Margaret Torn

Last updated
Margaret Susan Torn
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
Scientific career
InstitutionsLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Thesis Environmental controls over methane flux from ecosystems and the potential for feedbacks with climatic change  (1994)

Margaret Torn is an ecologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory known for her research on carbon cycling, especially with respect to the interactions between soils and the atmosphere.

Contents

Education and career

Torn grew up in Marin county and worked in the family's food business, the Torn Ranch, where they handled nuts and dried fruits. She started college at the College of Marin before transferring to University of California, Berkeley. [1] She earned a B.S. (1984), an M.S. (1990), and a Ph.D. (1994) from the University of California, Berkeley. [2] From 1994 until 1998, Torn was a postdoctoral fellow at University of California Irvine and Stanford University. In 1998, she joined the Earth Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and was promoted to senior scientist in 2013. Beginning in 2018, she is also an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley. [2] In 2015 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich. [3]

In 2017, Torn was named a fellow of the American Geophysical Union who cited her as follows: [4]

For fundamental contributions to understanding soil carbon stabilization and sustained leadership in quantifying feedbacks between the carbon cycle and climate

Research

Torn's research combines observational data and experimental manipulations to examine the impact of changing climate conditions on the carbon cycle, with a focus on the interactions between soils and atmosphere. Torn has experimentally warmed soils and then measured the impact of changing conditions on gas fluxes from the soils. [5] [6] [7] She works on the factors controlling the release of greenhouse gases from the tundra in the north slope of Alaska, [8] [9] [10] [11] how climate change impacts the severity of forest fires, [12] the carbon sequestered in fungi found in soils, [13] and the decomposition of black carbon using archived soil samples from Russia. [14] [15] One theme in her research is assessing the factors that govern the persistence of organic carbon in soil. [16] [17] [18]

Selected publications

Awards and honors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annual plant</span> Plant which completes its life cycle within one growing season and then dies

An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. Globally, only 6% of all plant species and 15% of herbaceous plants are annuals. The annual life cycle has independently emerged in over 120 different plant families throughout the entire angiosperm phylogeny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbon sink</span> Reservoir absorbing more carbon from, than emitting to, the air

A carbon sink is a natural or artificial process that "removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere". These sinks form an important part of the natural carbon cycle. An overarching term is carbon pool, which is all the places where carbon on Earth can be, i.e. the atmosphere, oceans, soil, plants, and so forth. A carbon sink is a type of carbon pool that has the capability to take up more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsh gas</span> Gas produced naturally within marshes, swamps and bogs

Marsh gas, also known as swamp gas or bog gas, is a mixture primarily of methane and smaller amounts of hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and trace phosphine that is produced naturally within some geographical marshes, swamps, and bogs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tundra</span> Biome where plant growth is hindered by frigid temperatures

In physical geography, tundra is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term is a Russian word adapted from Sámi languages. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine tundra, and Antarctic tundra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbon cycle</span> Natural processes of carbon exchange

The carbon cycle is that part of the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component of many minerals such as limestone. The carbon cycle comprises a sequence of events that are key to making Earth capable of sustaining life. It describes the movement of carbon as it is recycled and reused throughout the biosphere, as well as long-term processes of carbon sequestration (storage) to and release from carbon sinks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peat swamp forest</span> Tropical moist forests where waterlogged soil prevents dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing

Peat swamp forests are tropical moist forests where waterlogged soil prevents dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing. Over time, this creates a thick layer of acidic peat. Large areas of these forests are being logged at high rates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microbial loop</span> Trophic pathway in marine microbial ecosystems

The microbial loop describes a trophic pathway where, in aquatic systems, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is returned to higher trophic levels via its incorporation into bacterial biomass, and then coupled with the classic food chain formed by phytoplankton-zooplankton-nekton. In soil systems, the microbial loop refers to soil carbon. The term microbial loop was coined by Farooq Azam, Tom Fenchel et al. in 1983 to include the role played by bacteria in the carbon and nutrient cycles of the marine environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soil carbon</span> Solid carbon stored in global soils

