Dr. Sara G Baer

Sara Baer
  • Director, Kansas Biological Survey
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Contact Info

Phone:
785-864-1505
108B Takeru Higuchi Hall
Lawrence
2101 Constant Ave.
Lawrence, KS 66047

Education —

Ph.D. in Biology, Kansas State University, 2001
M.S. in Entomology, University of Georgia, 1995
B.S. in Biology, University of North Texas, 1992

Research —

My research interests are in the realms of soil, ecosystem, community, and restoration ecology. Most of my research is conducted in former agricultural systems restored to grassland. I use manipulative approaches, as well as natural variation in climate and soil, to address theoretical and applied questions about factors that influence above- and belowground recovery during ecological restoration. My current research projects examine the roles of (i) interannual variation in climate on trajectories of community development; (ii) soil heterogeneity on restoring plant diversity; and (iii) ecotypic variation on plant diversity and ecosystem functioning in restored prairie. My research also uses grasslands restored at different times under contrasting climates, soil, and levels of plant diversity to model and reveal factors controlling the recovery of soil nutrient pools, microbial communities, roots, soil structure, and sequestered carbon in restored grasslands throughout the U.S. Midwest and South Africa.

Selected Publications —

  • Baer, S. G., T. J. Adams, D. A. Scott, J. M. Blair, and S. L. Collins. 2020. Soil heterogeneity increases plant diversity after twenty years of manipulation during grassland restoration. Submitted to Ecological Applications.
  • Baer, S. G., D. J. Gibson, and L. C. Johnson. 2019. Restoring grassland in the context of climate change. Pages 310-322 in D. J. Gibson and J. Newman, editors, Grasslands and Climate Change Oxford University Press.
  • Baer, S. G. and H. BirgĂ©. 2018. Soil ecosystem services: an overview. In D. Reicosky (ed.), Managing soil health for sustainable agriculture. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing Limited, Cambridge.
  • Baer, S. G. 2016. Nutrients as determinants and endpoints in ecological restoration. Pages 333-364 in M. A. Palmer, J. Zedler, and D. Falk (editors). Foundations of Restoration Ecology, 2nd edition. Island Press: Washington D.C.
  • Baer, S. G., J. M. Blair, and S. L. Collins. 2016. Environmental heterogeneity has a weak effect on diversity during community assembly in tallgrass prairie. Ecological Monographs 86: 94-106.
  • Baer, S. G., E. M. Bach, C. K. Meyer, C. DuPreez, and J. Six. 2015. Restoration of cultivated soil in the Free State (South Africa) and comparison to Nebraska (United States) provides a global perspective of belowground ecosystem recovery in response to grassland restoration. Ecosystems 18: 390-403.
  • Baer, S. G., D. J. Gibson, A. M. Benscoter, L. K. Reed, R. E. Campbell, R. P. Klopf, J. E. Willand, and B. R. Wodika. 2014. No effect of seed source on multiple aspects of ecosystem functioning during ecological restoration: cultivars compared to local ecotypes of dominant grasses. Evolutionary Applications 7:323-335.
  • Baer, Sara G. 2013. Restoration Ecology. In Oxford Bibliographies in Ecology. Edited by David Gibson. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Baer, S. G., L. Heneghan, and V. Eviner. 2012. Applying soil ecological knowledge to restore ecosystem services. Pages 377-393 Soil Ecology and Ecosystem Services. Edited by Diana H. Wall, Richard D. Bardgett, Valerie Behan-Pelletier, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Hefin Jones, Karl Ritz, Johan Six, Donald R. Strong and William H. van der Putten. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  • Baer, S. G., D. Engle, J. M. H. Knops, K. A. Langeland, B. D. Maxwell, F. D. Menalled, and A. Symstad. 2009. Vulnerability of rehabilitated agricultural production systems to invasion by nontarget plant species. Environmental Management 43:189-196.
  • Baer, S. G. and J. M. Blair. 2008. Grassland establishment under varying resource availability: A test of positive and negative feedback. Ecology 89:1859-1871.
  • Baer, S. G., J. M. Church, K. W. J. Williard, and J. W. Groninger. 2006. Changes in intrasystem N cycling from N2-fixing shrub encroachment in grassland: multiple positive feedbacks. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 115:174-182.
  • Baer, S. G., S. L. Collins, J. M. Blair, A. K. Knapp and A. Fiedler. 2005. Soil heterogeneity effects on tallgrass prairie community heterogeneity: An application of ecological theory to restoration ecology. Restoration Ecology 13:413-424.
  • Baer, S. G., Blair, J. M., Collins, S. L., and A. K. Knapp. 2004. Plant community responses to resource availability and heterogeneity during restoration. Oecologia 139:617-639.
  • Baer, S. G. and J. W. Groninger. 2004. Herbicide and tillage effects on volunteer vegetation composition and diversity during reforestation. Restoration Ecology 12:258-267.
  • Baer, S. G., J. M. Blair, S. L. Collins, and A. K. Knapp. 2003. Soil resources regulate productivity and diversity in newly established tallgrass prairie. Ecology 84:724-735.
  • Baer, S. G., D. J. Kitchen, J. M. Blair, and C. W. Rice. 2002. Changes in ecosystem structure and function along a chronosequence of grasslands restored through the Conservation Reserve Program. Ecological Applications 12:1688-1701.
  • Baer, S. G., E. R. Siler, S. Eggert, and J. B. Wallace. 2001. Colonization and production of macroinvertebrates on artificial substrates: upstream-downstream responses to a leaf litter exclusion manipulation. Freshwater Biology 46:347-365.
  • Baer, S. G., C. W. Rice, and J. M. Blair. 2000. Assessment of soil quality in fields with short- and long term enrollment in the CRP. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 55:142-146.
  • Baer, S. G., J. M. Blair, and A. K. Knapp. 1999. Manipulation of soil resource heterogeneity in a tallgrass prairie restoration. Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conference 16:78-87.

Awards & Honors —

  • Young Alumni Award, Kansas State University, 2014.
  • Women of Distinction Award, Southern Illinois University, 2015.