Meghann Jarchow's Research

I am an applied plant community ecologist.  I am interested in researching ways to use native ecosystems - particularly tallgrass prairies - for applied purposes.  Although small prairie restorations on private lands are important, being able to use prairies for profit-gaining activities provides an opportunity to potentially restore prairies on large portions of the landscape.

My research focuses on using native prairies as a bioenergy feedstock.  I am examining the relationships among diversity, nitrogen fertilization, and productivity of prairies  and tradeoffs in the provisioning of ecosystem goods and services between different prairie and row-crop systems.

My research is centered around two field experiments:  the Diversity and Nitrogen experiment and the Comparison of Biofuel Systems experiment.  I am also interested in comparing multiple applied uses for prairies some of which could potentially be used concurrently, such as carbon sequestration, nutrient pollution reduction, and livestock grazing (Multiple Applied Uses of Prairies).