Forests are invaluable for their roles in biodiversity protection and climate regulation. Global change is impacting forests worldwide, and understanding such changes will be critical to forest conservation and climate protection efforts.
Projects and Stories
Recent Publications
Role of tree size in moist tropical forest carbon cycling and water deficit responses, 2017
Vulnerability to forest loss through altered post-fire recovery dynamics in a warming climate in the Klamath Mountain, 2017
Research Focus
I specialize in forest ecosystem ecology, global change ecology, and climate protection through forest conservation. My approach combines data synthesis and analysis, quantitative ecology, and field research and focuses on understanding how climate — and climate change — shape ecosystems, and how ecosystems in turn regulate climate. I lead the ForestGEO Ecosystems & Climate Research Program for the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO), leveraging this unique global forest monitoring network to understand forest responses and feedbacks to climate. Research themes include carbon cycling in forests worldwide, forest disturbance and recovery dynamics under a changing climate, and valuing forests for their climate regulation services.
Prospective interns and fellows please note: I am based at the Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute and unable to mentor in Panama.
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Research Overview
How does climate influence carbon cycling across forests worldwide?
Forests influence climate in part through their key role in the global carbon cycle. Kristina’s interests include how carbon cycling in forests is influenced by factors such as forest age and climate. To get at this, she leverages data from the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) and the Global Forest Carbon database (ForC). ForC-db, which Kristina’s lab has created and maintains, is the largest and most comprehensive global database of forest carbon stocks and annual fluxes in existence.
How does tree size mediate forest ecosystem functioning and climate responses?
Trees of different size respond differently to variation in environmental conditions; for example, research in Kristina’s lab has shown that larger trees tend to suffer more during drought in forests worldwide. Understanding and predicting forest ecosystem responses to climatic variation and change therefore requires understanding how trees of different size contribute to ecosystem functioning and how they respond to environmental variation. Kristina’s research team uses data from the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) to address these questions.
How is climate change impacting forest disturbances and subsequent recovery?
Climate change and other anthropogenic pressures are altering both the frequency and intensity of a variety of types of forest disturbances (for example, droughts, fire, insect pest/pathogen outbreaks) and the dynamics of forest recovery following disturbance. In some cases, this can dramatically impact forest ecosystems and landscapes, with important consequences for biodiversity and climate feedbacks. Kristina’s research on this theme has included forest responses to drought, climatic effects on forest succession, climate change responses of fire-prone forested landscapes, and fine-scale patterns of tree mortality.
How valuable are forests for climate regulation?
The Earth's climate is strongly regulated by forests; clearing just 100 square feet of forest has roughly the same effect on climate as driving across the continental US. There is growing recognition of forest protection as an effective strategy for climate change mitigation, and designing effective climate mitigation policies requires accurate quantification of the climate services of terrestrial ecosystems. Kristina has developed framework for quantifying the climate-regulating value of ecosystems and is currently building an online tool to provide location-specific estimates of ecosystem climate regulation services.
