Tara Trammell
Associate Professor, Urban Forestry University of Delaware
- Newark DE
Prof. Trammell studies how biophysical and sociological factors affect urban ecosystem structure and function.
Media
Social
Biography
Industry Expertise
Areas of Expertise
Media Appearances
Human Impact on the Global Nitrogen Cycle
University of Delaware UDaily online
2018-11-07
UD’s Tara Trammell to study ecological effects of excess nitrogen in small forests. Nitrogen is an essential element required by all life — vital for plant and animal growth and nourishment. But, an overabundance of nitrogen can cause negative ecological effects.
Force of nature
University of Delaware UDaily online
2020-10-09
In a study recently published in PLOS One, McDermot and a team of researchers — including his former adviser Tara Trammell, UD’s John Bartram Assistant Professor of Urban Forestry — studied red maple, a resilient native tree known to thrive in urban environments. For this research, McDermot examined whether urban red maples acclimate to environmental shifts and whether that response is impacted by the size of the city.
Ability of urban trees, soils to maintain critical ecosystem services
Phys.org online
2021-08-03
In a research article published in Scientific Reports, University of Delaware researchers investigated the pressures of urbanization on SMC associated with specific tree species. The research team included UD faculty member Tara Trammell and former postdoctoral research fellow Carl Rosier.
Researchers find human transportation largely responsible for spread of invasive spotted lanternfly
Phys.org online
2023-03-17
"Spotted lanternflies can spread quickly into suitable habitat and have the potential to cause significant economic damage to crops and hardwood trees," said Tara Trammell, John Bartram Associate Professor of Urban Forestry in UD's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. "Studying potential dispersal mechanisms, such as human transportation, can help us develop management approaches to reduce further spread."
Spotted lanternflies spreading across North America by latching onto humans
Study Finds online
2023-03-21
“Spotted lanternflies can spread quickly into suitable habitat and have the potential to cause significant economic damage to crops and hardwood trees,” says Tara Trammell, a John Bartram associate professor of Urban Forestry in the University of Delaware’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in a statement.. “Studying potential dispersal mechanisms, such as human transportation, can help us develop management approaches to reduce further spread.”
Articles
Saturated, Suffocated, and Salty: Human Legacies Produce Hot Spots of Nitrogen in Riparian Zones
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences2022
The compounding effects of anthropogenic legacies for environmental pollution are significant, but not well understood. Here, we show that centennial-scale legacies of milldams and decadal-scale legacies of road salt salinization interact in unexpected ways to produce hot spots of nitrogen (N) in riparian zones. Riparian groundwater and stream water concentrations upstream of two mid-Atlantic (Pennsylvania and Delaware) milldams, 2.4 and 4 m tall, were sampled over a 2 year period. Clay and silt-rich legacy sediments with low hydraulic conductivity, stagnant and poorly mixed hydrologic conditions, and persistent hypoxia in riparian sediments upstream of milldams produced a unique biogeochemical gradient with nitrate removal via denitrification at the upland riparian edge and ammonium-N accumulation in near-stream sediments and groundwaters.
Plant community dynamics following non-native shrub removal depend on invasion intensity and forest site characteristics
Ecosphere2023
Globally, temperate deciduous forests are threatened by invasion of non-native (exotic) plant species. In the eastern United States, Rosa multiflora is a dominant shrub invader in forests, which often forms dense thickets that reduce sunlight availability in the understory, where decreased native plant diversity and abundance are observed. Management and restoration are difficult but desirable, especially when invasion intensity is still low.
Human-mediated dispersal drives the spread of the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula)
Scientific Reports2023
The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is a novel invasive insect from Asia now established and spreading throughout the United States. This species is of particular concern given its ability to decimate important crops such as grapes, fruit trees, as well as native hardwood trees. Since its initial detection in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 2014, spotted lanternfly infestations have been detected in 130 counties (87 under quarantine) within Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.
High soil carbon sequestration rates persist several decades in turfgrass systems: A meta-analysis
Science of The Total Environment2023
Managed turfgrass is a common component of urban landscapes that is expanding under current land use trends. Previous studies have reported high rates of soil carbon sequestration in turfgrass, but no systematic review has summarized these rates nor evaluated how they change as turfgrass ages.
Carabid specialists respond differently to nonnative plant invasion in urban forests
Urban Ecosystems2023
Forests within urban areas are important for the survival of some native plant and animal communities. Urban forests are negatively affected by human-mediated disturbances, including those that increase nonnative plant invasion. Nonnative plants alter forest structure, and can contribute to dense understory vegetation, more open canopy structure, and less leaf litter volume. This modified vegetation structure alters resources urban forests provide for native forest species.
Research Grants
Silviculture in the City: Advancing urban and climate adapted management strategies for forested natural areas in the Northeastern U.S. through science and training
USDA Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry Program
2021 – present
Multiple global change factors control forest nitrogen cycling – remote sensing and machine learning identify forest function across developed landscapes
NSF EPSCoR RII Track-4
2018 – present
Collaborative Research: Macrosystems Biology-FRA: Alternative ecological futures for the American Residential Macrosystem
NSF
2017 – present
Accomplishments
Presidential Academic Fitness Award
1992
Beechmont Garden Club Award for Outstanding Research
2001
Biology Graduate Student Research Publication Award
2005
Biology Graduate Student Research Presentation Award
2008
US – International Association for Landscape Ecology Student Travel Award
2009
Doctoral Dissertation Completion Award
2010
Education
Berea College
BA
Mathematics
1996
University of Louisville
MS
Biology
2001
University of Louisville
PhD
Biology
2010
