Robert Hubbard
Research Ecologist at the Fort Collins Laboratory

e-mail: rhubbard[at]fs.fed.us
phone:970-498-1260

Aquatic Ecology | Sediment & Erosion | Watershed Processes

My research focuses on the ecophysiology of forest ecosystems and strives to increase our understanding of how forests respond to disturbance and the role plants play in regulating hydrologic processes.  Current research examines how changes in species composition and forest structure alters stream flow in watersheds following mountain pine beetle attack. Other research aims to: quantify the physiological mechanisms that control forest productivity; understand how resource availability controls forest water use; define the role of physiological constraints on species abundance and distribution; and investigate the effects of climate change on ecosystem water and carbon cycling.

• How will changes in understory growth and water use following beetle induced overstory mortality affect stand transpiration and water yield? 
  Collaborators: Kelly Elder and Chuck Rhoades (USFS)

• What causes tree mortality following mountain pine beetle attack: blue stain fungi or phloem girdling by beetles?
  Collaborators: Chuck Rhoades (USFS)
• Quantifying the contribution of transpiration to total site water balance on a forested and regenerating hillslope. 
  Collaborators: Kelly Elder (USFS)
• Understanding the effects of fertilization and irrigation  on stand water use and water use efficiency in fast growing Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil. Collaborators:  Jose Stape (Univ. Sao Paulo, Brazil), Mike Ryan (USFS), Auro Almeida (CSIRO, Aust.)
• Physiological controls on Salix distribution in the Fraser Experimental Forest. Collaborators: Kate Dwire (USFS)
• Quantifying the effects of tree metabolism on soil respiration in conifer and deciduous watersheds. 
  Collaborators: Jim Vose, Chelcy Ford (USFS, SRS) and Brian Kloeppel (Univ. of Georgia).

Hubbard, R.M., C.C. Rhoades, K. Elder, and J.F. Negron. 2013. Changes in transpiration and foliage growth in lodgepole pine trees following mountain pine beetle attack and mechanical girdling. Forest Ecology and Management 289: 312-317.

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Collins, B.; Rhoades, C.; Battaglia, M.; and R. Hubbard. 2012. The effects of bark beetle outbreaks on forest development, fuel loads and potential fire behavior in salvage logged and untreated lodgepole pine forests.  Forest Ecology and Management. 284: 260-268.

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Collins, Byron J.; Rhoades, Charles C.; Hubbard, Robert M.; Battaglia, Michael A. 2011. Tree regeneration and future stand development after bark beetle infestation and harvesting in Colorado lodgepole pine stands. Forest Ecology and Management. 261: 2168-2175.

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Collins, Byron J.; Rhoades, Charles C.; Underhill, Jeffrey; Hubbard, Robert M. 2010. Post-harvest seedling recruitment following mountain pine beetle infestation of Colorado lodgepole pine stands: A comparison using historic survey records. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 40: 2452-2456.

Hubbard, Robert M.; Stape, Jose; Ryan, Michael G.; Almeida, Auro C.; Rojas, Juan  2010.  Effects of irrigation on water use and water use efficiency in two fast growing Eucalyptus plantations.   Forest Ecology and Management. 259: 1714-1721.

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Ford Celcy R.; Hubbard, Robert M.; Kloeppel, Brian; Vose, James M.  2007.  A comparison of sap flux-based evapotranspiration estimates with catchment-scale water balance.   Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 145(3-4): 176-185.

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Elder, Kelly; Dwire, Kate; Hubbard, Robert; Rhoades, Charles; Ryan, Sandra; Young, Mike;

Porth, Laurie; Dixon, Mark; Goodbody, Angue  2006.  Second interagency conference on research in the watersheds.   Second Interagency Conference On Research in the Watersheds, May 16-19, 2006, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, Otto, NC. 202 p..

Research Scientist