Kate Lajtha

Kate Lajtha
Born	1957
Alma mater	Duke University
Scientific career
Thesis	The biogeochemistry of phosphorus cycling and phosphorus availability in a desert ecosystem  (1986)

Kate Lajtha is an ecologist known for her use of stable isotopes to examine biogeochemical cycling in soils.

Education and career

Lajtha has a B.A. in biology from Harvard University (1979) and earned her Ph.D. from Duke University in botany in 1986. Following her Ph.D. she was a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University before joining Boston University in 1987. In 1996 she moved to Oregon State University where she was promoted to Professor in 2010. ^[1] Lajtha has been Editor-in-Chief of the journal Biogeochemistry since 2002. ^{[2] [3]}

Lajtha was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2020, and recognized "for sustained impact on long-term soil carbon research and fundamental biogeochemical processes of soil carbon and nitrogen cycling." ^[4]

Research

While at Boston University, Lajtha investigated the physiology saguaro cactus ^[5] and the potential impact of trace elements on saguaros. ^[6] While she concluded that natural, abiotic factors were causing the death of these cacti, the general public was interested in the research because of the emblematic nature of saguaro cacti in the southwestern United States. ^{[7] [8]}

More recently, Lajtha's research centers on nutrient cycling, especially nitrogen, in natural environments and those impacted by humans. In this venue she has examined the input of nitrogen and its attenuation in the environment ^{[9] [10]} and examined the availability of nitrogen to different types of plants. ^{[11] [12]} She has also worked on the ecology of soil carbon with a particular focus on the impact of detritus on soil organic matter. ^[13] Lajtha works at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon ^[14] where she leads a study entitled "Detrital Input and Removal Treatment (DIRT), through which undergraduate researchers can participate in research on the role of soils in capturing carbon from the atmosphere. ^{[15] [16]}

Selected publications

• Howarth, R. W.; Billen, G.; Swaney, D.; Townsend, A.; Jaworski, N.; Lajtha, K.; Downing, J. A.; Elmgren, R.; Caraco, N.; Jordan, T.; Berendse, F.; Freney, J.; Kudeyarov, V.; Murdoch, P.; Zhao-Liang, Zhu (1996). "Regional nitrogen budgets and riverine N & P fluxes for the drainages to the North Atlantic Ocean: Natural and human influences". Nitrogen Cycling in the North Atlantic Ocean and its Watersheds. pp. 75–139. doi:10.1007/978-94-009-1776-7_3. ISBN   978-94-010-7293-9. S2CID   54538868.
• Lajtha, Kate; Michener, Robert H. (1994). Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science. Blackwell Scientific Publications. ISBN   0632031549.
• Lajtha, Kate; Schlesinger, William H. (1988). "The Biogeochemistry of Phosphorus Cycling and Phosphorus Availability Along a Desert Soil Chronosequence". Ecology. 69 (1): 24–39. Bibcode:1988Ecol...69...24L. doi:10.2307/1943157. ISSN   1939-9170. JSTOR   1943157.
• Valiela, Ivan; Foreman, Kenneth; LaMontagne, Michael; Hersh, Douglas; Costa, Joseph; Peckol, Paulette; DeMeo-Andreson, Barbara; D'Avanzo, Charlene; Babione, Michele; Sham, Chi-Ho; Brawley, John; Lajtha, Kate (December 1992). "Couplings of Watersheds and Coastal Waters: Sources and Consequences of Nutrient Enrichment in Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts". Estuaries. 15 (4): 443. doi:10.2307/1352389. JSTOR   1352389. S2CID   83501004.
• Lajtha, K.; Crow, S. E.; Yano, Y.; Kaushal, S. S.; Sulzman, E.; Sollins, P.; Spears, J. D. H. (November 2005). "Detrital Controls on Soil Solution N and Dissolved Organic Matter in Soils: A Field Experiment". Biogeochemistry. 76 (2): 261–281. Bibcode:2005Biogc..76..261L. doi:10.1007/s10533-005-5071-9. S2CID   67833715.

Awards and honors

• Murray F. Buell Award for Excellence in Ecology (1996) ^[17]
• Co-recipient of the John Martin Award, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (2018) for Howarth et al. paper ^[18]
• Fellow, American Geophysical Union (2020) ^[19]

