RESEARCH INTERESTS:

I am interested in the effects of plant species and biodiversity on ecosystem function, and specifically, in understanding how interactions between plants and soil microbes regulate important below-ground processes such as decomposition, soil nutrient cycling, and soil carbon cycling. Decomposition and soil carbon and nutrient cycling are tightly linked, and together are critical controls on ecosystem functions like productivity, soil C storage, and soil nutrient availability. My work also focuses on interactions between plant species, soil microbes, and the cycling of carbon and nitrogen within the context of environmental changes like biodiversity loss, rising concentrations of atmospheric CO₂, and nitrogen deposition.
 

CURRENT PROJECT:

I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder, funded by a competitive grant from the USDA NRI Soil Processes program. I am leading a project investigating how interactions between plant species and soil microbes influence carbon stabilization in soils, in collaboration with Dr. Jason Neff. Soils are the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, and it is critical to develop a better understanding of factors regulating storage and loss of carbon from soils.
 

DISSERTATION WORK:

I finished a Ph.D. in Ecology in January 2008 in Dr. William Bowman's lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder. My dissertation research focused on the effects of plants on soil microbial activity, soil nutrient availability, and neighboring plant growth, as well as links between plant species diversity, plant litter chemistry, and below-ground components of ecosystem function that are regulated by soil microbes. I used an alpine ecosystem on Niwot Ridge, CO, as a model system for study. Niwot Ridge was an ideal research location, as it is part of the National Science Foundation's Long Term Ecological Research network, and has onsite research facilities at the University of Colorado's Mountain Research Station.
 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Meier, C.L., Keyserling K. & Bowman, W.D. (2009) Fine root inputs to soil reduce growth of a neighbouring plant via distinct mechanisms dependent on root carbon chemistry. Journal of Ecology, 97, 941-949.

Meier, C.L. & Bowman, W.D. (2008) Links between plant litter chemistry, species diversity, and below-ground ecosystem function. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 19780-19785.

Meier, C.L., Suding, K.N. & Bowman, W.D. (2008) Carbon flux from plants to soil: Roots are a below-ground source of phenolic secondary compounds in an alpine ecosystem. Journal of Ecology, 96, 421-430.

Meier, C.L. & Bowman, W.D. (2008) Phenolic-rich leaf carbon fractions differentially influence microbial respiration and plant growth. Oecologia, 158, 95-107.

Bowman, W.D., Steltzer, H., Rosenstiel, T.N., Cleveland, C.C. & Meier, C.L. (2004) Litter effects of two co-occurring alpine species on plant growth, microbial activity and immobilization of nitrogen. Oikos, 104, 336-344.