Institution: State University of New York
Department: College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Sustainable Resources Management
1 Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 13210
Hubbard Brook Role: Investigator, Scientific Coordinating Committee
Phone: (315) 470-6955
Email: rdyanai@syr.edu
ORCID: 0000-0001-6987-2489
Website: http://www.esf.edu/faculty/yanai/
RuthYanai

Research Interests

Ruth D. Yanai began working at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in 1983, studying the cycling of phosphorus after the whole-tree harvest of Watershed 5. In 1993, the USDA NRICGP funded a project to compare archived and contemporary samples of forest floors, litterfall, and wood, from the HBEF and from a chronosequence of related sites, to determine whether recent changes in nutrient concentrations were more likely due to acid rain or to forest regrowth. Additional research interests include simulation modeling of nutrient uptake by roots and the response of plants to environmental change.

Hubbard Brook Publications by this Author

Yanai, R. D., Drake, J. E., Buckley, H. L., Case, B. S., Lilly, P. J., Woollons, R. C., & Gamarra, J. G. P. (2024). Propagating Uncertainty in Predicting Individuals and Means Illustrated with Foliar Chemistry and Forest Biomass. Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00886-6
Zukswert, J. M., Vadeboncoeur, M. A., & Yanai, R. D. (2024). Responses of stomatal density and carbon isotope composition of sugar maple and yellow birch foliage to N, P and CaSiO3 fertilization. Tree Physiology, 44(1), tpad142. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpad142
Nash, J. M., Vadeboncoeur, M. A., McGee, G. G., Woodall, C. W., & Yanai, R. D. (2023). Biomass accumulation in trees and downed wood in northern hardwood forests: Repeated measures of a successional chronosequence in New Hampshire, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2023-0060
Young, A. R., Minocha, R., Long, S., Drake, J. E., & Yanai, R. D. (2023). Patterns of physical, chemical, and metabolic characteristics of sugar maple leaves with depth in the crown and in response to nitrogen and phosphorus addition. Tree Physiology, tpad043. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpad043
Gonzales, K. E., Yanai, R. D., Fahey, T. J., & Fisk, M. C. (2023). Evidence for P limitation in eight northern hardwood stands: Foliar concentrations and resorption by three tree species in a factorial N by P addition experiment. Forest Ecology and Management, 529, 120696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120696
Pu, G., Campbell, J. L., Green, M. B., Merriam, J. L., Zietlow, D., & Yanai, R. D. (2023). Estimating uncertainty in streamflow and solute fluxes at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA. Hydrological Processes, 37(8), e14961. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14961
Rice, A. M., Garrison-Johnston, M. T., Libenson, A. J., & Yanai, R. D. (2022). Tree variability limits the detection of nutrient treatment effects on sap flux density in a northern hardwood forest. PeerJ, 10, e14410. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14410
Hong, D. S., Gonzales, K. E., Fahey, T. J., & Yanai, R. D. (2022). Foliar nutrient concentrations of six northern hardwood species responded to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization but did not predict tree growth. PeerJ, 10, e13193. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13193
Nash, J. M., Diggs, F. M., & Yanai, R. D. (2022). Length and colonization rates of roots associated with arbuscular or ectomycorrhizal fungi decline differentially with depth in two northern hardwood forests. Mycorrhiza, 32(2), 213–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-022-01071-8
Shan, S., Devens, H., Fahey, T. J., Yanai, R. D., & Fisk, M. C. (2022). Fine Root Growth Increases in Response to Nitrogen Addition in Phosphorus-limited Northern Hardwood Forests. Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-021-00735-4
Rastetter, E. B., Kwiatkowski, B. L., Kicklighter, D. W., Barker Plotkin, A., Genet, H., Nippert, J. B., O’Keefe, K., Perakis, S. S., Porder, S., Roley, S. S., Ruess, R. W., Thompson, J. R., Wieder, W. R., Wilcox, K., & Yanai, R. D. (2022). N and P constrain C in ecosystems under climate change: Role of nutrient redistribution, accumulation, and stoichiometry. Ecological Applications, n/a(n/a), e2684. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2684
See, C. R., Green, M. B., Yanai, R. D., Bailey, A. S., Campbell, J. L., & Hayward, J. (2020). Quantifying uncertainty in annual runoff due to missing data. PeerJ, 8, e9531. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9531
Yanai, R. D., Yang, Y., Wild, A. D., Smith, K. T., & Driscoll, C. T. (2020). New Approaches to Understand Mercury in Trees: Radial and Longitudinal Patterns of Mercury in Tree Rings and Genetic Control of Mercury in Maple Sap. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 231(5), 248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04601-2
