Sandra R. Holden, Ph.D.

All Publications

• Source signatures from combined isotopic analyses of PM2.5 carbonaceous and nitrogen aerosols at the peri-urban Taehwa Research Forest, South Korea in summer and fall SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT Lim, S., Lee, M., Czimczik, C. I., Joo, T., Holden, S., Mouteva, G., Santos, G. M., Xu, X., Walker, J., Kim, S., Kim, H., Kim, S., Lee, S. 2019; 655: 1505–14

  Abstract

  Isotopes are essential tools to apportion major sources of aerosols. We measured the radiocarbon, stable carbon, and stable nitrogen isotopic composition of PM2.5 at Taehwa Research Forest (TRF) near Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) during August-October 2014. PM2.5, TC, and TN concentrations were 19.4 ± 10.1 μg m-3, 2.6 ± 0.8 μg C m-3, and 1.4 ± 1.4 μg N m-3, respectively. The δ13C of TC and the δ15N of TN were - 25.4 ± 0.7‰ and 14.6 ± 3.8‰, respectively. EC was dominated by fossil-fuel sources with Fff (EC) of 78 ± 7%. In contrast, contemporary sources were dominant for TC with Fc (TC) of 76 ± 7%, revealing the significant contribution of contemporary sources to OC during the growing season. The isotopic signature carries more detailed information on sources depending on air mass trajectories. The urban influence was dominant under stagnant condition, which was in reasonable agreement with the estimated δ15N of NH4+. The low δ15N (7.0 ± 0.2‰) with high TN concentration was apparent in air masses from Shandong province, indicating fossil fuel combustion as major emission source. In contrast, the high δ15N (16.1 ± 3.2‰) with enhanced TC/TN ratio reveals the impact of biomass burning in the air transported from the far eastern border region of China and Russia. Our findings highlight that the multi-isotopic composition is a useful tool to identify emission sources and to trace regional sources of carbonaceous and nitrogen aerosols.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.157

  View details for Web of Science ID 000455034600145

  View details for PubMedID 30577141

• Smoke radiocarbon measurements from Indonesian fires provide evidence for burning of millennia-aged peat PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Wiggins, E. B., Czimczik, C. I., Santos, G. M., Chen, Y., Xu, X., Holden, S. R., Randerson, J. T., Harvey, C. F., Kai, F., Yu, L. E. 2018; 115 (49): 12419–24

  Abstract

  In response to a strong El Niño, fires in Indonesia during September and October 2015 released a large amount of carbon dioxide and created a massive regional smoke cloud that severely degraded air quality in many urban centers across Southeast Asia. Although several lines of evidence indicate that peat burning was a dominant contributor to emissions in the region, El Niño-induced drought is also known to increase deforestation fires and agricultural waste burning in plantations. As a result, uncertainties remain with respect to partitioning emissions among different ecosystem and fire types. Here we measured the radiocarbon content (14C) of carbonaceous aerosol samples collected in Singapore from September 2014 through October 2015, with the aim of identifying the age and origin of fire-emitted fine particulate matter (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm). The Δ14C of fire-emitted aerosol was -76 ± 51‰, corresponding to a carbon pool of combusted organic matter with a mean turnover time of 800 ± 420 y. Our observations indicated that smoke plumes reaching Singapore originated primarily from peat burning (∼85%), and not from deforestation fires or waste burning. Atmospheric transport modeling confirmed that fires in Sumatra and Borneo were dominant contributors to elevated PM2.5 in Singapore during the fire season. The mean age of the carbonaceous aerosol, which predates the Industrial Revolution, highlights the importance of improving peatland fire management during future El Niño events for meeting climate mitigation and air quality commitments.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1806003115

  View details for Web of Science ID 000452124700040

  View details for PubMedID 30455288

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC6298069

• Fire severity influences the response of soil microbes to a boreal forest fire ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS Holden, S. R., Rogers, B. M., Treseder, K. K., Randerson, J. T. 2016; 11 (3)

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/11/3/035004

  View details for Web of Science ID 000373401400032

• Decreases in soil moisture and organic matter quality suppress microbial decomposition following a boreal forest fire SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY Holden, S. R., Berhe, A. A., Treseder, K. K. 2015; 87: 1-9

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.04.005

  View details for Web of Science ID 000357244300001

• Quantifying fire-wide carbon emissions in interior Alaska using field measurements and Landsat imagery JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES Rogers, B. M., Veraverbeke, S., Azzari, G., Czimczik, C. I., Holden, S. R., Mouteva, G. O., Sedano, F., Treseder, K. K., Randerson, J. T. 2014; 119 (8): 1608-1629

  View details for DOI 10.1002/2014JG002657

  View details for Web of Science ID 000342993200009

• Factors affecting host range in a generalist seed pathogen of semi-arid shrublands PLANT ECOLOGY Beckstead, J., Meyer, S. E., Reinhart, K. O., Bergen, K. M., Holden, S. R., Boekweg, H. F. 2014; 215 (4): 427-440

