DAVID D. BRISKE

Professor
Ecosystem Science and Management

Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
Texas A&M University
TAMU 2138
College Station, TX 77843-2138
Office: 328 Animal Industries Bldg. (map)
Phone: 979.845.5581
Fax: 979.845.6430
Email: dbriske@tamu.edu
Department Web page

Academic Activities:

The broad goals of Dr. Briske’s research program are to 1) provide an ecological foundation for the design and evaluation of ecosystem assessment protocols and management strategies, 2) evaluate the ecological impacts of major global change drivers by linking responses of individual plant traits to ecosystem processes, and 3) increase adoption of science-based information in policy and management decisions targeting rangeland ecosystems. Current research emphasizes plant functional types, ecosystem assessment protocols, and global change biology. Development of protocols to categorize multispecies plant communities into plant functional types is intended to promote both understanding and prediction of vegetation-ecosystem feedbacks in response to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Construction of quantitative models of non-equilibrium ecosystem behavior based upon long-term ecological data is anticipated to strengthen the foundation of resilience-based ecosystem management. Investigation of contrasting plant traits to the global change drivers of altered precipitation patterns and atmospheric warming emphasize the mechanistic understanding of ecosystem processes to various global change scenarios.

Dr. Briske’s teaching activities parallel his research program and include involvement in both undergraduate and graduate courses. Students are presented with a synthesis of the current literature that integrates theoretical and applied ecology within a contemporary societal context. Current course offerings are RENR 205 Fundamentals of Ecology, RLEM 316 Communities and Ecosystems, and ESSM 621 Physiological Plant Ecology.

Synergistic activities include service as editor-in-chief of Rangeland Ecology and Management an international academic journal dedicated to the communication of science-based information for global rangeland stewardship. Dr. Briske also serves as academic advisor to a USDA initiative established to evaluate scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of major conservation programs implemented on rangelands in the US.

Disciplines: Physiological ecology, plant ecology and ecosystem science

Selected publications:

Knapp, A.K., C. Beier, D.D. Briske, A.T. Classen, Y. Luo, M. Reichstein, M.D. Smith, S.D. Smith, J.E. Bell, P.A. Fay, J.L. Heisler, S.W. Leavitt, R. Sherry, B. Smith and E. Weng. 2008. Consequences of more extreme precipitation regimes for terrestrial ecosystems. BioScience 58:811-821.

Briske, D.D., B.T. Bestelmeyer, T.K. Stringham, and P.L. Shaver. 2008. Recommendations for development of resilience-based state-and-transition models. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 61:359-367.

Briske, D.D., J.D. Derner, J.R. Brown, S.D. Fuhlendorf, W.R. Teague, K.M. Havstad, R.L. Gillen, A.J. Ash, and    W.D. Willms. 2008. Rotational grazing on rangelands: reconciliation of perception and experimental evidence. Rangeland Ecology and Management 61:3-17.

Monson, R.K, N. Trahan, T.N. Rosenstiel, P. Veres, D. Moore, M. Wilkinson, R.J. Norby, A. Volder, M.G., Tjoelker, D.D. Briske, D.F. Karnosky and R. Fall. 2007. Isoprene emission from terrestrial ecosystems in response to global change: minding the gap between models and observations. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 365:1677-1695.

Briske, D.D., S.D. Fuhlendorf and F.E. Smeins. 2003. Vegetation dynamics on rangelands: a critique of the current paradigms. Journal of Applied Ecology 40:601-614.