publications
Flerchinger, G. N., Chu, X., Lohse, K. A., Clark, P. E., and Seyfried, M. S. 2025. Parameter sensitivity and transferability for simulating evapotranspiration and gross primary productivity of dryland ecosystems across a climate gradient. Ecological Modelling 501:110973. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2024.110973
Garcia, E. D., Lee, L., and Lougheed, V. 2025. The long-term development of wetland plant communities with water deliveries in a created wetland in the desert Southwest. Wetlands 45:114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-025-02000-z
Holguin, J., Darrouzet-Nardi, A., and McLaren, J. R. 2025. Low retention of added nitrogen at realistic levels of simulated nitrogen deposition in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 211:109977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109977
McCord, S. E., Brehm, J. R., Condon, L., Dreesmann, L., Ellsworth, L. M., Germino, M. J., Herrick, J. E., Howard, B. K., Kachergis, E., Karl, J. W., Knight, A., Meadors, S., Nafus, A., Newingham, B. A., Olsoy, P. J., Pietrasiak, N., Pilliod, D. S., Schaefer, A., Webb, N. P., Wheeler, B., Williams, C. J., and Young, K. 2025. Evaluation of the gap intercept method to measure rangeland connectivity. Rangeland Ecology and Management 98:297–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2024.09.001
Stover, D. J., Pietrasiak, N., Jin, L., and McLaren, J. R. 2025. Multi-scale influences on the fertile island effect: Landscape-scale and patch-level processes drive patterns of soil fertility in the Chihuahuan Desert. Cambridge Prisms: Drylands 2:e10. https://doi.org/10.1017/dry.2025.10004
Brahney, J., Heindel, R. C., Gill, T. E., Carling, G., Gonzalez-Olalla, G., Hand, J. M., Mallia, D., Munroe, J., Perry, K., Putnam, A., Skiles, M., Adams, B. R., Aanderud, Z. T., Aarons, S., Aguirre, D., Ardon-Dryer, K., Blakowski, M., Creamean, J. M., Fernandez, D., Foroutan, H., Gaston, C., Hahnenberger, M., Hoch, S., Jones, D., Kelly, K., Lang, O., Le Monte, J., Reynolds, R., Singh, R., Sweeney, M., and Merrill, T. 2024. Dust in the Critical Zone: North American case studies. Earth-Science Reviews 258:104942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104942
Herndon, E., Ma, L., Newcomer, M., and Shiller, A. M. 2024. Trace elements and their isotopes in streams and rivers. In Treatise on Geochemistry, 3rd ed., edited by A. Anbar and D. Weis, 117–154. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-99762-1.00022-X
Jung, P., Briegel-Williams, L., Dultz, S., Neff, C., Heibrock, G., Monger, C., Pietrasiak, N., Keller, L., Hale, J., Friedek, J., Schmidt, T., Guggenberger, G., and Lakatos, M. 2024. Hard shell, soft blue-green core: Ecology, processes and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteria. iScience 27:111280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.111280
Nyachoti, S., Garcia, V. H., Monger, C., Tweedie, C., Gill, T. E., Jin, L., and Ma, L. 2024. Uranium-series and strontium isotope systematics in soil carbonates from dryland Critical Zones: Implications for soil inorganic carbon storage and transformation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 377:34–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2024.05.020
Witzgall, K., Hesse, B. D., Pacay-Barrientos, N. L., Jansa, J., Seguel, O., Oses, R., Buegger, F., Guigue, J., Rojas, C., Rousk, K., Grams, T. E. E., Pietrasiak, N., and Mueller, C. W. 2024. Soil carbon and nitrogen cycling at the atmosphere–soil interface: Quantifying the responses of biocrust–soil interactions to global change. Global Change Biology 30:e17519. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17519
Darrouzet-Nardi, A., Asaff, I. S., Mauritz-Tozer, M. E., Roman, K., Keats, E., Tweedie, C. E., and McLaren, J. R. 2023. Consistent microbial and nutrient resource island patterns during monsoon rain in a Chihuahuan Desert bajada shrubland. Ecosphere 14:e4475. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4475
Hoellrich, M. R., James, D. K., Bustos, D., Darrouzet-Nardi, A., Santiago, L. S., and Pietrasiak, N. 2023. Biocrust carbon exchange varies with crust type and time on Chihuahuan Desert gypsum soils. Frontiers in Microbiology 14:1128631. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1128631
Li, J., Ravi, S., Wang, G., Van Pelt, R. S., Gill, T. E., and Sankey, J. B. 2022. Woody plant encroachment of grassland and the reversibility of shrub dominance: Erosion, fire, and feedback processes. Ecosphere 13:e3949. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3949
Stanbery, C., Ghahremani, Z., Huber, D. P., Will, R., Hanif, T., Benner, S. G., Spaete, L., Terhaar, D., Seyfried, M., Lohse, K. A., Glenn, N., and Pierce, J. L. 2023. Controls on the presence and storage of soil inorganic carbon in a semi-arid watershed. Catena 225:106980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.106980
Steiner, J. L., Brandani, C. B., Chappell, A., Castaño-Sanchez, J., Hoellrich, M., McIntosh, M. M., Nyamuryekung’e, S., Pietrasiak, N., Rotz, A., and Webb, N. P. 2023. Distinctive dryland soil carbon transformations and management: Insights from arid rangelands of the southwestern United States. In Soil and Drought: Basic Processes, edited by R. Lal, 39–82. CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/b22954-3