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s11258-014-0313-3

  View details for Web of Science ID 000333052400006

• A meta-analysis of soil microbial biomass responses to forest disturbances FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY Holden, S. R., Treseder, K. K. 2013; 4

  Abstract

  Climate warming is likely to increase the frequency and severity of forest disturbances, with uncertain consequences for soil microbial communities and their contribution to ecosystem C dynamics. To address this uncertainty, we conducted a meta-analysis of 139 published soil microbial responses to forest disturbances. These disturbances included abiotic (fire, harvesting, storm) and biotic (insect, pathogen) disturbances. We hypothesized that soil microbial biomass would decline following forest disturbances, but that abiotic disturbances would elicit greater reductions in microbial biomass than biotic disturbances. In support of this hypothesis, across all published studies, disturbances reduced soil microbial biomass by an average of 29.4%. However, microbial responses differed between abiotic and biotic disturbances. Microbial responses were significantly negative following fires, harvest, and storms (48.7, 19.1, and 41.7% reductions in microbial biomass, respectively). In contrast, changes in soil microbial biomass following insect infestation and pathogen-induced tree mortality were non-significant, although biotic disturbances were poorly represented in the literature. When measured separately, fungal and bacterial responses to disturbances mirrored the response of the microbial community as a whole. Changes in microbial abundance following disturbance were significantly positively correlated with changes in microbial respiration. We propose that the differential effect of abiotic and biotic disturbances on microbial biomass may be attributable to differences in soil disruption and organic C removal from forests among disturbance types. Altogether, these results suggest that abiotic forest disturbances may significantly decrease soil microbial abundance, with corresponding consequences for microbial respiration. Further studies are needed on the effect of biotic disturbances on forest soil microbial communities and soil C dynamics.

  View details for DOI 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00163

  View details for Web of Science ID 000331176300001

  View details for PubMedID 23801985

• Fungal Carbon Sequestration SCIENCE Treseder, K. K., Holden, S. R. 2013; 339 (6127): 1528-1529

  View details for Web of Science ID 000316731600026

  View details for PubMedID 23539585

• Changes in Soil Fungal Communities, Extracellular Enzyme Activities, and Litter Decomposition Across a Fire Chronosequence in Alaskan Boreal Forests ECOSYSTEMS Holden, S. R., Gutierrez, A., Treseder, K. K. 2013; 16 (1): 34-46

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s10021-012-9594-3

  View details for Web of Science ID 000314024900003

• The effect of fire on microbial biomass: a meta-analysis of field studies BIOGEOCHEMISTRY Dooley, S. R., Treseder, K. K. 2012; 109 (1-3): 49-61

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s10533-011-9633-8

  View details for Web of Science ID 000303377800005

• Evidence for Different Contributions of Archaea and Bacteria to the Ammonia-Oxidizing Potential of Diverse Oregon Soils APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY Taylor, A. E., Zeglin, L. H., Dooley, S., Myrold, D. D., Bottomley, P. J. 2010; 76 (23): 7691-7698

  Abstract

  A method was developed to determine the contributions of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) to the nitrification potentials (NPs) of soils taken from forest, pasture, cropped, and fallowed (19 years) lands. Soil slurries were exposed to acetylene to irreversibly inactivate ammonia monooxygenase, and upon the removal of acetylene, the recovery of nitrification potential (RNP) was monitored in the presence and absence of bacterial or eukaryotic protein synthesis inhibitors. For unknown reasons, and despite measureable NPs, RNP did not occur consistently in forest soil samples; however, pasture, cropped, and fallowed soil RNPs commenced after lags that ranged from 12 to 30 h after acetylene removal. Cropped soil RNP was completely prevented by the bacterial protein synthesis inhibitor kanamycin (800 μg/ml), whereas a combination of kanamycin plus gentamicin (800 μg/ml each) only partially prevented the RNP (60%) of fallowed soils. Pasture soil RNP was completely insensitive to either kanamycin, gentamicin, or a combination of the two. Unlike cropped soil, pasture and fallowed soil RNPs occurred at both 30°C and 40°C and without supplemental NH(4)(+) (≤ 10 μM NH(4)(+) in solution), and pasture soil RNP demonstrated ∼ 50% insensitivity to 100 μM allyl thiourea (ATU). In addition, fallowed and pasture soil RNPs were insensitive to the fungal inhibitors nystatin and azoxystrobin. This combination of properties suggests that neither fungi nor AOB contributed to pasture soil RNP and that AOA were responsible for the RNP of the pasture soils. Both AOA and AOB may contribute to RNP in fallowed soil, while RNP in cropped soils was dominated by AOB.

  View details for DOI 10.1128/AEM.01324-10

  View details for Web of Science ID 000284310500003

  View details for PubMedID 20889792

• Characterizing the interaction between a fungal seed pathogen and a deleterious rhizobacterium for biological control of cheatgrass BIOLOGICAL CONTROL Dooley, S. R., Beckstead, J. 2010; 53 (2): 197-203

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2009.12.007

  View details for Web of Science ID 000275806200008