Faculty — Richard K. Kobe

Associate Professor, Forest Ecology

PhD, Ecology, 1995, University of Connecticut, Storrs;
BA, Biology & Environmental Studies, Denison University, Granville, OH.

Contact Information

210D Natural Resources
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1222
Phone: (517) 355-8433
Fax: (517) 432-1143
Email: kobe@msu.edu

Courses Taught

• Forest and Agricultural Ecology (FOR/CSS 404)
• Forest Ecology (FOR 804)
• Forest Research: the Scientific Endeavor (FOR 802)

Research Interests

The overall goal of my research program is to understand the ecological processes governing the dynamics of tree communities in temperate and tropical forests. My focus is explicitly on the mechanisms that cause changes in relative abundance and diversity of tree species through time and across gradients of soil resource availability. Examples of some of the boader questions that my lab group addresses include:

• What are the mechanisms-- both the particular environmental factors and process responses to those factors -- that cause landscape-level variation in forest composition?
• How do anthropogenic effects on soil resources manifest through these mechanisms?
• How can hundreds of tree species, all of which use the same resources, co-exist in wet tropical forests? Why isn't there just one or a few dominant tree species in these systems?

To address these types of questions, my lab group designs field experiments to calibrate individual-based, species-specific models of tree performance (e.g. mortality, growth, reproduction, dispersal) in relation to plant resource availability and biotic interactions. The models, specified as simple equations with coefficients of biological meaning, are integrated, analyzed, and simplified to develop general theory of the environmental constraints and processes that cause patterns at the forest community and landscape levels.

Selected Publications

Follow this link for a complete list of publications and available pdfs

Kobe, RK, M Iyer, and MB Walters. 2010. Optimal partitioning theory revisited: nonstructural carbohydrates dominate root mass responses to nitrogen. Ecology, in press.

Kobe, RK and CF Vriesendorp. 2009. Size of sampling unit strongly influences detection of seedling limitation in a wet tropical forest. Ecology Letters 12: 220-228.

Kunkle, JM, MB Walters, and RK Kobe 2009. Senescence-related changes in nitrogen in fine roots: mass loss affects estimation. Tree Physiology 29: 715-723.

McCarthy-Neumann, S. and R. K. Kobe. 2008. Tolerance of neighborhood soil pathogens co-varies with shade tolerance across species of tropical tree seedlings. Ecology, 89:1883-1892.

Kobe, R. K. and L. J. Hogarth. 2007. Evaluation of irradiance metrics with respect to predicting sapling growth, Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37: 1203-1213.

Kobe, R. K. 2006. Sapling growth as a function of light and landscape-level variation in soil water and foliar N in northern Michigan. Oecologia 147: 119-133.

Kobe, R. K., C. A. Lepcyzk, and M. Iyer. 2005. Resorption efficiency decreases with increasing green leaf nutrients in global dataset. Ecology 86: 2780-2792.

Schreeg, L. A., R. K. Kobe, and M. B. Walters. 2005. Tree seedling growth, survival and morphology in response to landscape-level variation in soil resource availability in Northern Michigan. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 35: 263-273.

Kobe, R. K., G. E. Likens, and C. Eagar. 2002. Tree seedling growth and mortality responses to manipulations of calcium and aluminum in a northern hardwood forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 32: 954-966.

Kobe, R. K. 1999. Tropical tree richness and resource-based niches. Science.285: 1459a - 1460a.

Kobe, R. K. 1999. Light gradient partitioning among tropical tree species through differential seedling mortality and growth. Ecology 80: 187-201.

Kobe, R. K. 1996. Intraspecific variation in sapling mortality and growth predicts geographic variation in forest composition. Ecological Monographs 66: 181-201.

Kobe, R. K., S. W. Pacala, J. A. Silander, Jr., and C. D. Canham. 1995. Juvenile tree survivorship as a component of shade tolerance. Ecological Applications. 5: 517-532.

Opportunities for Graduate Studies

The Department of Forestry and the Interdepartmental Program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior offer great opportunitiesfor graduate study. Funding is available from University Fellowships (Plant Science Recruiting Fellowship, University Distinguished Fellowship), Research Assistantships from funded projects, and Teaching Assistants in Forestry and related departments. Prospective graduate students interested in joining my lab group should email me the following information:

1. A statement of research interests, background and professional goals.
2. A curriculum vitae.
3. Transcripts (no need to send official transcripts)
4. GRE scores (no need to send official copies).
5. Names and contact information of three references.

Current Graduate Student Advisees, Postdocs/Visiting Scholars

• Tom Baribault
• Ellen Holste
• Andrea Maguire
• David Minor
• Benedicte Bachelot
• Jingwen Li (visiting scholar)