Education
Ph.D. Biology (with distinction). 2007. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
B.S. Biology (H) cum laude. 2002. Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.
Selected Publications
Piponiot, C., K. J. Anderson-Teixeira, S. J. Davies, D. Allen, N. A. Bourg, D. F. R. P. Burslem, D. Cárdenas, C.-H. Chang-Yang, G. Chuyong, S. Cordell, H. S. Dattaraja, Á. Duque, S. Ediriweera, C. Ewango, Z. Ezedin, J. Filip, C. P. Giardina, R. Howe, C.-F. Hsieh, S. P. Hubbell, F. M. Inman-Narahari, A. Itoh, D. Janík, D. Kenfack, K. Král, J. A. Lutz, J.-R. Makana, S. M. McMahon, W. McShea, X. Mi, M. Bt. Mohamad, V. Novotný, M. J. O’Brien, R. Ostertag, G. Parker, R. Pérez, H. Ren, G. Reynolds, M. D. Md Sabri, L. Sack, A. Shringi, S.-H. Su, R. Sukumar, I.-F. Sun, H. S. Suresh, D. W. Thomas, J. Thompson, M. Uriarte, J. Vandermeer, Y. Wang, I. M. Ware, G. D. Weiblen, T. J. S. Whitfeld, A. Wolf, T. L. Yao, M. Yu, Z. Yuan, J. K. Zimmerman, D. Zuleta, and H. C. Muller-Landau. 2022. Distribution of biomass dynamics in relation to tree size in forests across the world. New Phytologist n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17995
Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J., Herrmann, Valentine, Rollinson, Christine R., Gonzalez, Bianca, Gonzalez-Akre, Erika B., Pederson, Neil, Alexander, M. Ross, Allen, Craig D., Alfaro-Sanchez, Raquel, Awada, Tala, Baltzer, Jennifer L., Baker, Patrick J., Birch, Joseph D., Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh, Cherubini, Paolo, Davies, Stuart J., Dow, Cameron, Helcoski, Ryan, Kaspar, Jakub, Lutz, James A., Margolis, Ellis Q., Maxwell, Justin T., McMahon, Sean M., Piponiot, Camille, Russo, Sabrina E., et al. 2022. Joint effects of climate, tree size, and year on annual tree growth derived from tree-ring records of ten globally distributed forests. Global Change Biology, 28(1): 245-266. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15934
Gonzalez-Akre, E., C. Piponiot, M. Lepore, V. Herrmann, J. A. Lutz, J. L. Baltzer, C. Dick, G. S. Gilbert, F. He, M. Heym, A. I. Huerta, P. Jansen, D. J. Johnson, N. Knapp, K. Kral, D. Lin, Y. Malhi, S. McMahon, J. A. Myers, D. Orwig, D. I. Rodríguez-Hernández, S. Russo, J. Shue, X. Wang, A. Wolf, T. Yang, S. J. Davies, and K. J. Anderson-Teixeira. (n.d.). allodb: An R package for biomass estimation at globally distributed extratropical forest plots. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 13(2):330-338. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13756
Anderson‐Teixeira, K., Herrmann, V., Banbury Morgan, R., Bond‐Lamberty, B. P., Cook‐Patton, S. C., Ferson, A. E., Muller‐Landau, H. C., & Wang, M. M. H.(2021). Carbon cycling in mature and regrowth forests globally. Environmental Research Letters, 16 053009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abed01.
Anderson-Teixeira, K. J., V. Herrmann, W. B. Cass, A. B. Williams, S. J. Paull, E. B. Gonzalez-Akre, R. Helcoski, A. J. Tepley, N. A. Bourg, C. T. Cosma, A. E. Ferson, C. Kittle, V. Meakem, I. R. McGregor, M. N. Prestipino, M. K. Scott, A. R. Terrell, A. Alonso, F. Dallmeier, and W. J. McShea. 2021. Long-Term Impacts of Invasive Insects and Pathogens on Composition, Biomass, and Diversity of Forests in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Ecosystems 24 (89-105). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00503-w
Banbury Morgan R, Herrmann V, Kunert N, Bond-Lamberty B, Muller-Landau H C and Anderson-Teixeira K J. (2021) Global patterns of forest autotrophic carbon fluxes. Global Change Biology, 27 (12) 2840-2855. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15574 .