Kattge, J., Bönisch, G., Díaz, S., Lavorel, S., Prentice, I. C., Leadley, P., Tautenhahn, S., Werner, G. D. A., Aakala, T., Abedi, M., Acosta, A. T. R., Adamidis, G. C., Adamson, K., Aiba, M., Albert, C. H., Alcántara, J. M., Alcázar C, C., Aleixo, I., Ali, H., … Wirth, C. (2020). TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access. Global Change Biology, 26(1), 119–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14904
Yang, Y., Meng, L., Yanai, R. D., Montesdeoca, M., Templer, P. H., Asbjornsen, H., Rustad, L. E., & Driscoll, C. T. (2019). Climate change may alter mercury fluxes in northern hardwood forests. Biogeochemistry, 146(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-019-00605-1
See, C. R., Yanai, R. D., & Fahey, T. J. (2019). Shifting N and P concentrations and stoichiometry during autumn litterfall: Implications for ecosystem monitoring. Ecological Indicators, 103, 488–492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.04.017
Gonzales, K., & Yanai, R. (2019). Nitrogen–phosphorous interactions in young northern hardwoods indicate P limitation: foliar concentrations and resorption in a factorial N by P addition experiment. Oecologia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04350-y
Green, M. B., Campbell, J. L., Yanai, R. D., Bailey, S. W., Bailey, A. S., Grant, N., Halm, I., Kelsey, E. P., & Rustad, L. E. (2018). Downsizing a long-term precipitation network: Using a quantitative approach to inform difficult decisions. PLOS ONE, 13(5), e0195966. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195966
Yang, Y., Yanai, R. D., Driscoll, C. T., Montesdeoca, M., & Smith, K. T. (2018). Concentrations and content of mercury in bark, wood, and leaves in hardwoods and conifers in four forested sites in the northeastern USA. PLOS ONE, 13(4), e0196293. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196293
Goswami, S., Fisk, M. C., Vadeboncoeur, M. A., Garrison‐Johnston, M., Yanai, R. D., & Fahey, T. J. (2018). Phosphorus limitation of aboveground production in northern hardwood forests. Ecology, 99(2), 438–449. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2100
Yang, Y., Yanai, R. D., See, C. R., & Arthur, M. A. (2017). Sampling effort and uncertainty in leaf litterfall mass and nutrient flux in northern hardwood forests. Ecosphere, 8(11). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1999
Yanai, R. D., Walsh, G. E., Yang, Y., Blodgett, C. A., Bae, K., & Park, B. B. (2017). Nutrient concentrations of roots vary with diameter, depth, and site in New Hampshire northern hardwoods. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 48(1), 32–41. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2017-0223
Yanai, R. D., See, C. R., & Campbell, J. L. (2017). Current Practices in Reporting Uncertainty in Ecosystem Ecology. Ecosystems, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-017-0197-x
Fahey, T. J., Yanai, R. D., Gonzales, K. E., & Lombardi, J. A. (2017). Sampling and processing roots from rocky forest soils. Ecosphere, 8(6), n/a-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1863
Yang, Y., Yanai, R. D., Montesdeoca, M., & Driscoll, C. T. (2017). Measuring mercury in wood: challenging but important. International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, 97(5), 456–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/03067319.2017.1324852
Campbell, J. L., Yanai, R. D., Green, M. B., Likens, G. E., See, C. R., Bailey, A. S., Buso, D. C., & Yang, D. (2016). Uncertainty in the net hydrologic flux of calcium in a paired-watershed harvesting study. Ecosphere, 7(6), n/a-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1299
Aulenbach, B. T., Burns, D. A., Shanley, J. B., Yanai, R. D., Bae, K., Wild, A. D., Yang, Y., & Yi, D. (2016). Approaches to stream solute load estimation for solutes with varying dynamics from five diverse small watersheds. Ecosphere, 7(6), n/a-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1298
Yang, Y., Yanai, R. D., Fatemi, F. R., Levine, C. R., Lilly, P. J., & Briggs, R. D. (2016). Sources of variability in tissue chemistry in northern hardwood species 1. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 46(3), 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0302
Kang, H., Fahey, T. J., Bae, K., Fisk, M., Sherman, R. E., Yanai, R. D., & See, C. R. (2016). Response of forest soil respiration to nutrient addition depends on site fertility. Biogeochemistry, 127(1), 113–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0172-6
Bae, K., Fahey, T. J., Yanai, R. D., & Fisk, M. (2015). Soil Nitrogen Availability Affects Belowground Carbon Allocation and Soil Respiration in Northern Hardwood Forests of New Hampshire. Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9892-7
See, C. R., Yanai, R. D., Fisk, M. C., Vadeboncoeur, M. A., Quintero, B. A., & Fahey, T. J. (2015). Soil nitrogen affects phosphorus recycling: foliar resorption and plant–soil feedbacks in a northern hardwood forest. Ecology, 96(9), 2488–2498. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0188.1