Doser, D. L., and Baker, M. R. 2021. Geophysical reconnaissance for siting dryland Critical Zone monitoring experiments in southern New Mexico, USA. Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.32389/JEEG21-022
Garcia, E. D., Lee, L., and Lougheed, V. 2025. The long-term development of wetland plant communities with water deliveries in a created wetland in the desert Southwest. Wetlands 45:114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-025-02000-z
Holguin, J., Darrouzet-Nardi, A., and McLaren, J. R. 2025. Low retention of added nitrogen at realistic levels of simulated nitrogen deposition in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 211:109977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109977
McCord, S. E., Brehm, J. R., Condon, L., Dreesmann, L., Ellsworth, L. M., Germino, M. J., Herrick, J. E., Howard, B. K., Kachergis, E., Karl, J. W., Knight, A., Meadors, S., Nafus, A., Newingham, B. A., Olsoy, P. J., Pietrasiak, N., Pilliod, D. S., Schaefer, A., Webb, N. P., Wheeler, B., Williams, C. J., and Young, K. 2025. Evaluation of the gap intercept method to measure rangeland connectivity. Rangeland Ecology and Management 98:297–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2024.09.001
Stover, D. J., Pietrasiak, N., Jin, L., and McLaren, J. R. 2025. Multi-scale influences on the fertile island effect: Landscape-scale and patch-level processes drive patterns of soil fertility in the Chihuahuan Desert. Cambridge Prisms: Drylands 2:e10. https://doi.org/10.1017/dry.2025.10004
Brahney, J., Heindel, R. C., Gill, T. E., Carling, G., Gonzalez-Olalla, G., Hand, J. M., Mallia, D., Munroe, J., Perry, K., Putnam, A., Skiles, M., Adams, B. R., Aanderud, Z. T., Aarons, S., Aguirre, D., Ardon-Dryer, K., Blakowski, M., Creamean, J. M., Fernandez, D., Foroutan, H., Gaston, C., Hahnenberger, M., Hoch, S., Jones, D., Kelly, K., Lang, O., Le Monte, J., Reynolds, R., Singh, R., Sweeney, M., and Merrill, T. 2024. Dust in the Critical Zone: North American case studies. Earth-Science Reviews 258:104942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104942
Herndon, E., Ma, L., Newcomer, M., and Shiller, A. M. 2024. Trace elements and their isotopes in streams and rivers. In Treatise on Geochemistry, 3rd ed., edited by A. Anbar and D. Weis, 117–154. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-99762-1.00022-X
Jung, P., Briegel-Williams, L., Dultz, S., Neff, C., Heibrock, G., Monger, C., Pietrasiak, N., Keller, L., Hale, J., Friedek, J., Schmidt, T., Guggenberger, G., and Lakatos, M. 2024. Hard shell, soft blue-green core: Ecology, processes and modern applications of calcification in terrestrial cyanobacteria. iScience 27:111280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.111280
Nyachoti, S., Garcia, V. H., Monger, C., Tweedie, C., Gill, T. E., Jin, L., and Ma, L. 2024. Uranium-series and strontium isotope systematics in soil carbonates from dryland Critical Zones: Implications for soil inorganic carbon storage and transformation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 377:34–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2024.05.020
Witzgall, K., Hesse, B. D., Pacay-Barrientos, N. L., Jansa, J., Seguel, O., Oses, R., Buegger, F., Guigue, J., Rojas, C., Rousk, K., Grams, T. E. E., Pietrasiak, N., and Mueller, C. W. 2024. Soil carbon and nitrogen cycling at the atmosphere–soil interface: Quantifying the responses of biocrust–soil interactions to global change. Global Change Biology 30:e17519. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17519
Darrouzet-Nardi, A., Asaff, I. S., Mauritz-Tozer, M. E., Roman, K., Keats, E., Tweedie, C. E., and McLaren, J. R. 2023. Consistent microbial and nutrient resource island patterns during monsoon rain in a Chihuahuan Desert bajada shrubland. Ecosphere 14:e4475. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4475
Hoellrich, M. R., James, D. K., Bustos, D., Darrouzet-Nardi, A., Santiago, L. S., and Pietrasiak, N. 2023. Biocrust carbon exchange varies with crust type and time on Chihuahuan Desert gypsum soils. Frontiers in Microbiology 14:1128631. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1128631
Li, J., Ravi, S., Wang, G., Van Pelt, R. S., Gill, T. E., and Sankey, J. B. 2022. Woody plant encroachment of grassland and the reversibility of shrub dominance: Erosion, fire, and feedback processes. Ecosphere 13:e3949. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3949
Stanbery, C., Ghahremani, Z., Huber, D. P., Will, R., Hanif, T., Benner, S. G., Spaete, L., Terhaar, D., Seyfried, M., Lohse, K. A., Glenn, N., and Pierce, J. L. 2023. Controls on the presence and storage of soil inorganic carbon in a semi-arid watershed. Catena 225:106980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.106980
Steiner, J. L., Brandani, C. B., Chappell, A., Castaño-Sanchez, J., Hoellrich, M., McIntosh, M. M., Nyamuryekung’e, S., Pietrasiak, N., Rotz, A., and Webb, N. P. 2023. Distinctive dryland soil carbon transformations and management: Insights from arid rangelands of the southwestern United States. In Soil and Drought: Basic Processes, edited by R. Lal, 39–82. CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/b22954-3
Doser, D. L., and Baker, M. R. 2021. Geophysical reconnaissance for siting dryland Critical Zone monitoring experiments in southern New Mexico, USA. Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.32389/JEEG21-022
