Mary K. Firestone

Reduced precipitation alters microbial availability and uptake of grassland rhizosphere carbon

The paper shows reduced precipitation increases microbial uptake and processing of rhizodeposit carbon near roots in grasslands, altering carbon cycling without plant stress.

Reduced legacy precipitation decreases microbial community growth efficiency and alters soil organic carbon in a California grassland

This study shows that reduced winter precipitation lowers microbial growth efficiency and shifts soil organic carbon composition in a California grassland.

Drought reduces formation, but enhances persistence, of mineral-associated organic matter in a grassland soil

This study examines how drought affects the formation and persistence of mineral-associated organic matter in grassland soil, finding reduced formation but enhanced persistence of detrital-derived MAOM.

Codon bias, nucleotide selection, and genome size predict in situ bacterial growth rate and transcription in rewetted soil

The paper links genomic traits like codon bias and genome size to bacterial growth and transcription rates in rewetted soil using metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data.

EcoFun-MAP: An Ecological Function Oriented Metagenomic Analysis Pipeline

EcoFun-MAP is a metagenomic analysis pipeline designed for ecological function annotation, offering multiple workflows and a web interface to analyze environmental samples.

Conversion of marginal land into switchgrass conditionally accrues soil carbon and reduces methane consumption

This study evaluates the impact of switchgrass cultivation on soil carbon and methane consumption in two degraded soils, finding increased carbon and reduced methane consumption in specific soil types.

Quantifying the effects of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) on deep organic C stocks using natural abundance 14C in three marginal soils

This study quantifies how switchgrass affects deep soil organic carbon stocks in three marginal soils using natural abundance 14C, finding site-specific increases in subsoil carbon under switchgrass.