MBL | The Ecosystems Center
HomeAboutResearchEducationPublicationsStaffIn-HouseMBL
James Tang
JIANWU (JIM) TANG
Assistant Scientist

Tel: 508-289-7162 | Fax: 508-457-1548
E-mail: jtang@mbl.edu

Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 2003
M.S., Peking University, China, 1995
B.S., Peking University, China, 1992

Links: Full CV



Research Statement
I am interested in interdisciplinary research in terrestrial ecosystem ecology, soil-plant-atmosphere interactions, and global change ecology. My research focuses on studying the climate change impact on ecosystem processes and functions, and the feedback of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. Specifically, I use observational, experimental, and modeling approaches to understand and simulate carbon, nutrient, and water cycles between ecosystems and the atmosphere across various scales. My research improves our understanding of future changes in ecosystem dynamics, productivity, and biodiversity. My research can be also applied to evaluate biofuel production, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem management.

I have been studying the ecosystems across the continental U.S., from Mediterranean-type forests and savanna grassland in the Sierra Nevada of California to Northern forests and prairie grassland in the Midwest. My current research focuses on 1) soil respiration, respiration-photosynthesis interaction, and warming and cooling experiments at Harvard Forest in New England; and 2) ecosystem productivity, biodiversity, and biofuel sources.

My lab will include graduate students at Brown University through the Brown-MBL program, and visiting scholars and postdocs from all over the world.



Recent publications:

Tang, J., P.V. Bolstad, A.R. Desai, J.G. Martin, B.D. Cook, K.J. Davis, E.V. Carey, 2008. Ecosystem respiration and its components in an old-growth forest in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 148: 171-185.

Ewers, B.E., D.S. Mackay, J. Tang, P. Bolstad, S. Samanta, 2008. Intercomparison of sugar maple stand transpiration responses to environmental conditions from the western Great Lakes Region of the United States. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 148: 231-246.

Desai, A.R., A.N. Noormets, P.V. Bolstad, J. Chen, B.D. Cook, P.V. Curtis, K.J. Davis, E.S. Euskirchen, C. Gough, J.M. Martin, D.M. Ricciuto, H.P. Schmid, H. Su, J. Tang, C. Vogel, W. Wang, 2008. Influence of vegetation type, stand age and climate on carbon dioxide fluxes across the Upper Midwest, USA: Implications for regional scaling of carbon flux. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 148: 288-308.

Luyssaert S., I. Inglima, M. Jung, A.D. Richardson, M. Reichstein, D. Papale, S.L. Piao, E.D. Schulze, L. Wingate, G. Matteucci, L. Aragao, M. Aubinet, C. Beer, C. Bernhofer, K.G. Black, D. Bonal, J.M. Bonnefond, J. Chambers, P. Ciais, B. Cook, K.J. Davis, A.J. Dolman, B. Gielen, M. Goulden, J. Grace, A. Granier, A. Grelle, T. Griffis, T. Grunwald, G. Guidolotti, P.J. Hanson, R. Harding, D.Y. Hollinger, L.R. Hutyra, P. Kolari, B. Kruijt, W. Kutsch, F. Lagergren, T. Laurila, B. E. Law, G. Le Maire, A. Lindroth, D. Loustau, Y. Malhi, J. Mateus, M. Migliavacca, L. Misson, L. Montagnani, J. Moncrieff, E. Moors, J.W. Munger, E. Nikinmaa, S. V. Ollinger, G. Pita, C. Rebmann, O. Roupsard, N. Saigusa, M. J. Sanz, G. Seufert, C. Sierra, M.-L. Smith, J. Tang, R. Valentini, T. Vesala, and I. A. Janssens, 2007. CO2 balance of boreal, temperate, and tropical forests derived from a global database. Global Change Biology, 13, 2509-2537.

Tang, J., P.V. Bolstad, B.E. Ewers, A.R. Desai, K.J. Davis, E.V. Carey, 2006. Sap-flux- upscaled canopy transpiration, stomatal conductance and water use efficiency in an old-growth forest in the Great Lakes region of United States. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, 111, G02009, doi:10.1029/2005JG000083.

Baldocchi, D.D., J. Tang, L. Xu, 2006. How lags, pulses and switches in biophysical regulators affect spatio-temporal variation of soil respiration in an oak-grass savanna, Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences, 111, G02008, doi:10.1029/2005JG000063.

Misson, L., A. Gershenson, J. Tang, R. Boniello, M. McKay, W. Cheng, A. Goldstein, 2006. Influence of canopy photosynthesis and rain pulses on root dynamics and soil respiration in a young ponderosa pine forest. Tree Physiology, 26, 833-844.

Tang, J., D.D. Baldocchi, L. Xu, 2005. Tree photosynthesis modulates soil respiration on a diurnal time scale. Global Change Biology, 11, 1298-1304.

Tang, J., L. Misson, A. Gershenson, W. Cheng, A. Goldstein, 2005. Continuous measurements of soil respiration with and without roots in a ponderosa pine plantation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 132, 212-227.

Tang, J., D.D. Baldocchi, 2005. Spatial-temporal variation of soil respiration in an oak-grass savanna ecosystem in California and its partitioning into autotrophic and heterotrophic components. Biogeochemistry, 73, 183-207.

Tang, J., Y. Qi, M. Xu, L. Misson, A. Goldstein, 2005. Forest thinning and soil respiration in a ponderosa pine plantation in the Sierra Nevada. Tree Physiology, 25, 57-66.

Misson, L., J. Tang, M. Xu, M. McKay, A. Goldstein, 2005. Influences of recovery from clear-cut, climate variability, and thinning on the carbon and energy balance of a young ponderosa pine plantation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 130, 207-222.
RESEARCH PROJECTS



Ecosystem dynamics in carbon and water fluxes in the upper Midwest. Study sites include recent clearcuts, young plantations, mature forests and a rare old-growth forest.



Carbon sequestration, productivity, and biodiversity in prairie grassland. The picture shows a rare remnant prairie without major human disturbance in Illinois.