Soil carbon is the solid carbon stored in global soils. This includes both soil organic matter and inorganic carbon as carbonate minerals. It is vital to the soil capacity in our ecosystem. Soil carbon is a carbon sink in regard to the global carbon cycle, playing a role in biogeochemistry, climate change mitigation, and constructing global climate models. Natural variation such as organisms and time has affected the management of carbon in the soils. The major influence has been that of human activities which has caused a massive loss of soil organic carbon. An example of human activity includes fire which destroys the top layer of the soil and the soil therefore get exposed to excessive oxidation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic methane emissions</span> Release of methane from seas and soils in permafrost regions of the Arctic

Arctic methane release is the release of methane from Arctic ocean waters as well as from soils in permafrost regions of the Arctic. While it is a long-term natural process, methane release is exacerbated by global warming. This results in a positive climate change feedback, as methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. The Arctic region is one of many natural sources of methane. Climate change could accelerate methane release in the Arctic, due to the release of methane from existing stores, and from methanogenesis in rotting biomass. When permafrost thaws as a consequence of warming, large amounts of organic material can become available for methanogenesis and may ultimately be released as methane.

Soil gases are the gases found in the air space between soil components. The spaces between the solid soil particles, if they do not contain water, are filled with air. The primary soil gases are nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen. Oxygen is critical because it allows for respiration of both plant roots and soil organisms. Other natural soil gases include nitric oxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and ammonia. Some environmental contaminants below ground produce gas which diffuses through the soil such as from landfill wastes, mining activities, and contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons which produce volatile organic compounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Permafrost carbon cycle</span> Sub-cycle of the larger global carbon cycle

The permafrost carbon cycle or Arctic carbon cycle is a sub-cycle of the larger global carbon cycle. Permafrost is defined as subsurface material that remains below 0o C for at least two consecutive years. Because permafrost soils remain frozen for long periods of time, they store large amounts of carbon and other nutrients within their frozen framework during that time. Permafrost represents a large carbon reservoir, one which was often neglected in the initial research determining global terrestrial carbon reservoirs. Since the start of the 2000s, however, far more attention has been paid to the subject, with an enormous growth both in general attention and in the scientific research output.

