Dr. Steward T. A. Pickett
Plant Ecologist
Ph.D., 1977, University of Illinois, Urbana

Dr. Pickett's projects relate to the role of spatial heterogeneity in community and landscape structure and dynamics. Specific projects include research on urban ecosystems, function of landscape boundaries, and plant community succession. The question motivating all these studies is, "How does the spatial heterogeneity of a system or area control system function and change?"

Current Research

Baltimore Ecosystem Study Long-Term Ecological Research Program.
I am working with colleagues to integrate physical sciences, social science, civil infrastructure and ecology to study the structure and function of metropolitan Baltimore as an ecological system. My particular interest is in the integration of patch structure of an urban system. Dr. M.L. Cadenasso and I are refining a novel land cover classification that goes beyond the standard used in urban planning and ecological studies. We are exploring how it can improve the ecological understanding of cities.

Function of Boundaries in Landscape Mosaics.
This work builds on an experimental study of the function of forest edges conducted with Dr. M.L. Cadenasso. With Dr. K.C. Weathers, we are integrating community and biogeochemical responses of systems to edge structure. Results from this project were featured in the New York Times Science Times section on Tuesday, January 8, 2002.

River/Savanna Boundaries Program.
Dr. Cadenasso and I are investigating the functional integration of riparian zones and the upland savanna in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. We have applied a new technology for assessment of heterogeneity and vegetation structure, and collected pilot data for ecosystem function studies in riparian zones there.

Conceptual and Theoretical Foundations.
Working in collaboration with Drs. K. Jax and C.G. Jones, we have abstracted the major axes that determine the identity of ecological units that can improve comparisons in time and space.

Buell-Small Succession Study.
Post-agricultural plant community succession is being studied in permanent plots in central New Jersey. Research to expose new patterns of change in successional communities is being conducted with IES Visiting Scientist Dr. S. Bartha, and Drs. M.L. Cadenasso, S.J. Meiners, and P.J. Morin.

Selected Publications

• Pickett, S.T.A., M.L. Cadenasso, and S. Bartha. 2001. Implications from the Buell-Small Succession Study for vegetation restoration. Applied Vegetation Science 4:41-52.
• Pickett, S.T.A., M.L. Cadenasso, J.M. Grove, C.H. Nilon, R.V. Pouyat, W.C.Zipperer, and R. Costanza. 2001. Urban Ecological Systems: Linkingterrestrial ecological, physical, and socioeconomic components ofmetropolitan areas. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 32:127-157.
• Meiners, S. J., S.T.A. Pickett, and M.L. Cadenasso. 2001. Effects of plant invasions on the species richness of abandoned agricultural land. Ecography 24:633-644.
• Weathers, K.C., M.L. Cadenasso, and S.T.A. Pickett. 2001. Forest edges as nutrient and pollutant concentrators: Potential synergisms between fragmentation, forest canopies, and the atmosphere. Conservation Biology 15(6):1506-1514.
• Pickett, S.T.A. Why is public understanding of urban ecosystems important to science and scientists? In A.R. Berkowitz, C.H. Nilon, and K.S. Holweg, eds. A New Frontier for Science and Education. Springer-Verlag, New York, In Press.