Matson Biogeochemical Research Laboratory
Dept. of Geological and Environmental Sciences
School of Earth Sciences
Stanford University
Our group studies biogeochemical and ecological processes in forest and agricultural systems. In particular, much of our research focuses on the effects of land use change and other human caused changes on biogeochemical processes and trace gas exchanges in tropical ecosystems. In the past, most of our work was at the interface between terrestrial ecology, soil science and atmospheric science. For example, we used our knowledge of variations in soils and forest ecosystem processes to develop an ecologically based global budget for the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, and we carried out research showing how land use change and agricultural intensification in the tropics contributes to the increasing atmospheric concentration of trace gases.
Our current research carries on that work, but also addresses the links between development and environment, focusing primarily on agricultural and other land use issues in the Yaqui Basin, Sonora, Mexico. With our collaborators, including hydrologists, geographers, economists and agronomists, we carry out interdisciplinary studies of intensive agricultural fertilization and other land use changes in the tightly linked land-coast-sea system. Our goal is to understand processes that link components of the system, and develop tools and approaches that allow managers to make sustainable choices in development and resource use across the entire Valley.
Green Earth Science
Building, Rm.354,
Stanford, CA 94305-2115
Phone: 650-725-5119
Questions or Comments? Email:
Peter Jewett