Davies, S. J., I. Abiem, K. Abu Salim, S. Aguilar, D. Allen, A. Alonso, K. Anderson-Teixeira, A. Andrade, G. Arellano, P. S. Ashton, P. J. Baker, M. E. Baker, J. L. Baltzer, Y. Basset, P. Bissiengou, S. Bohlman, N. A. Bourg, W. Y. Brockelman, S. Bunyavejchewin, D. F. R. P. Burslem, M. Cao, D. Cárdenas, L.-W. Chang, C.-H. Chang-Yang, K.-J. Chao, W.-C. Chao, H. Chapman, Y.-Y. Chen, R. A. Chisholm, C. Chu, G. Chuyong, K. Clay, L. S. Comita, R. Condit, S. Cordell, H. S. Dattaraja, A. A. de Oliveira, J. den Ouden, M. Detto, C. Dick, X. Du, Á. Duque, S. Ediriweera, E. C. Ellis, N. L. E. Obiang, S. Esufali, C. E. N. Ewango, E. S. Fernando, J. Filip, G. A. Fischer, R. Foster, T. Giambelluca, C. Giardina, G. S. Gilbert, E. Gonzalez-Akre, I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke, C. V. S. Gunatilleke, Z. Hao, B. C. H. Hau, F. He, H. Ni, R. W. Howe, S. P. Hubbell, A. Huth, F. Inman-Narahari, A. Itoh, D. Janík, P. A. Jansen, M. Jiang, D. J. Johnson, F. A. Jones, M. Kanzaki, D. Kenfack, S. Kiratiprayoon, K. Král, L. Krizel, S. Lao, A. J. Larson, Y. Li, X. Li, C. M. Litton, Y. Liu, S. Liu, S. K. Y. Lum, M. S. Luskin, J. A. Lutz, H. T. Luu, K. Ma, J.-R. Makana, Y. Malhi, A. Martin, C. McCarthy, S. M. McMahon, W. J. McShea, H. Memiaghe, X. Mi, D. Mitre, M. Mohamad, L. Monks, H. C. Muller-Landau, P. M. Musili, J. A. Myers, A. Nathalang, K. M. Ngo, N. Norden, V. Novotny, M. J. O’Brien, D. Orwig, R. Ostertag, K. Papathanassiou, G. G. Parker, R. Pérez, I. Perfecto, R. P. Phillips, N. Pongpattananurak, H. Pretzsch, H. Ren, G. Reynolds, L. J. Rodriguez, S. E. Russo, L. Sack, W. Sang, J. Shue, A. Singh, G.-Z. M. Song, R. Sukumar, I.-F. Sun, H. S. Suresh, N. G. Swenson, S. Tan, S. C. Thomas, D. Thomas, J. Thompson, B. L. Turner, A. Uowolo, M. Uriarte, R. Valencia, J. Vandermeer, A. Vicentini, M. Visser, T. Vrska, X. Wang, X. Wang, G. D. Weiblen, T. J. S. Whitfeld, A. Wolf, S. J. Wright, H. Xu, T. L. Yao, S. L. Yap, W. Ye, M. Yu, M. Zhang, D. Zhu, L. Zhu, J. K. Zimmerman, and D. Zuleta. 2021. ForestGEO: Understanding forest diversity and dynamics through a global observatory network. Biological Conservation 253:108907.
Kunert, N., J. Zailaa, V. Herrmann, H. C. Muller‐Landau, S. J. Wright, R. Pérez, S. M. McMahon, R. C. Condit, S. P. Hubbell, L. Sack, S. J. Davies, and K. J. Anderson‐Teixeira. 2021. Leaf turgor loss point shapes local and regional distributions of evergreen but not deciduous tropical trees. New Phytologist, 230: 485-496. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17187
McGregor, I. R., R. Helcoski, N. Kunert, A. J. Tepley, E. B. Gonzalez‐Akre, V. Herrmann, J. Zailaa, A. E. L. Stovall, N. A. Bourg, W. J. McShea, N. Pederson, L. Sack, and K. J. Anderson‐Teixeira. 2021. Tree height and leaf drought tolerance traits shape growth responses across droughts in a temperate broadleaf forest. New Phytologist 231(2):601-616. DOI: 10.1111/nph.16996
Muller‐Landau, H. C., K. C. Cushman, E. E. Arroyo, I. Martinez Cano, K. J. Anderson‐Teixeira, and B. Backiel. 2020. Patterns and mechanisms of spatial variation in tropical forest productivity, woody residence time, and biomass. New Phytologist.
Cook-Patton S C, Leavitt S M, Gibbs D, Harris N L, Lister K, Anderson-Teixeira K J, Briggs R D, Chazdon R L, Crowther T W, Ellis P W, Griscom H P, Herrmann V, Holl K D, Houghton R A, Larrosa C, Lomax G, Lucas R, Madsen P, Malhi Y, Paquette A, Parker J D, Paul K, Routh D, Roxburgh S, Saatchi S, Hoogen J van den, Walker W S, Wheeler C E, Wood S A, Xu L and Griscom B W 2020 Mapping carbon accumulation potential from global natural forest regrowth Nature 585 545–50
