Asia Dowtin
Assistant Professor of Forestry | Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, UNITED STATES
Asia Dowtin's research uses in situ sampling and laboratory techniques to quantify hydrologic and nutrient cycling in the urban forest.
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Biography
Asia Dowtin is an Assistant Professor of Urban Forestry in the Michigan State University Department of Forestry. Her work explores the relationships that exist between urban forest structure, spatial context, and water and nutrient cycling in metropolitan areas. Through this work, she aims to broaden our understanding of the influence that species composition, related physical tree traits, and surrounding land use have on urban forest function and ecosystem service provision. Her work at Michigan State University includes research, teaching, and extension related to urban and community forestry, with her extension efforts largely focused on creating educational and workforce development programming for K-12 students and adult learners.
Industry Expertise (1)
Education/Learning
Areas of Expertise (5)
Youth Engagement
Hydrologic and Nutrient Cycling in Urban Forests
Ecosystem Services of the Urban Forest
Urban Forest Planning and Management
Workforce Development
Education (3)
University of Delaware: Ph.D., Geography 2018
University of Delaware: M.S., Geography - Regional Hydroclimate 2012
SUNY Oneonta: B.S., Meteorology 2009
Affiliations (4)
- International Society of Arboriculture : Michigan Chapter
- Women's Forest Congress
- Arboriculture and Urban Forestry : Editorial Boars
- Green Communities Leadership Institute
Links (4)
News (2)
Study finds need for public to see connection between forests and clean drinking water
Great Lakes Echo online
2022-05-26
Study co-author Asia Dowtin said, “For someone who does this work on a daily basis, you do it with the awareness that you are in a niche field — like I’m doing what I can in my corner of the scholarly world. But it’s very validating to know that people are thinking about this on a broader scale even though the connections may not be the same.
Urban Forest Hydrologist | Curious About Careers
PBS online
2020-02-28
"Janellyn’s knowledge about forest hydrology grows with Asia Dowtin! They venture into the forest to collect and analyze precipitation samples to calculate water movement through stem flow, which is vitally important to the urban planning and development of water systems. "
Journal Articles (8)
Untapped Potential: Do Stakeholders Value Forests for Providing Clean Drinking Water?
JAWRA2022 Billions of people around the world rely on forests to filter and provide clean drinking water. The immense value of drinking water can be a strong rationale for conserving and sustainably managing forests, however, people are often unaware of this forest ecosystem service of providing clean drinking water which can lead to the service’s degradation. Using a qualitative case-study approach we conducted semi-structured interviews in three watersheds in Michigan, USA to investigate the values and perceptions stakeholders have for forests and drinking water.
Nitrate and Ammonium Deposition in the Midwestern Fragmented Forest
Forests2023 Whereas the impacts of N deposition on forest ecosystems have been well studied in remote areas in predominantly forested landscapes, we know relatively less about the impacts of N deposition on forests in heavily human-modified landscapes. We studied the influence of adjacent land use, local point sources, and woodlot stand structure on subcanopy N transport and enrichment via throughfall in three woodlot fragments in southern Lower Michigan, USA. We found that one site had markedly higher TF N concentrations compared to the other two; however, our data indicate that elevated TF concentrations resulted from differences in tree species composition, rather than differences in surrounding land use.
Come hybrid or high water: Making the case for a Green–Gray approach toward resilient urban stormwater management
Journal of the Americam Water Resources Association2023 120 years or more of unsustainable urban development has damaged the natural environment and disrupted essential ways to stabilize water body overflow and even mitigate pluvial flooding. In light of catastrophic flooding that has occurred globally, a renewed commitment to transforming built surfaces and incorporating more green infrastructures (GIs) has emerged. In fact, one could argue that an overcommitment to GI is being touted in the literature, but largely disconnected from more real‐world possibilities, considering all things. In this commentary, we make the case that as cities transition from development patterns of the past and even considering climate‐induced storm characteristics of the future, a hybridized solution (e.g., Green–Gray) should be considered.
X-ray imaging of 30 year old wine grape wood reveals cumulative impacts of rootstocks on scion secondary growth and Ravaz index
Horticulture Research2023 Annual rings from 30 year old vines in a California rootstock trial were measured to determine the effects of 15 different rootstocks on Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon scions. Viticultural traits measuring vegetative growth, yield, berry quality, and nutrient uptake were collected at the beginning (1995 to 1999) and end (2017 to 2020) of the lifetime of a vineyard initially planted in 1991 and removed in 2021. X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) was used to measure ring widths in 103 vines. Ring width was modeled as a function of ring number using a negative exponential model. Early and late wood ring widths, cambium width, and scion trunk radius were correlated with 27 traits.
Comparisons of flux-based stemflow enrichment ratios for two Quercus spp. within the megalopolis of the eastern USA
Urban Ecosystems2020 Throughfall and stemflow serve as two important transport mechanisms for water and solutes in urban forests, though these fluxes are seldom quantified within cities. This study is the first to utilize two flux-based enrichment ratios for stemflow to characterize spatial patterns in water and solute distribution in urban forest fragments. Using event-based, in situ sampling, this study quantified stemflow enrichment for Quercus rubra (northern red oak) and Quercus alba (white oak) trees relative to open precipitation (EP,B) and throughfall (ET,B) per unit trunk basal area for dissolved Ca, K, Mg, Mn, NO3-N, and S. The study investigated variability in nutrient enrichment at the fragment, municipal, and regional scales. Among all solutes, observations for EP,B and ET,B for Q. rubra and Q. alba were generally lowest for Mg and highest for Mn and K.
The power of persistence
Science2018 After months of intense planning, I was finally ready to set up my dissertation research equipment in a patch of urban forest. It was such a perfect summer day that it was hard to imagine anything going wrong. But while installing the first of my stemflow collars—odd-looking devices that I was mounting on tree trunks to investigate part of the water cycle—I was startled by a stern voice demanding my attention. It was a law enforcement officer. I was bewildered. I hadn't called the police, and I could not fathom who would have. Then it hit me: I was an African-American woman in one of the city's most affluent, predominantly white neighborhoods, installing what could be perceived as an unsightly contraption in their prized space.
Stemflow chemistry in relation to tree size: A preliminary investigation of eleven urban park trees in British Columbia, Canada
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening2017 Given increased atmospheric loads in cities, quantification of stemflow chemistry is necessary for a holistic understanding of elemental cycling in urban ecosystems. Accordingly, the stemflow volume and associated solute fluxes (K+, Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+) were measured for eleven deciduous trees in a manicured park setting in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. Over nine rainfall events from late June to early September 2013, larger trees [diameter at breast height (DBH) > 30 cm] were found to generally produce higher event stemflow volumes but lower funneling ratios than the smaller trees (DBH < 30 cm). The median flux-based enrichment ratio, which compares the solute input of stemflow to that of rainfall on a per unit trunk basal area, also tended to be greater for smaller trees than larger ones.
Small-scale topographic variability influences tree species distribution and canopy throughfall partitioning in a temperate deciduous forest
Forest Ecology and Management2016 At very large spatial scales, the impacts of topography, elevation, and aspect on throughfall variability are apparent. However, within relatively small catchments (
