Publications

Showing 97 results for Author: Melanie A. Mayes

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Jul, 2026

Journal

Implementing belowground controls on nutrient uptake in ELMv2-SPRUCE improves representation of a boreal peatland ecosystem

Boreal peatlands store 13 %–32 % of the global soil carbon (C) stock, a service dependent on plant-mycorrhizal fungi associations. In these nutrient poor systems, ectomycorrhizal and ericoid mycorrhizal fungi supply up to >80 % of the nutrient requirements of their plant hosts, partly with mined nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from soil organic matter that are otherwise in…
Jul, 2026

Journal

Coupling of high-resolution mass spectrometer and photosynthesis system for comprehensive leaf volatile metabolite profiling

Background: Leaf-level biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) emissions represent a major source of organic gases in the atmosphere, influencing both climate and air quality. These emissions are strongly driven by environmental perturbations, which affect individual plant- to ecosystem-level processes. Uncovering all the BVOCs and understanding how their emissions res…
Feb, 2026

Journal

Evaluating ecosystem water use efficiency and recovery dynamics during flash droughts: insights from observations and model simulations

Flash droughts (FD), rapidly emerging in a warming future, disrupt ecosystems, agriculture, and water security. Ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE), the ratio of gross primary production (GPP) to actual evapotranspiration (AET), balances carbon assimilation and water loss. FD rapidly disrupts this balance, making WUE critical for assessing plant stress and recovery. This…
Jan, 2026

ORNL Report

Atmospheric Gases as Quantitative Indicators of Urbanization Across Land-Use Gradients

The urban heat island (UHI) effect is a significant phenomenon characterized by higher surface temperatures in cities compared to surrounding rural areas. This change in the Earth's energy balance presents considerable challenges for urban populations, increasing heat exposure, straining energy infrastructure, and exacerbating health vulnerabilities. Quantifying UHI intens…
Dec, 2025

Journal

Measurement report: Extreme heat and wildfire emissions enhance volatile organic compounds in a temperate forest

Climate extremes are projected to cause unprecedented deviations in the emission and transformation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which trigger feedback mechanisms that will impact the atmospheric oxidation and formation of aerosols and clouds. However, the response of VOCs to future conditions such as extreme heat and wildfire events is still uncertain. This study…
Nov, 2025

Journal

Measurement report: Extreme heat and wildfire emissions enhance volatile organic compounds in a temperate forest

Climate extremes are projected to cause unprecedented deviations in the emission and transformation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which trigger feedback mechanisms that will impact the atmospheric oxidation and formation of aerosols and clouds. However, the response of VOCs to future conditions such as extreme heat and wildfire events is still uncertain. This study…
Sep, 2025

Journal

Which plant traits increase soil carbon sequestration? Empirical evidence from a long-term poplar genetic diversity trial

Plants play a key role in mediating soil response to global change, and breeding or engineering crops to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) storage is a potential route to land-based carbon dioxide removal in agricultural systems. However, due to limited observational datasets plus shifting paradigms of SOC stabilization, it is unclear which plant traits are most important…
Jun, 2025

Journal

The Freundlich isotherm equation best represents phosphate sorption across soil orders and land use types in tropical soils of Puerto Rico

Biomass production in the lowland wet tropical forest is greater than in any other biome, and it is typically limited by soil phosphorus (P) availability. However, the mechanisms involved in the P cycle remain poorly represented in Earth System Models (ESMs). Soil P sorption processes are key in the P cycle and for understanding the extent of P limitation for plant product…
May, 2025

Journal

Mobilization of Mercury from Contaminated Creekbank Soils

The industrial-scale production and use of mercury (Hg) has resulted in numerous Hg-contaminated watersheds globally. The Oak Ridge Reservation (Tennessee, USA) is an example of a site where industrial use of Hg until the 1960’s led to significant contamination of the East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC) watershed and the buildup of large Hg inventories in creek banks and floodpl…
May, 2025

Journal

Interrelationships among methods of estimating microbial biomass across multiple soil orders and biomes

Understanding the role of soil microbes is critical to ecosystem processes, and more thorough comparisons of measurement proxies for soil microbial biomass could broaden the inclusion of explicit microbial parameterization in soil carbon cycling and earth system models. We measured physical, chemical, and biological data from eight soil orders representing 11 major biomes…
May, 2025

Journal

Application of Atmospheric Gases and Particulate Matter to the Assessment of Urban Heat Island

Urban heat island (UHI), where built areas are warmer compared to non-urban regions, increases human related diseases and mortality. A key challenge in UHI analysis is the designation of sites as urban or suburban/rural; however, the growing complexity of green spaces in urban areas and the predominance of the transportation sector in nonurban areas creates a dilemma for d…
Aug, 2024

Journal

Generalizing Microbial Parameters in Soil Biogeochemical Models: Insights From a Multi-Site Incubation Experiment

Incorporating microbial processes into soil biogeochemical models has received growing interest. However, determining the parameters that govern microbially driven biogeochemical processes typically requires case-specific model calibration in various soil and ecosystem types. Here each case refers to an independent and individual experimental unit subjected to repeated mea…

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Publications

Implementing belowground controls on nutrient uptake in ELMv2-SPRUCE improves representation of a boreal peatland ecosystem

Coupling of high-resolution mass spectrometer and photosynthesis system for comprehensive leaf volatile metabolite profiling

Evaluating ecosystem water use efficiency and recovery dynamics during flash droughts: insights from observations and model simulations

Atmospheric Gases as Quantitative Indicators of Urbanization Across Land-Use Gradients

Measurement report: Extreme heat and wildfire emissions enhance volatile organic compounds in a temperate forest

Measurement report: Extreme heat and wildfire emissions enhance volatile organic compounds in a temperate forest

Which plant traits increase soil carbon sequestration? Empirical evidence from a long-term poplar genetic diversity trial

The Freundlich isotherm equation best represents phosphate sorption across soil orders and land use types in tropical soils of Puerto Rico

Mobilization of Mercury from Contaminated Creekbank Soils

Interrelationships among methods of estimating microbial biomass across multiple soil orders and biomes

Application of Atmospheric Gases and Particulate Matter to the Assessment of Urban Heat Island

Generalizing Microbial Parameters in Soil Biogeochemical Models: Insights From a Multi-Site Incubation Experiment