Dr. Kenneth Elgersma

I have several lines of active research which fall under 2 broad categories: ecosystem-level effects of agricultural management practices and wetland plant invasions.

I am conducting research on carbon and nitrogen cycles in soils impacted by different biofuels production systems and Conservation Reserve Program practices. This work is being done locally in collaboration with researchers here at UNI, and as part of a larger regional-scale survey in collaboration with researchers at USGS.

I am also part of the development team for a simulation model named MONDRIAN, which we are using to understand how different techniques of managing wetland invasive plants (burning, mowing, and herbicide application) affects ecosystem-level processes like carbon and nitrogen cycling. We used this model to recommend optimal treatment approaches for managing invasive Phragmites in wetlands under a wide variety of environmental conditions.  These recommendations are available in a user-friendly interactive web page I put together here, and we used these approaches as part of an adaptive management plan for restoring Phragmites-invaded wetlands in the Saginaw Bay area of Michigan.