Sollins. 2004.  Soil carbon dynamics along a windthrow disturbance sequence in southeast Alaska. Ecology. 85(8): 2230-2244.

Harcombe Paul, A., S. Greene, M.G. Kramer, T. Spies, S. Acker, T. Valentine. 2004. The influence of fire and windthrow dynamics on a coastal spruce hemlock forest in Oregon, USA, based on aerial photographs spanning 40 years. Forest Ecology and Management. 194: 71-82.

Kramer, Marc G., P. Sollins, R.S. Sletten, P. Swart. 2003. N isotope fractionation and measures of organic matter alteration during decomposition. Ecology. 84(8): 2021-2025.

Kramer, M, C. Potter, D. Des Marias, and D. Peterson. (2003). New Insight: A Martian waterway of ancient lakes and discontinuous rivers. Eos. 84(1): 1,6.

Cabrol, N. A., E. A. Grin, M. H. Carr, B. Sutter, J. M. Moore, J. D. Farmer, R. Greeley, D. J. Des Marais, M. G. Kramer, H. Newsom, C. Barber, I. Thorsos, K. L. Tanaka, N. G. Barlow, D. A. Fike, M. L. Urquhart, B. Grigsby, F. D. Grant, and O. de Goursac. 2003. Exploring Gusev Crater with MER A: Review of Science Objectives and Testable Hypotheses. JGR-Planets: Special Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission Issue. vol. 108, n^oE12, pp. ROV17.1-ROV17.21 (2 p.)

Kramer, Marc G., A.J. Hansen, M. Taper, and E. Kissinger. 2001.  Abiotic controls on windthrow and forest dynamics in a coastal temperate rainforest, Kuiu Island, southeast Alaska.  Ecology. 82(10): 2749-2768.

Bormann, Bernard.T., and M.G. Kramer. 1998. Can ecosystem process studies contribute to new management strategies in coastal Pacific Northwest and Alaska?  Northwest Science 72(2): 77-83.

Stine, P. Hessburg,T. Spies, M.G. Kramer, C. Fettig, A. Hansen, J. Lehmkuhl, K. O’Hara, K. Polivka, P. Singleton. S. Charnley, A. Meschel. 2014. The Ecology and Management of Moist Mixed-conifer Forests in Eastern Oregon and Washington; a Synthesis of the Relevant Biophysical Science and Implications for Future Land Management. USDA General Technical Report. US Forest Service. http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/draft-manuscript.shtml

Chaderjian, Neal, C. Jasim U. Ahmad, Marc G. Kramer, and Terry Holst. 2006. Navier-Stokes simulation of local winds over the Earth’s Topography. Sept. NAS Technical Report, NAS-06-015.      www.nas.nasa.gov/News/Techreports/2006/PDF/nas-06-015.pdf

Kramer, Marc G., M. Taper.  Development and application of a spatially explicit model to understand windthrow at the regional scale. 2000. [Paper] in  proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Integrating GIS and Environmental Modeling (GIS/EM4): Problems, Prospects and Research Needs. Banff, Alberta, Canada, September 2–8.http://www.colorado.edu/research/cires/banff/pubpapers/117/

Caouette, John P., M.G. Kramer, and G.J. Nowacki. 2000. Deconstructing the volume-based paradigm in the Tongass National Forest:  Analysis of Timber Volume and Timber Volume.  General. Technical. Report. PNW-GTR-120. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/gtr482.pdf

Nowacki, G.J., and M.G. Kramer. 1998.  The effects of wind disturbance on temperate rain forest structure and dynamics of southeast Alaska.  Review Paper: General. Technical. Report. PNW-GTR-421.  Portland, OR: USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station.http: www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs.htm

External Links

• Kramer Lab Web Page