Falster, D. S., Duursma, R. A., Ishihara, M. I., Barneche, D. R., FitzJohn, R. G., Vårhammar, A., Aiba, M., Ando, M., Anten, N., Aspinwall, M. J., Baltzer, J. L., Baraloto, C., Battaglia, M., Battles, J. J., Bond-Lamberty, B., van Breugel, M., Camac, J., Claveau, Y., Coll, L., … York, R. A. (2015). BAAD: a Biomass And Allometry Database for woody plants: Ecological Archives E096-128. Ecology, 96(5), 1445–1445. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1889.1
Vadeboncoeur, M. A., Hamburg, S. P., Yanai, R. D., & Blum, J. D. (2014). Rates of sustainable forest harvest depend on rotation length and weathering of soil minerals. Forest Ecology and Management, 318, 194–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.01.012
Fisk, M. C., Ratliff, T. J., Goswami, S., & Yanai, R. D. (2014). Synergistic soil response to nitrogen plus phosphorus fertilization in hardwood forests. Biogeochemistry, 118(1–3), 195–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-013-9918-1
Levine, C. R., Yanai, R. D., Lampman, G. G., Burns, D. A., Driscoll, C. T., Lawrence, G. B., Lynch, J. A., & Schoch, N. (2014). Evaluating the efficiency of environmental monitoring programs. Ecological Indicators, 39, 94–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2013.12.010
Yanai, R. D., Tokuchi, N., Campbell, J. L., Green, M. B., Matsuzaki, E., Laseter, S. N., Brown, C. L., Bailey, A. S., Lyons, P., Levine, C. R., Buso, D. C., Likens, G. E., Knoepp, J. D., & Fukushima, K. (2014). Sources of uncertainty in estimating stream solute export from headwater catchments at three sites. Hydrological Processes, n/a-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10265
Yanai, R. D., Vadeboncoeur, M. A., Hamburg, S. P., Arthur, M. A., Fuss, C. B., Groffman, P. M., Siccama, T. G., & Driscoll, C. T. (2013). From Missing Source to Missing Sink: Long-Term Changes in the Nitrogen Budget of a Northern Hardwood Forest. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(20), 11440–11448. https://doi.org/10.1021/es4025723
Rastetter, E. B., Yanai, R. D., Thomas, R. Q., Vadeboncoeur, M. A., Fahey, T. J., Fisk, M. C., Kwiatkowski, B. L., & Hamburg, S. P. (2013). Recovery from disturbance requires resynchronization of ecosystem nutrient cycles. Ecological Applications, 23(3), 621–642. https://doi.org/10.1890/12-0751.1
Levine, C., Yanai, R., Vadeboncoeur, M., Hamburg, S., Melvin, A., Goodale, C., Rau, B., & Johnson, D. (2012). Assessing the suitability of using rotary coring for sampling in rocky soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2011.0425
Yanai, R. D., Arthur, M. A., Acker, M., Levine, C. R., & Park, B. B. (2012). Variation in mass and nutrient concentration of leaf litter across years and sites in a northern hardwood forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research-Revue Canadienne De Recherche Forestiere, 42(8), 1597–1610. https://doi.org/10.1139/x2012-084
Vadeboncoeur, M. A., Hamburg, S. P., Blum, J. D., Pennino, M. J., Yanai, R. D., & Johnson, C. E. (2012). The Quantitative Soil Pit Method for Measuring Belowground Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks. Soil Science Society of America Journal, In Press.
Lucash, M. S., Yanai, R. D., Blum, J. D., & Park, B. B. (2012). Foliar Nutrient Concentrations Related to Soil Sources across a Range of Sites in the Northeastern United States. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 76(2), 674. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2011.0160
Yanai, R. D., Levine, C. R., Green, M. B., & Campbell, J. L. (2012). Quantifying Uncertainty in Forest Nutrient Budgets. Journal of Forestry, 110(8), 448–456. https://doi.org/10.5849/jof.11-087
Fatemi, F. R., Yanai, R. D., Hamburg, S. P., Vadeboncoeur, M. A., Arthur, M. A., Briggs, R. D., & Levine, C. R. (2011). Allometric equations for young northern hardwoods: the importance of age-specific equations for estimating aboveground biomass. Canadian Journal of Forest Research-Revue Canadienne De Recherche Forestiere, 41(4), 881–891. https://doi.org/10.1139/x10-248
Campbell, J. L., Yanai, R. D., & Green, M. B. (2011). Estimating Uncertainties in Watershed Studies. EOS, 92(26), 220. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011EO260004
Fisk, M. C., Yanai, R. D., & Fierer, N. (2010). A molecular approach to quantify root community composition in a northern hardwood forest - testing effects of root species, relative abundance, and diameter. Canadian Journal of Forest Research-Revue Canadienne De Recherche Forestiere, 40(4), 836–841. https://doi.org/10.1139/x10-022
Yanai, R. D., Battles, J. J., Richardson, A. D., Blodgett, C. A., Wood, D. M., & Rastetter, E. B. (2010). Estimating Uncertainty in Ecosystem Budget Calculations. Ecosystems, 13(2), 239–248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9315-8
Yanai, R. D., Battles, J. J., Richardson, A. D., Rastetter, E. B., Wood, D. M., & Blodgett, C. (2010). Estimating uncertainty in ecosystem budget calculations. Ecosystems, 13(2), 239–248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9315-8
Ratliff, T. J., Fisk, M. C., Yanai, R. D., Rastetter, E. B., Naples, B. K., Fahey, T. J., Fatemi, F., & Hamburg, S. P. (2009). Can phosphorus limit productivity in northern hardwood forests? (Poster and Abstract) (HBR.2009-48). 94th Ecological Society of America Meeting (ESA), Albuquerque, N.M.