Bradley Christoffersen, Ph.D.
Brad Christoffersen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Office: ESCNE 1.332
Lab: ESCNE 1.410
956-665-2468
bradley.christoffersen@utrgv.edu
Website: https://www.christoffersen-lab.net/
Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=szZQ6e8AAAAJ&hl=en
ORCID 0000-0002-4890-9999 active link to https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4890-9999
Courses
BIOL 4400 Biological Communications
BIOL 4405 Plant Physiology
BIOL 5405 Advanced Plant Physiology
BIOL 6303 Advanced Ecology
Education
Ph.D. 2013 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
B.S. 2003 Environmental Studies, minor in Mathematics, Southern Nazarene University, Bethany, OK
Areas of Interest
ecosystem ecology, plant physiological ecology, ecohydrology, plant hydraulics, restoration ecology
Research
We are a team of graduate and undergraduate students based out of the Edinburg campus. In the Christoffersen Lab, we study how water structures ecosystems, both above and below-ground. Our emphasis is on mature and regenerating forests in the Tamaulipan biotic province and in tropical forests. We also work in agroecosystems, examining the impacts of conservation practices such as cover cropping on water cycling and drought stress.
We combine plant ecophysiology and plant hydraulics, modeling, and regular surveys of vegetation demography to understanding the impact of water availability and plant trait variation on community and ecosystem processes.
Recent Publications
lab members are in bold; **graduate student; *undergraduate student; ϯcorresponding author
Albrecht C**, Contreras Z**, Wahl-Villareal K, Sternberg M, Christoffersen BOϯ. 2022. Winners and losers in dryland reforestation: species survival along a 33-year planting chronosequence. Restoration Ecology 30: e13559. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13559 Part of Cross-Society Special Feature on the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration
Arias M**, Mendez S*, Chavana J*, Wahl K, Kariyat K, Christoffersen BOϯ. 2021. Do early-successional weeds facilitate or compete with seedlings in forest restoration? Disentangling abiotic vs. biotic factors. Ecological Solutions and Evidence 2(3): e12095. https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12095 Part of Cross-Society Special Feature on the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration
Mohsin F**, Arias M**, Albrecht C**, Wahl K, Fierro A, Christoffersen BOϯ. 2021. Species-specific responses to restoration interventions in a Tamaulipan thornforest. Forest Ecology and Management 491:119-154.
Konings A, incl. Christoffersen BO and 34 coauthors. 2021. Detecting forest response to droughts with global observations of vegetation water content. Global Change Biology 27(23), 6005-6024. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15872
Kasper S*ϯ, Christoffersen BOϯ, Soti P, Racelis A. 2019. Abiotic and biotic limitations to nodulation by leguminous cover crops in South Texas. Agriculture 9(10): 209.
Grossiord CΓ, Christoffersen BOΓ, Alonso-Rodríguez AM, Anderson-Teixeira K, Asbjornsen H, Aparecido LMT, Carter Berry Z, Baraloto C, Bonal D, Borrego I, et al. 2019. Precipitation mediates sap flux sensitivity to evaporative demand in the neotropics. Oecologia 191(3): 519-530. Γ - equal contribution
Mencuccini M, Manzoni S, Christoffersen B. 2019. Modelling water fluxes in plants: from tissues to biosphere. New Phytologist 222(3): 1207-1222.
Other Activities
Dr. Christoffersen serves on the Thornscrub Conservation Partnership, a network of federal, state, nonprofit, and education agencies developing a long-range master plan for restoring thornscrub habitat connectivity in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, viewable here: https://d3f9k0n15ckvhe.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Thornforest-Conservaton-Plan.pdf
Dr. Christoffersen also serves as the faculty advisor to the undergraduate Biology Club on the Edinburg campus (https://utrgv.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/biology_club)