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Professor Mark Tjoelker
Professor Tjoelker's research focuses on the impacts of global environmental change on terrestrial ecosystems. His research spans savanna and forests in North America, Europe, and Australia. As a physiological ecologist, he explores the linkages between plant traits and processes at the individual, stand, and ecosystem scales. Research interests include climate change effects on respiration and carbon cycling, climatic adaptation in plant traits, and the biogeography of forest tree species. He and his students conduct basic and applied research in the laboratory and field in Australia and beyond. A goal of his research is to advance fundamental knowledge of plant and ecosystem responses to environmental change and provide science-based information to inform policy choices. He has authored more than 70 refereed journal articles and edited the book, The Biology and Ecology of Norway Spruce (Springer, 2007). His published work is among the most cited (top 1%) in the refereed literature (ISI, Essential Science Indicators). Professor Tjoelker has served grant advisory panels for the U.S. Department of Energy and other agencies and as an advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture through the Forestry Research Advisory Council. He serves on the editorial advisory board of Tree Physiology, is a Co-editor of New Phytologist, and Associate Editor for Functional Ecology. In 2009, Dr. Tjoelker was a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University.
Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise
Plant Biology, Ecological Impacts of Climate Change, Forestry Sciences, Forest Ecology, Ecosystem Function
Awards and Recognition
- Outstanding Graduate Professor Award, 2011
Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, chosen by graduate students - Forestry Research Advisory Council to the US Secretary of Agriculture, 2010 – 2012
The 15-member Forestry Research Advisory Council was established to provide advice to the US Secretary of Agriculture on research and the US Forest Service research program. - Student-Led Award for Teaching Excellence, 2009
Texas A&M University System, Chancellor’s Office system-wide honor for excellence in undergraduate teaching, based on student responses to a voluntary survey. - Outstanding Young Faculty Award, 2009
Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences, Texas A&M University, award for excellence in teaching, research, and service. - Highly Cited Researcher, 2002 – present
Ecology and Environment, 2003 – present, Plant and Animal Science, 2002 – present
Listed in the top 1% of scientists worldwide, based on number of citations in the primary scientific literature (3,771 citations, h-index = 33). - Professor of the Year, 2002
Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, chosen by undergraduate students in Forestry. - J. William Fulbright Fellowship, 1995
Environmental pollution and forest decline in Poland. This nationally competitive award was awarded to a dozen Ph.D. student scholars to conduct research in Poland. - Journal Editorships and Advisory Boards
Co-Editor, New Phytologist, 2009 – present
Associate Editor, Functional Ecology, 2006 – present
Board of Advisors, New Phytologist, 2007 – 2009
Editorial Review Board, Tree Physiology 1999, 2001 – present
Editorial Board, Dendrobiology, 1999 – present
- Seminars and scientific conferences
Invited keynote, national and international seminars (>20) and presentations at scientific conferences (>50).
Grants / Current Projects
REU site proposal: Eco-hydrology of a tropical montane cloud forest
Co-Researchers: C Houser, T Cahill
Partner/Funding Body: National Science Foundation (US)
Period: 2010-2013
Leaf respiration under drought: A global perspective
Co-Researchers: OK Atkin, JR Evans, MG Tjoelker, SA Sitch, JJ Lloyd
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council, Discovery Grant
Period: 2010-2012
A Graduate Program in Forest Resources: Developing Integrated Expertise in Forest Resource Management, Conservation, and Restoration
Co-Researchers: K Krutovsky, J Gan, U Kreuter, C Loopstra , P Merton, G Moore, S Popescu, W Rogers, R Washington-Allen, MG Tjoelker, B Wilcox, B Wu
