Connecticut State The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Elisabeth B. Ward

 

 

Department of Environmental Science and Forestry
 The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Voice: (203) 974-8486  Fax: (203) 974-8502
E-mail: Elisabeth.Ward@ct.gov

Expertise:

Dr. Elisabeth Ward is a forest ecosystem ecologist with expertise in silviculture, invasive species, plant-soil interactions, and carbon and nitrogen cycling. Her current research explores how changes in aboveground-belowground linkages caused by forest disturbances, management practices, and factors of global change mediate shifts in plant community composition, forest development, and carbon dynamics.  

 

Education:

Ph.D. Yale University, The Forest School, School of the Environment (Forest Ecology) 2023
M.F.S. Yale University, The Forest School, School of the Environment (Forest Ecology) 2018
B.S. Brown University (Biology) 2013

 

Station Career:

Assistant Agricultural Scientist II: 2023-present

 

Past Research:

Dr. Ward’s doctorate research at Yale examined how interactions between tree and shrub mycorrhizal associations influence soil carbon and nitrogen cycling and storage in forests. This work explored the effects of ericoid mycorrhizal shrubs (e.g., mountain laurel, one of the most abundant understory plant species in Connecticut) on soil organic matter dynamics across forest stands that vary in tree species composition and mycorrhizal associations. Mountain laurel and other ericoid mycorrhizal shrubs can proliferate in response to forest disturbances and are known to negatively affect tree regeneration and forest development. Dr. Ward’s research showed that ericoid mycorrhizal shrubs, such as mountain laurel, increase surface soil organic matter accumulation and reduce nitrogen availability—effects that could favor the growth of mountain laurel over regenerating trees. During her time at Yale, Dr. Ward also investigated the effects of understory plant invasions, urbanization, timber harvesting, forest restoration, and tree planting on carbon and nitrogen cycling and storage in forests. These projects spanned urban, suburban, and rural areas and have addressed questions on both the above- and below-ground impacts of land management and environmental change.

 

Current Research:

Dr. Ward’s research at The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station assesses forest resiliency to changing environmental conditions in Connecticut by examining the effects of forest management practices and co-occurring stressors on tree regeneration and forest carbon dynamics. These projects include studying the effects of interactions between deer browse, novel pests and pathogens, understory plant invasions, and forest management practices on tree growth, competition between understory invasive plants and regenerating trees, and above- and below-ground carbon storage and sequestration.  

 

Selected recent publications available from the author, Elisabeth.Ward@ct.gov 

  • Bradford, M. A., Veen, G. F., Bradford, E. M., Covey, K. R., Crowther, T. W., Fields, N., Frankson, P. T., González-Rivero, J., Jevon, F. V., Kuebbing, S. E., McBride, S., Mohan, J. E., Oldfield, E. E., Oliverio, A. M., Polussa, A., Steinrueck, C., Strickland, M. S., Ward, E. B., Wepking, C., and Maynard, D. S. (2023). Coarse woody debris accelerates the decomposition of deadwood inputs across temperate forest. Biogeochemistry. DOI: 10.1007/s10533-023-01045-8
  • Ward, E. B., Duguid, M. C., Kuebbing, S. E., Lendemer, J. L., and Bradford, M. A. (2022). The functional role of ericoid mycorrhizal plants and fungi on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in forests. New Phytologist, 235, 1701-1718. DOI: 10.1111/nph.18307
  • Ward, E. B., Duguid, M. C., Kuebbing, S. E., Lendemer, J. L.,  Warren, R. J. II, and Bradford, M. A. (2021). Ericoid mycorrhizal shrubs alter the relationship between tree mycorrhizal dominance and soil carbon and nitrogen. Journal of Ecology, 109, 3524-3540. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.13734
  • Ward, E. B., Doroski, D. A., Felson, A. J., Hallet, R. A., Oldfield, E. E., Kuebbing, S. E., and Bradford, M. A. (2021). Positive long‐term impacts of restoration on soils in an experimental urban forest. Ecological Applications, 31. DOI: 10.1002/eap.2336
  • Carpenter, R., Ward, E. B., Wikle, J., Duguid, M. C., Bradford, M. A., and Ashton, M. S. (2021). Soil nutrient recovery after shelterwood timber harvesting in a temperate oak hardwood forest: Insights using a twenty-five-year chronosequence. Forest Ecology and Management, 499. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119604
  • Bradford, M. A., Wood, S. A., Addicott, E. T., Fenichel, E. P., Fields, N., González-Rivero, J., Jevon, F. V., Maynard, D. S., Oldfield, E. E., Polussa, A., Ward, E. B., and Wieder, W. R. (2021). Quantifying microbial control of soil organic matter dynamics at macrosystem scales. Biogeochemistry, 156 19-40. DOI: 10.1007/s10533-021-00789-5
  • Ward, E. B., Pregitzer, C. C., Kuebbing, S. E., and Bradford, M. A. (2020). Invasive lianas are drivers of and passengers to altered soil nutrient availability in urban forests. Biological Invasions, 22, 935-955. DOI: 10.1007/s10530-019-02134-2