Sarah Emery

Research Interests:

Anthropogenic global changes —including climate change, nutrient enrichment, invasive species, and urbanization— threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across the planet. As a plant community ecologist, my research works to understand and mitigate the effects of global change for plants.  I work in a variety of systems including sand dunes, grasslands, forests, urban green spaces, and agricultural fields.

Recent Publications:

Tapp Ross, A. and S.M. Emery. 2025. Microbial inocula enhance effects of biochar amendments on crop productivity, soil health, and microbial communities: A meta-analysis. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 89, e20792. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20792

Koenig, K.A. and S.M. Emery. 2024. The invasive annual grass, Microstegium vimineum, is associated with reduced native species seed predation by small mammals in eastern deciduous forests. Plant Ecology 225:135–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-023-01384-4.

Garces, K.R., L. Bell-Dereske, J.A. Rudgers, and S.M. Emery. 2023. Nitrogen addition and fungal symbiosis alter early dune plant succession. Oecologia 201:1067–1077. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05362-5

Impact Publications:

Kivlin, S.N., S.M. Emery, and J.A. Rudgers.  2013. Fungal symbionts alter plant responses to global change. American Journal of Botany 100:1145-1157.

Emery, S.M. and K.L. Gross.  2007.  Dominant species identity, not community evenness, regulates invasion in experimental plant communities. Ecology 88:954-964. 

Gottshall, C.B., M. Cooper, and S.M. Emery. 2017. Abundance, diversity, and function of arbuscular mycorrhizae vary with changes in agricultural management intensity. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment 241: 142–149.