References

1. "Kate Lajtha". College of Agricultural Sciences.
2. "Biogeochemistry". Springer. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
3. "Biogeochemistry". Springer. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
4. "Lajtha". Honors Program.
5. Lajtha, Kate; Kolberg, Kristin; Getz, Jenna (1997). "Ecophysiology of the saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) in the Saguaro National Monument: relationship to symptoms of decline". Journal of Arid Environments. 36 (4): 579–590. Bibcode:1997JArEn..36..579L. doi: 10.1006/jare.1996.0240 . ISSN   0140-1963.
6. KOLBERG, Kristin; LAJTHA, Kate (1997). "Population dynamics and trace metal biogeochemistry of the saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) in the Sonoran desert". Écoscience. 4 (2): 223–231. Bibcode:1997Ecosc...4..223K. doi:10.1080/11956860.1997.11682399. ISSN   1195-6860. JSTOR   42900731.
7. "Dying Saguaro Cactuses Are Bewildering Scientists". The New York Times. Reuters. 1991-08-11. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-07-17.
8. "Mysterious Ailment Afflicting Saguaro Cactus Baffles Experts : Ecology: Pollution, ozone depletion and loss of sheltering 'nurse plants' are among possible causes of the slow-growing desert giants' decline". Los Angeles Times. 1993-07-18. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
9. Valiela, Ivan; Foreman, Kenneth; LaMontagne, Michael; Hersh, Douglas; Costa, Joseph; Peckol, Paulette; DeMeo-Andreson, Barbara; D'Avanzo, Charlene; Babione, Michele; Sham, Chi-Ho; Brawley, John; Lajtha, Kate (December 1992). "Couplings of Watersheds and Coastal Waters: Sources and Consequences of Nutrient Enrichment in Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts". Estuaries. 15 (4): 443. doi:10.2307/1352389. JSTOR   1352389. S2CID   83501004.
10. Lajtha, Kate; Whitford, Walter G. (1989-08-01). "The effect of water and nitrogen amendments on photosynthesis, leaf demography, and resource-use efficiency in Larrea tridentata, a desert evergreen shrub". Oecologia. 80 (3): 341–348. Bibcode:1989Oecol..80..341L. doi:10.1007/BF00379035. ISSN   1432-1939. PMID   28312061. S2CID   28502580.
11. Lajtha, Kate; Schlesinger, William H. (1986-03-01). "Plant response to variations in nitrogen availability in a desert shrubland community". Biogeochemistry. 2 (1): 29–37. Bibcode:1986Biogc...2...29L. doi:10.1007/BF02186963. ISSN   1573-515X. S2CID   85177180.
12. van Breemen, N.; Boyer, E.W.; Goodale, C.L.; Jaworski, N.A.; Paustian, K.; Seitzinger, S.P.; Lajtha, K.; Mayer, B.; van Dam, D.; Howarth, R.W.; Nadelhoffer, K.J. (2002-04-01). "Where did all the nitrogen go? Fate of nitrogen inputs to large watersheds in the northeastern U.S.A." Biogeochemistry. 57 (1): 267–293. Bibcode:2002Biogc..57..267V. doi:10.1023/A:1015775225913. ISSN   1573-515X. S2CID   98015768.
13. Jackson, Robert B.; Lajtha, Kate; Crow, Susan E.; Hugelius, Gustaf; Kramer, Marc G.; Piñeiro, Gervasio (2017-11-02). "The Ecology of Soil Carbon: Pools, Vulnerabilities, and Biotic and Abiotic Controls". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 48 (1): 419–445. doi: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-112414-054234 . hdl: 11336/50698 . ISSN   1543-592X.
14. "Kate Lajtha named 2020 AGU Fellow". H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest - Oregon State University. 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
15. Adams, Tom (2007-06-20). "Students do ground breaking soil research near Blue River". KVAL. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
16. Sulzman, Elizabeth W.; Brant, Justin B.; Bowden, Richard D.; Lajtha, Kate (2005-03-01). "Contribution of aboveground litter, belowground litter, and rhizosphere respiration to total soil CO2 efflux in an old growth coniferous forest". Biogeochemistry. 73 (1): 231–256. doi:10.1007/s10533-004-7314-6. ISSN   1573-515X. S2CID   97577812.
17. Kuserk, Frank T. (1987). "Buell Award: Kate Lajtha". Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 68 (1): 32–33. doi:10.2307/20166561. ISSN   0012-9623. JSTOR   20166561. S2CID   178961387.
18. Howarth, R. W.; Billen, G.; Swaney, D.; Townsend, A.; Jaworski, N.; Lajtha, K.; Downing, J. A.; Elmgren, R.; Caraco, N.; Jordan, T.; Berendse, F.; Freney, J.; Kudeyarov, V.; Murdoch, P.; Zhao-Liang, Zhu (1996). "Regional nitrogen budgets and riverine N & P fluxes for the drainages to the North Atlantic Ocean: Natural and human influences". Nitrogen Cycling in the North Atlantic Ocean and its Watersheds. pp. 75–139. doi:10.1007/978-94-009-1776-7_3. ISBN   978-94-010-7293-9. S2CID   54538868.
19. "Lajtha". Honors Program.

External links

• Kate Lajtha publications indexed by Google Scholar