ZHONG CHEN, Ph.D.

School of Forestry Phone: 928-523-6648
Northern Arizona University Fax: 928-523-1080
Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5018 Email: Zhong.Chen@nau.edu

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., Ecosystem Science and Management, Northern Arizona University, 1997-2001
Dissertation research: Genetic variation in resistance mechanisms of Douglas-fir to western spruce budworm

• M. S., Forest Resource Management and Silviculture, Clemson University, 1995-1997
Thesis research: Impact of shade and the sprout growth retardant flurprimidol on first-year stump sprout growth in three piedmont hardwood species

• B. S., Forest Biology, Plant and Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, China, 1982-1986.
Thesis research: Standardization technology of container seedlings in southern China


PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Postdoctoral research associate, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5018 January 2002- present

Responsibilities: principal investigator in northern Arizona and New Mexico sites for a long-term and national research project “ Fire and fire surrogates” (full title as Developing a standard experimental design and protocol for a national study of the consequences of fire and fire surrogate treatments) (http://www.fs.fed.us/ffs) jointed funded by the Department of Agriculture (Forest Service) and Department of Interior (National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Bureau of Land Management). Major assignments include: assessing the effects of various stand level of forest management including thinning, prescribed burning, and forest restoration treatments on the ground dwelling beetles, bark beetles, and ponderosa pine tree physiological ecology; collecting field experiment data and analyzing data; developing research proposals, oral and written reports; and managing the experiment sites in northern Arizona and New Mexico. Major tools include statistical software SAS, computerized data log, Lindgren funnel trap, portable photosynthesis system (LI-6400), and pressure chamber.

Postdoctoral research fellow, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048 May-December 2001

Responsibilities: principal investigator on the University of Michigan Biological Station for the project “Effect of elevated atmospheric CO2 on grasses and their insect herbivores” funded by the Department of Agriculture. Major work included running CO2 system to simulate a doubling of earth’s atmospheric CO2 in open top growth chambers, field data collection for grass growth and nutrient analysis, grasshopper bioassay, grass fiber, protein, and carbohydrate determination, and statistical analysis. Major tools include Infrared Gas exchange Analysis (IRGA) system, growth chamber for grasshopper rearing, micro-plate analysis techniques for protein, sugars, and starch measurement.

Assistant research professor, Jiangsu Institute of Botany, Nanjing Botanical Garden, Mem. Sun Yat-Sen (http://www.cnbg.net/default_en.asp), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210014, China January 1991-May 1995

Responsibilities: principal researcher for the project titled as “Economic plant introduction and utilization in Southeastern China”. Major work included establishing the gene pool of some commercially important plant species; intercropping system with chestnut and tea trees; screening tree species with resistance to environmental stresses such as frost, air pollution and acid rains.

Assistant researcher, Jiangsu Institute of Botany, Nanjing Botanical Garden, Mem. Sun Yat-Sen, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210014, China
August 1986-December 1991

Responsibilities: vegetation investigation and plant specimen collection in Southeastern China, nursery management, and chemical analysis on plant and soil samples with such equipment as atomic absorption spectrometry, UV spectrometry, and Infrared spectrometry.

Guest researcher, Ecological Experimental Station of Red Soil, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yingtan, Jiangxi, China December 1989-May 1992

Responsibilities: guest principal investigator for the project “Function of plant community on water and soil protection in subtropical red soil region, southern China”. Major work was focused on the restoration of vegetation, soil improvement and natural resources management, biological indication of plants and insects to environmental change (e.g. air and water pollution, soil heavy metal contamination); agroforestry; and forest ecology.

SERVICES

• Reviewers for two papers in Tree Physiology, 1997
• Volunteer lecture for local elementary school, 1998-2000
• Postdoctoral Research Associate Search Committee, January to March 2002
• Forestry Technician Evaluation Committee, May to July 2002
• Co-supervisor for graduate and undergraduate students in field research, January 2002 – present
• Treasurer, Sino-Ecologists Club Overseas, 2002- present

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research interests are in a broad field of botany, forestry, and environmental science including conservation biology, global biodiversity conservation, plant ecological physiology, forest ecology, forest health, environmental risk assessment, and ecosystem management. My current research includes two major parts. First, I am seeking the physiological mechanisms of woody plants in resistance to insect herbivores. We want to address following questions: why some trees are more resistant or susceptible to insect herbivores than others of the same species within the same stand? Are such variations under a genetic control? What are the physiological mechanisms accounting for such differences in resistance to insect herbivores? How can we cooperate tree resistance mechanisms into forest ecosystem management? Second, I am working on the national fire and fire surrogate project (http://ffs.psw.fs.fed.us). The purpose of this study is to develop a standard experimental design and protocol for a national study of the consequences of fire and fire surrogate treatments. Our study emphasizes the effect of fire and fire surrogate treatments on the population of bark beetles in ponderosa pine ecosystems, and the assemblage of ground beetles (e.g. richness and diversity) as ecological indicators of such treatments.


MEMBERSHIP

• Chinese Association of Botany (1986-1994)
• Chinese Association of Forestry (1989-1994)
• Chinese Association of Ecology (1990-1994)
• Ecological Society of America (1998-present)
• Society of American Foresters (2002-present)
• Sino-Ecologists Club Overseas (1999-present)


SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (since 1990)


Chen, Z., T. E. Kolb, K. M. Clancy, V. D. Hipkins and L. E. DeWald. 2001a. Allozyme variation in interior Douglas-fir: association with growth and resistance to western spruce budworm herbivory. Can. J. For. Res. 31: 1691-1700.