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References

  1. ↑ The Carbon Cycle with Margaret Torn, October 13, 2011, retrieved 2021-07-28
  2. 1 2 "Margaret S. Torn". Earth and Environmental Sciences Area. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "Margaret Torn Receives Honorary Doctorate". Earth and Environmental Sciences Area. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  4. ↑ "Torn". Honors Program. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Harte, John; Torn, Margaret S.; Chang, Fang-Ru; Feifarek, Brian; Kinzig, Ann P.; Shaw, Rebecca; Shen, Karin (1995). "Global Warming and Soil Microclimate: Results from a Meadow-Warming Experiment". Ecological Applications. 5 (1): 132–150. Bibcode:1995EcoAp...5..132H. doi:10.2307/1942058. ISSN   1939-5582. JSTOR   1942058.
  6. ↑ Saleska, Scott R.; Harte, JohN; Torn, Margaret S. (1999). "The effect of experimental ecosystem warming on CO2 fluxes in a montane meadow". Global Change Biology. 5 (2): 125–141. Bibcode:1999GCBio...5..125S. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2486.1999.00216.x. ISSN   1365-2486. S2CID   56231360.
  7. ↑ Hicks Pries, Caitlin E.; Castanha, C.; Porras, R. C.; Torn, M. S. (2017-03-31). "The whole-soil carbon flux in response to warming". Science. 355 (6332): 1420–1423. Bibcode:2017Sci...355.1420H. doi:10.1126/science.aal1319. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   28280251. S2CID   206654333.
  8. ↑ Torn, Margaret Susan; Chapin, F.Stuart (1993-01-01). "Environmental and biotic controls over methane flux from Arctic tundra". Chemosphere. 26 (1–4): 357–368. Bibcode:1993Chmsp..26..357T. doi:10.1016/0045-6535(93)90431-4. ISSN   0045-6535.
  9. ↑ Wainwright, Haruko M.; Dafflon, Baptiste; Smith, Lydia J.; Hahn, Melanie S.; Curtis, John B.; Wu, Yuxin; Ulrich, Craig; Peterson, John E.; Torn, Margaret S.; Hubbard, Susan S. (2015). "Identifying multiscale zonation and assessing the relative importance of polygon geomorphology on carbon fluxes in an Arctic tundra ecosystem". Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 120 (4): 788–808. Bibcode:2015JGRG..120..788W. doi: 10.1002/2014JG002799 . ISSN   2169-8961.
  10. ↑ Vaughn, Lydia J. S.; Conrad, Mark E.; Bill, Markus; Torn, Margaret S. (2016). "Isotopic insights into methane production, oxidation, and emissions in Arctic polygon tundra". Global Change Biology. 22 (10): 3487–3502. Bibcode:2016GCBio..22.3487V. doi:10.1111/gcb.13281. ISSN   1365-2486. PMID   26990225. S2CID   36418786.
  11. ↑ Huber, Jennifer (September 12, 2013). "The Great Escape: How Soil Protects Us from Carbon Emissions". KQED. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  12. ↑ Fried, Jeremy S.; Torn, Margaret S.; Mills, Evan (2004-05-01). "The Impact of Climate Change on Wildfire Severity: A Regional Forecast for Northern California". Climatic Change. 64 (1): 169–191. doi:10.1023/B:CLIM.0000024667.89579.ed. ISSN   1573-1480. S2CID   154385611.
  13. ↑ Rillig, Matthias C.; Wright, Sara F.; Nichols, Kristine A.; Schmidt, Walter F.; Torn, Margaret S. (2001-06-01). "Large contribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to soil carbon pools in tropical forest soils". Plant and Soil. 233 (2): 167–177. doi:10.1023/A:1010364221169. ISSN   1573-5036. S2CID   2403693.
  14. ↑ "Berkeley Lab: Did You Ever Wonder?". www2.lbl.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  15. ↑ Torn, Margaret S.; Lapenis, Andrei G.; Timofeev, Anatoly; Fischer, Marc L.; Babikov, Boris V.; Harden, Jennifer W. (2002). "Organic carbon and carbon isotopes in modern and 100-year-old-soil archives of the Russian steppe". Global Change Biology. 8 (10): 941–953. Bibcode:2002GCBio...8..941T. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2486.2002.00477.x . ISSN   1365-2486. S2CID   86254812.
  16. ↑ Schmidt, Michael W. I.; Torn, Margaret S.; Abiven, Samuel; Dittmar, Thorsten; Guggenberger, Georg; Janssens, Ivan A.; Kleber, Markus; Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid; Lehmann, Johannes; Manning, David A. C.; Nannipieri, Paolo (2011). "Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property". Nature. 478 (7367): 49–56. Bibcode:2011Natur.478...49S. doi:10.1038/nature10386. ISSN   1476-4687. PMID   21979045. S2CID   3461265.
  17. ↑ Mikutta, Robert; Kleber, Markus; Torn, Margaret S.; Jahn, Reinhold (2006-01-01). "Stabilization of Soil Organic Matter: Association with Minerals or Chemical Recalcitrance?". Biogeochemistry. 77 (1): 25–56. Bibcode:2006Biogc..77...25M. doi:10.1007/s10533-005-0712-6. ISSN   1573-515X. S2CID   96127027.
  18. ↑ Torn, Margaret S.; Trumbore, Susan E.; Chadwick, Oliver A.; Vitousek, Peter M.; Hendricks, David M. (1997). "Mineral control of soil organic carbon storage and turnover". Nature. 389 (6647): 170–173. Bibcode:1997Natur.389..170T. doi:10.1038/38260. ISSN   1476-4687. S2CID   4408395.
  19. ↑ "Berkeley Lab View -- September 17, 2004". www2.lbl.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  20. ↑ "Berkeley Lab soil scientist Margaret Torn receives Presidential Early Career Award". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  21. ↑ "White House Announces 2003 Awards for Early Career Scientists and Engineers". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  22. ↑ "Torn". Honors Program. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  23. ↑ "Laureates". recognition.lbl.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
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