Partner/Funding Body: US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Period: 2009-2014
Climate warming, respiration and the terrestrial carbon cycle: Comparative research and synthesis in Australia
Partner/Funding Body: Texas A&M University, International Programs Grant
Period: 2009
Warming and rainfall redistribution effects on linkages between plant functional traits and ecosystem processes in oak savanna
Co-Researchers: MG Tjoelker, DD Briske, A Volder
Partner/Funding Body: US Department of Energy, National Institute for Climatic Change Research, Period: 2007 – 2010
Selected Publications
Volder A, Briske DD, Tjoelker MG, (2013) 'Climate warming and precipitation redistribution modify tree-grass interactions and tree species establishment in a warm-temperate savanna', Global Change Biology, vol.19, no.3, pp 843-857
Brzostek ER, Blair JM, Dukes JS, Frey SD, Hobbie SE, Melillo JM, Mitchell RJ, Pendall E, Reich PB, Shaver GR, Stefanski A, Tjoelker MG, Finzi AC, (2012) 'The effect of experimental warming and precipitation change on proteolytic enzyme activity: Positive feedbacks to nitrogen availability are not universal', Global Change Biology, vol.18, no.8, pp 2617-2625
Crous K, Zaragoza-Castells J, Löw M, Ellsworth DS, Tissue D, Tjoelker MG, Barton C, Gimeno T, Atkin OK, (2011), ‘Seasonal acclimation of leaf respiration in Eucalyptus saligna trees: impacts of elevated atmospheric CO2 and summer drought’, Global Change Biology, vol.17, no.4, pp 1560-1576
Luo Y, Melillo JM, Niu S, Beier C, Clark JS, Classen AT, Davidson E, Dukes JS, Evans RD, Field CB, Czimczik CI, Keller M, Kimball BA, Kueppers LM, Norby RJ, Pelini SL, Pendall E, Rastetter E, Six J, Smith M, Tjoelker MG, Torn MS, (2011) ‘Coordinated approaches to quantify long-term ecosystem dynamics in response to global change’, Global Change Biology, vol.17, no.2, pp 843–854
Volder A, Tjoelker MG, Briske DD, (2010), ‘Contrasting physiological responsiveness of establishing trees and a C4 grass to rainfall events, intensified summer drought, and warming in oak savanna’, Global Change Biology, vol.16, no.12, pp 3349–3362
Tjoelker MG, Oleksyn J, Lorenc-Plucinska G, Reich PB, (2009), ‘Acclimation of respiratory temperature responses in northern and southern populations of Pinus banksiana’, New Phytologist, vol.181, no.1, pp 218-229
Reich PB, Tjoelker MG, Pregitzer KS, Wright IJ, Oleksyn O, Machado J-L, (2008), ‘Scaling of respiration to nitrogen in leaves, stems and roots of higher land plants’, Ecology Letters, vol.11, no. 8, pp 793-801
Tjoelker MG, Oleksyn J, Reich PB, Zytkowiak R, (2008), ‘Coupling of respiration, nitrogen, and sugars underlies convergent temperature acclimation in Pinus banksiana across wide-ranging sites and populations’, Global Change Biology, vol.14, no.4, pp 782-797
Chmura DJ, Tjoelker MG, (2008), ‘Leaf traits in relation to crown development, light interception, and growth of elite families of loblolly and slash pine’, Tree Physiology, vol.28, no.5, pp 729-742
Reich PB, Tjoelker MG, Machado J-L, Oleksyn J, (2006), 'Universal scaling of respiratory metabolism, size and nitrogen in plants', Nature, vol.439, no.7075, pp 457-461
Tjoelker MG, Craine JM, Wedin DA, Reich PB, Tilman DG, (2005), 'Linking leaf and root trait syndromes among 39 grassland and savannah species', New Phytologist, vol.167, no.2, pp 493-508
Wright IJ, Reich PB, Westoby M, Ackerly DD, Baruch Z, Bongers F, Cavender-Bares J, Chapin T, Cornelissen JHC, Diemer M, Flexas J, Garnier E, Groom PK, Gulias J, Hikosaka K, Lamont BB, Lee T, Lee W, Lusk C, Midgley JJ, Navas M-L, Niinemets Ü, Oleksyn J, Osada N, Poorter H, Poot P, Prior L, Pyankov VI, Roumet C, Thomas SC, Tjoelker MG, Veneklaas EJ, Villar R, (2004), ‘The world-wide leaf economics spectrum’, Nature, vol. 428, no.6985, pp 821-827
Atkin OK, Tjoelker MG, (2003), 'Thermal acclimation and the dynamic response of plant respiration to temperature', Trends in Plant Science, vol.8, no.7, pp 343-351
Tjoelker MG, Oleksyn J, Reich PB, (2001), 'Modeling respiration of vegetation: evidence for a general temperature-dependent Q10 ', Global Change Biology, vol.7, no.2, pp 223-230
