J. C. Stegen

Meta-metabolome ecology reveals that geochemistry and microbial functional potential are linked to organic matter development across seven rivers

The paper links geochemistry and microbial functional potential to organic matter development across seven rivers using DOM characterization, geochemical analyses, and shotgun metagenomics.

Genome-resolved metaproteomics decodes the microbial and viral contributions to coupled carbon and nitrogen cycling in river sediments

The paper integrates metagenomic, metaproteomic, and metabolomic data from river sediments to uncover microbial and viral roles in carbon and nitrogen cycling, creating a genomic resource called HUM-V.

Controls on and consequences of specific leaf area variation with permafrost depth in a boreal forest

The paper measures specific leaf area (SLA) variation across a boreal forest permafrost transition and finds a positive correlation between active layer depth and SLA, with implications for ecosystem productivity and carbon cycling.

Disturbance Triggers Non-Linear Microbe-Environment Feedbacks

The paper tests a conceptual framework linking microbial communities with environmental factors and processes, finding non-linear feedbacks triggered by disturbance.

Ecological theory applied to environmental metabolomes reveals compositional divergence despite conserved molecular properties

The paper applies ecological theory to environmental metabolomes, revealing compositional divergence despite conserved molecular properties through the concept of thermodynamic redundancy.

Dissolved oxygen dynamics reveal biogeochemical tipping points driven by river corridor hydrology

The paper measures dissolved oxygen dynamics in a hydropeaked river system to identify hydrobiogeochemical tipping points driven by rapid hydrologic changes.

Unification of Environmental Metabolomics with Metacommunity Ecology

The paper unifies environmental metabolomics with metacommunity ecology to analyze NOM composition using ecological metrics and dendrograms.

Temporal dynamics of nitrogen cycle gene diversity in a hyporheic microbiome

The paper examines seasonal changes in within-gene diversity for nitrogen cycling genes in hyporheic zone communities, finding that nitrification genes show low richness while denitrification genes vary in richness and phylotype turnover.

Forfeiting the founder effect: turnover defines biofilm community succession

The paper investigates microbial community succession in a hypersaline mat, finding that turnover, not nestedness, shapes community structure and that deterministic and stochastic processes affect bacteria and eukaryotes differently.

Dispersal limitation and thermodynamic constraints govern spatial structure of permafrost microbial communities

This study identifies dispersal limitation and thermodynamic constraints as key factors shaping permafrost microbial community structure, distinct from non-permafrost soils.

Stochastic microbial community assembly decreases biogeochemical function

This study shows that increased dispersal in microbial communities reduces biogeochemical function by increasing maladapted taxa and highlights the tradeoff between generalist and specialist species.

Carbon inputs from riparian vegetation limit oxidation of physically-bound organic carbon via biochemical and thermodynamic processes

The paper investigates how riparian vegetation affects oxidation of physically-bound organic carbon through biochemical and thermodynamic processes in the Columbia River corridor.

Deterministic influences exceed dispersal effects on hydrologically-connected microbiomes

The paper investigates microbiome assembly in hydrologically-connected zones, finding deterministic ecological selection over dispersal and identifying organism groups linked to seasonal metabolic shifts in hyporheic zones.