Chen, Z., T. E. Kolb, and K. M. Clancy. 2001b. Mechanisms of Douglas-fir resistance to western spruce budworm defoliation: budburst phenology, photosynthetic compensation and growth rate. Tree Physiol. 21: 1159-1169.

Chen, Z., T. E. Kolb, and K. M. Clancy. 2002a. The role of monoterpenes in resistance of Douglas-fir to western spruce budworm defoliation. J. Chem. Ecol. 28: 897-920.

Chen, Z., T. E. Kolb, and K. M. Clancy. 2002b. Effects of artificial and western spruce budworm (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) defoliation on growth and biomass allocation of Douglas-fir seedlings. J. Econ. Entomol. 95: 587-594.

Chen, Z., K. M. Clancy, and T. E. Kolb. 2003. Variation in budburst phenology of Douglas-fir related to western spruce budworm (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) fitness. J. Econ. Entomol. 96: 377-387.

Clancy, K. M., Z. Chen, and T. E. Kolb. 2003. Foliar nutrients and induced susceptibility: genetic mechanisms of Douglas-fir resistance to western spruce budworm defoliation. Can. J. For. Res. (in print).

Wagner, M. R., and Z. Chen. 2003. Long-term impacts of Rhyacionia neomexicana (Dyar) and vegetation competition on Pinus ponderosa growth in northern Arizona. For. Sci. (in review).

Wagner, M. R., and Z. Chen. 2003. Ontogenetic resistance in Pinus ponderosa to Rhyacionia neomexicana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): role of anatomical features. IUFO Proceedings, Japan, 2003.

Barbehenn, R. V., and Z. Chen. 2003. Effects of elevated CO2 on the nutritional quality of C3 and C4 grasses and the performance of grasshopper. Oecologia (in review).

Barbehenn, R. V., D. N. Karowe, Z. Chen, and A. Spickard. 2003. Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on the nutritional quality of several C3 and C4 grasses. Global Change Biology (in preparation).

Cai, J. H. and Z. Chen. 1992. Primary studies on the community of ecological citrus orchard in the red soil in Jiangxi. . Research on the Red Soil Ecosystem I, Science Press, Beijing, pp 231-233 (in Chinese).

Chen, Z. and J. H. Cai. 1992. The characteristics of root distribution and development of Rubus hirsutus Thunb. J. Plant Resour. & Environ. 1: 44-48 (in Chinese).

Zhao, C. M., Z. Chen and Q. Miao. 1992. The karyotype analysis of Taxodium x Zhongsannica CL ‘401’. Jiangsu For. Sci. & Tech. 19: 8-11 (in Chinese).

Chen, K., and Z. Chen, S. A. He, L. Liu, H. Zhao, and G. Tan. Effects of Castanea mollissima and Camellia sinensis in intercropping plantation on distribution of their root systems. Bulletin of Nanjing Botanical Garden, Mem. Sun Yat-Sen. 1988-89. Jiangsu Sci. & Tech. Press, Nanjing, China (in Chinese)


PRESENTATIONS


Wagner, M. R., and Z. Chen. 2003. Ontogenetic resistance in Pinus ponderosa to Rhyacionia neomexicana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): role of anatomical features. IUFO Proceedings, Japan, 2003.

Chen, Z., K. M. Clancy, and T. E. Kolb. 2002. Effect of Douglas-fir foliage monoterpenes and nutrients on western spruce budworm fitness: budburst phenology matters. Poster presentation. International Union of Forestry Research Organization (IUFRO) working party 7.01.02- Tree resistance to insects. Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. June 10-14, 2002.

Wagner, M. R., J. D. Bailey, K. M. Clancy, and Z. Chen. 2002. Entomological research on the fire and fire surrogate treatments in Arizona and New Mexico: preliminary results and perspective. Poster presentation. National Fire Plan Conference, Madison, WI. April 14-16, 2002

Wagner, M. R., and Z. Chen. 2002. Pretreatment bark beetle survey on fire and fire surrogate plots in Northern Arizona and New Mexico. Proceedings of the first meeting of the fire and fire surrogate (FFS) entomology group. Holiday Inn, Athens, GA Jan. 22-23, 2002.

Clancy, K. M., Z. Chen, and T. E. Kolb. 2001. Greenhouse bioassay for evaluating performance on the western spruce budworm on grafted Douglas-fir. Poster presentation for Ecological Society of America (ESA) annual meeting 2001, Madison, WI.

Chen, Z., T. E. Kolb, and K. M. Clancy. 2001. The role of monoterpenes in resistance of Douglas-fir to western spruce budworm defoliation. Poster presentation. North America Forest Insect Work Conference, May 14-18, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Chen, Z., T. E. Kolb, K. M. Clancy, L. E. DeWald and V. D. Hipkins. Allozyme variation is associated with Douglas-fir phenotypic resistance to western spruce budworm defoliation. Poster presentation for ESA annual meeting 2000, Snowbird, UT.

Chen, Z., T. E. Kolb and K. M. Clancy. An evaluation of Douglas-fir resistance mechanisms to western spruce budworm herbivory. Poster presentation for ESA annual meeting 1999, Spokane, WA.

Chen, Z., T. E. Kolb, K. M. Clancy. 1999. Genetic variation in resistance mechanisms of Douglas-fir to western spruce budworm defoliation. Poster presentation. Joint meeting of the western international forest disease work conference (WIFDWC) and western international forest insect work conference (WFIWC), Breckenridge, CO.

Chen, Z. and A. E. Miller. Some early physiological changes in fresh-cut yellow-poplar stumps. Oral presentation for South Carolina Academy of Science (SCAS) annual meeting 1997, Columbia, SC.