Theses & DISSERTATIONS
Dacey, L. R. 2024. Water sufficiency for organismal function in dryland critical zones. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/4083/
Garcia, A. V. 2021. Geophysical studies of the characteristics of fluvial and desert soils in the Rio Grande Valley of west Texas and southern New Mexico. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI28868376/
Gardea, E. M. 2022. Water sourcing strategies of desert vegetation in varying soil textures with vegetation competition: A stable isotope analysis. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/3606/
Ghahremani, Z. 2024. Investigating the distribution of soil inorganic carbon and the role of dust deposition in dryland soils. M.S. thesis, Boise State University. https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/td/2213/
Molina, V. 2023. Differentiating biotic vs. abiotic CO₂ in the formation of pedogenic carbonate in agricultural and natural dryland soils. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI30494291/
Valenzuela Garay, N. 2022. Using ground penetrating radar to investigate controls on pedogenic carbonate distribution in dryland critical zones. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/3745/
Ramirez-Valle, O. 2022. Impact of agricultural practices on the consumptive water use of irrigated annual and perennial crops of northern México and the U.S. Southwest. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI30246140/
Orona, V. 2023. Characterizing spatial variability in soil CO₂ fluxes in the Chihuahuan Desert using geostatistical techniques. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/3837/
Renteria, F. 2025. Pathways of nitrogen loss after fertilization in dryland ecosystems. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/4447/
Salcido, B. A. 2023. Temporal trends in dryland soil carbon fluxes in response to artificial and natural pulsed moisture events. M.S. thesis, Environmental Science, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/3849/
Sasser, K. 2023. Using shallow electromagnetic and magnetic techniques to map soil texture and characterize salinity and water dynamics below pecan orchards, El Paso County, Texas. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/4019/
Schaefer, A. 2024. Linking biological soil crust abundance, distribution, and composition to ecological site and state in the Chihuahuan Desert. M.S. thesis, New Mexico State University. ProQuest
Sedano-Herrera, B. 2025. Investigating the influence of environmental stressors on exopolysaccharide production in soil cyanobacteria: Genomic and physiological perspectives. M.S. thesis, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/5329/
Garcia, A. V. 2021. Geophysical studies of the characteristics of fluvial and desert soils in the Rio Grande Valley of west Texas and southern New Mexico. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI28868376/
Gardea, E. M. 2022. Water sourcing strategies of desert vegetation in varying soil textures with vegetation competition: A stable isotope analysis. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/3606/
Ghahremani, Z. 2024. Investigating the distribution of soil inorganic carbon and the role of dust deposition in dryland soils. M.S. thesis, Boise State University. https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/td/2213/
Molina, V. 2023. Differentiating biotic vs. abiotic CO₂ in the formation of pedogenic carbonate in agricultural and natural dryland soils. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI30494291/
Valenzuela Garay, N. 2022. Using ground penetrating radar to investigate controls on pedogenic carbonate distribution in dryland critical zones. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/3745/
Ramirez-Valle, O. 2022. Impact of agricultural practices on the consumptive water use of irrigated annual and perennial crops of northern México and the U.S. Southwest. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI30246140/
Orona, V. 2023. Characterizing spatial variability in soil CO₂ fluxes in the Chihuahuan Desert using geostatistical techniques. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/3837/
Renteria, F. 2025. Pathways of nitrogen loss after fertilization in dryland ecosystems. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/4447/
Salcido, B. A. 2023. Temporal trends in dryland soil carbon fluxes in response to artificial and natural pulsed moisture events. M.S. thesis, Environmental Science, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/3849/
Sasser, K. 2023. Using shallow electromagnetic and magnetic techniques to map soil texture and characterize salinity and water dynamics below pecan orchards, El Paso County, Texas. M.S. thesis, University of Texas at El Paso. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/4019/
Schaefer, A. 2024. Linking biological soil crust abundance, distribution, and composition to ecological site and state in the Chihuahuan Desert. M.S. thesis, New Mexico State University. ProQuest
Sedano-Herrera, B. 2025. Investigating the influence of environmental stressors on exopolysaccharide production in soil cyanobacteria: Genomic and physiological perspectives. M.S. thesis, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/5329/
