Diana R. Nemergut, Associate Professor  

Diana R. Nemergut

Education:
Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder, 2004

Office Location: 3312 French Science Center
Office Phone: (919) 660-7424
Email Address: diana.nemergut@duke.edu
Web Page: http://sites.biology.duke.edu/nemergutlab/

Specialties:
Ecology and Population Biology

Research Categories: Microbial Ecology and Evolution

Research Description: Our lab uses fundamental principles of ecological and evolutionary theory to better understand and predict the dynamics of inherently complex microbial systems. We employ molecular phylogenetics and bioinformatics to study microbial communities in soil and aquatic systems from around the world. Our recent work includes exploring patterns in microbial biogeography at the local and global scale, as well as using primary and secondary successional sequences to investigate the processes driving microbial community assembly and function. In addition to field and laboratory approaches, we use both statistical and mathematical modeling to understand microbial community assembly, and to address questions about the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem processes.

Representative Publications   (More Publications)   (search)

  1. Graham, E.B., W.R. Wieder, J.W. Leff, S.R. Weintraub, A.R. Townsend, C.C. Cleveland, L. Philippot and D.R. Nemergut, Do we need to understand microbial communities to predict ecosystem function? A comparison of statistical models of nitrogen cycling processes, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol. 68 (January, 2014), pp. 279-282 [S0038071713002976], [doi] .
  2. JE Knelman, DR Nemergut, Changes in community assembly may shift the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function., Frontiers in microbiology, vol. 5 (January, 2014), pp. 424 [doi] .
  3. JE Knelman, SK Schmidt, RC Lynch, JL Darcy, SC Castle, CC Cleveland, DR Nemergut, Nutrient addition dramatically accelerates microbial community succession., PloS one, vol. 9 no. 7 (January, 2014), pp. e102609 [journal.pone.0102609], [doi]  [abs].
  4. DR Nemergut, SK Schmidt, T Fukami, SP O'Neill, TM Bilinski, LF Stanish, JE Knelman, JL Darcy, RC Lynch, P Wickey, S Ferrenberg, Patterns and processes of microbial community assembly., Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR, vol. 77 no. 3 (September, 2013), pp. 342-356 [doi]  [abs].
  5. S Ferrenberg, SP O'Neill, JE Knelman, B Todd, S Duggan, D Bradley, T Robinson, SK Schmidt, AR Townsend, MW Williams, CC Cleveland, BA Melbourne, L Jiang, DR Nemergut, Changes in assembly processes in soil bacterial communities following a wildfire disturbance., The ISME journal, vol. 7 no. 6 (June, 2013), pp. 1102-1111 [doi]  [abs].
  6. LF Stanish, SP O'Neill, A Gonzalez, TM Legg, J Knelman, DM McKnight, S Spaulding, DR Nemergut, Bacteria and diatom co-occurrence patterns in microbial mats from polar desert streams., Environmental microbiology, vol. 15 no. 4 (April, 2013), pp. 1115-1131 [doi]  [abs].
  7. DR Nemergut, EK Costello, M Hamady, C Lozupone, L Jiang, SK Schmidt, N Fierer, AR Townsend, CC Cleveland, L Stanish, R Knight, Global patterns in the biogeography of bacterial taxa., Environmental microbiology, vol. 13 no. 1 (January, 2011), pp. 135-144 [doi]  [abs].
  8. D. R. Nemergut, C. C. Cleveland, W. R. Wieder, C. L. Washenberger and A. R. Townsend, Plot-scale manipulations of organic matter inputs to soils correlate with shifts in microbial community composition in a lowland tropical rain forest, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol. 42 no. 12 (2010), pp. 2153-2160 [S0038071710002993], [doi] .
  9. DR Nemergut, AR Townsend, SR Sattin, KR Freeman, N Fierer, JC Neff, WD Bowman, CW Schadt, MN Weintraub, SK Schmidt, The effects of chronic nitrogen fertilization on alpine tundra soil microbial communities: implications for carbon and nitrogen cycling., Environmental microbiology, vol. 10 no. 11 (November, 2008), pp. 3093-3105 [doi]  [abs].
  10. DR Nemergut, MS Robeson, RF Kysela, AP Martin, SK Schmidt, R Knight, Insights and inferences about integron evolution from genomic data., BMC genomics, vol. 9 no. 1653 (January, 2008), pp. 261 [doi]  [abs].
  11. DR Nemergut, SP Anderson, CC Cleveland, AP Martin, AE Miller, A Seimon, SK Schmidt, Microbial community succession in an unvegetated, recently deglaciated soil., Microbial ecology, vol. 53 no. 1 (January, 2007), pp. 110-122 [doi]  [abs].
  12. C. C. Cleveland, D. R. Nemergut, A. R. Townsend and S. K. Schmidt, Increases in soil respiration following labile carbon additions linked to rapid shifts in soil microbial community composition, Biogeochemistry, vol. 82 no. 3 (2007), pp. 229-240 [10.1007%2Fs10533-006-9065-z], [doi] .
  13. DR Nemergut, EK Costello, AF Meyer, MY Pescador, MN Weintraub, SK Schmidt, Structure and function of alpine and arctic soil microbial communities., Research in microbiology, vol. 156 no. 7 (August, 2005), pp. 775-784 [doi]  [abs].
  14. AP Martin, EK Costello, AF Meyer, DR Nemergut, SK Schmidt, The rate and pattern of cladogenesis in microbes., Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, vol. 58 no. 5 (May, 2004), pp. 946-955 [doi]  [abs].
  15. DR Nemergut, AP Martin, SK Schmidt, Integron diversity in heavy-metal-contaminated mine tailings and inferences about integron evolution., Applied and environmental microbiology, vol. 70 no. 2 (February, 2004), pp. 1160-1168 [doi]  [abs].