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Barbara L. Bedford
Senior Research Associate
121 Fernow Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Ph: 607-255-2014
Fx: 607-255-0349
e.mail:
blb4@cornell.edu
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Barbara L. Bedford
Ph.D - University of Wisconsin-Madison - 1980
M.Sc. - University of Wisconsin-Madison - 1977
B.A. - Marquette University Honors Program - 1968
Barbara Bedford joined the Department of Natural Resources in 1989,
having served as the Associate Director of Cornell University's
Ecosystems Research Center since 1980. In addition to teaching and
research, she works with conservation organizations and various state
and federal agencies in efforts to solve environmental problems that
affect wetlands and the landscapes in which they occur. Dr. Bedford currently
serves as President of the Society of Wetland Scientists and is the recipient
of the 2005 National Wetlands Award in the Science Research category.
Research
Her research focuses on wetland plant diversity, what controls it,
how human actions affect it, and how to manage it. She and her
students work primarily in fens, bogs, riparian wetlands, and Great
Lakes wetlands. Current projects in her laboratory include:
(a) relationship of groundwater hydrology and chemistry to nutrient
availability, plant productivity, and plant species diversity;
(b) inter-relationships among nutrient availability, plant tissue
chemistry, and plant species diversity; (c) landscape control of
wetland biogeochemistry and hydrology; (d) effects of removing cattails
on fen species composition and diversity; (e) mycorrhizal diversity and
the role of mycorrhizal fungi in maintaining plant species diversity in
phosphorus-poor wetlands; (f) sources of below-ground carbon to riparian
zones and their role in nitrogen dynamics; and (g) development of vegetation
indicators of the state of Great Lakes wetlands.
Teaching
Selected Publications
- Vaccaro, L.E., B.L. Bedford, and C.A. Johnston. 2009. Litter accumulation promotes
dominance of invasive species of cattails (Typha spp.) in Lake Ontario
wetlands. Wetlands (accepted).
- Johnston, C.A., J.B. Zedler, M.G. Tulbure, C.B. Frieswyk, M. Bourdaghs,
B.L. Bedford, and L. Vaccaro. 2009. A unifying approach for evaluating the condition of
wetland plant communities and identifying related stressors. Ecological
Applications (in press).
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Brinson, M.M., B.L. Bedford, B. Middleton, and J.T.A. Verhoeven. 2008. Temperate
freshwater wetlands: Response to gradients in moisture regime, human alterations, and
economic status. Pages 127-140 in N. Polunin, ed. Aquatic Ecosystems--Trends and
Global Prospects. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
- Boomer, K.M. Bailey, and B.L. Bedford. 2008. Influence of nested groundwater systems
on reduction-oxidation and alkalinity gradients with implications for plant nutrient
availability in four New York fens. Journal of Hydrology 351:107-125.
- Boomer, K.B., and B.L. Bedford. 2008. Groundwater-induced redox-gradients control
soil properties and phosphorus availability across four headwater wetlands, New York,
USA. Biogeochemistry 90(3):259-274.
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