Walker, A. P., M. G. D. Kauwe, A. Bastos, S. Belmecheri, K. Georgiou, R. Keeling, S. M. McMahon, B. E. Medlyn, D. J. P. Moore, R. J. Norby, S. Zaehle, K. J. Anderson‐Teixeira, G. Battipaglia, R. J. W. Brienen, K. G. Cabugao, M. Cailleret, E. Campbell, J. Canadell, P. Ciais, M. E. Craig, D. Ellsworth, G. Farquhar, S. Fatichi, J. B. Fisher, D. Frank, H. Graven, L. Gu, V. Haverd, K. Heilman, M. Heimann, B. A. Hungate, C. M. Iversen, F. Joos, M. Jiang, T. F. Keenan, J. Knauer, C. Körner, V. O. Leshyk, S. Leuzinger, Y. Liu, N. MacBean, Y. Malhi, T. McVicar, J. Penuelas, J. Pongratz, A. S. Powell, T. Riutta, M. E. B. Sabot, J. Schleucher, S. Sitch, W. K. Smith, B. Sulman, B. Taylor, C. Terrer, M. S. Torn, K. Treseder, A. T. Trugman, S. E. Trumbore, P. J. van Mantgem, S. L. Voelker, M. E. Whelan, and P. A. Zuidema. 2020. Integrating the evidence for a terrestrial carbon sink caused by increasing atmospheric CO2. The New Phytologist, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16866
McDowell, N. G., C. D. Allen, K. Anderson-Teixeira, B. H. Aukema, B. Bond-Lamberty, L. Chini, J. S. Clark, M. Dietze, C. Grossiord, A. Hanbury-Brown, G. C. Hurtt, R. B. Jackson, D. J. Johnson, L. Kueppers, J. W. Lichstein, K. Ogle, B. Poulter, T. A. M. Pugh, R. Seidl, M. G. Turner, M. Uriarte, A. P. Walker, and C. Xu. 2020. Pervasive shifts in forest dynamics in a changing world. Science, 368(6494). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz9463
Goldstein, A., Turner, W. R., Spawn, S. A., Anderson-Teixeira, K. J., Cook-Patton, S., Fargione, J., Gibbs, H. K., Griscom, B., Hewson, J. H., Howard, J. F., Ledezma, J. C., Page, S., Koh, L. P., Rockström, J., Sanderman, J., & Hole, D. G. (2020). Protecting irrecoverable carbon in Earth’s ecosystems. Nature Climate Change, 1–9.
Requena Suarez, D., D. M. A. Rozendaal, V. D. Sy, O. L. Phillips, E. Alvarez‐Dávila, K. Anderson‐Teixeira, A. Araujo‐Murakami, L. Arroyo, T. R. Baker, F. Bongers, R. J. W. Brienen, S. Carter, S. C. Cook‐Patton, T. R. Feldpausch, B. W. Griscom, N. Harris, B. Hérault, E. N. H. Coronado, S. M. Leavitt, S. L. Lewis, B. S. Marimon, A. M. Mendoza, J. K. N’dja, A. E. N’Guessan, L. Poorter, L. Qie, E. Rutishauser, P. Sist, B. Sonké, M. J. P. Sullivan, E. Vilanova, M. M. H. Wang, C. Martius, and M. Herold. (n.d.). Estimating aboveground net biomass change for tropical and subtropical forests: refinement of IPCC default rates using forest plot data. Global Change Biology, 25(11), 3609-3624. DOI: 10.1111/nph.15906
Helcoski, R., Tepley, A. J., Pederson, N., McGarvey, J. C., Meakem, V., Herrmann, V., Thompson, J. R., & Anderson-Teixeira, K. J. (2019). Growing season moisture drives inter-annual variation in woody productivity of a temperate deciduous forest. New Phytologist, 223(3):1204-1216 . DOI: 10.1111/nph.15906
Miller, A. D., J. R. Thompson, A. J. Tepley, and K. J. Anderson‐Teixeira. (2019). Alternative stable equilibria and critical thresholds created by fire regimes and plant responses in a fire-prone community. Ecography 42(1):55-66. DOI: 10.1111/ecog.03491
Anderson-Teixeira, K. J., M. M. H. Wang, J. C. McGarvey, V. Herrmann, A. J. Tepley, B. P. Bond-Lamberty, and D. S. LeBauer (2018). ForC: a global database of forest carbon stocks and fluxes. Ecology 99(6), 1507-1507. DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2229.
McDowell, N., C. Allen, K. Anderson-Teixeira, P. Brando, R. Brienen, J. Chambers, B. Christoffersen, S. Davies, C. Doughty, A. Duque, F. D. B. Espirito-Santo, R. Fisher, C. G. Fontes, D. Galbraith, D. Goodsman, C. Grossiord, D. Johnson, H. Hartmann, J. Holm, A. R. Kassim, M. Keller, C. Koven, L. Kueppers, T. Kumagai, H. C. Muller-Landau, Y. Malhi, S. McMahon, M. Mencuccini, P. Meir, P. Moorcroft, O. L. Phillips, T. Powell, C. A. Sierra, J. Sperry, J. M. Warren, C. Xu, and X. Xu. (2018) Drivers and mechanisms of tree mortality in moist tropical forests. New Phytologist . DOI: 10.1111/nph.15027.