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THE STEELE LAB AT VIRGINIA TECH

Current research Projects

SOIL RESPIRATION: MACROSCALE HETEROGENEITY AND RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
How does soil respiration and carbon dynamics differ with climate, vegetation, and land use?  What are the implications for global carbon cycling and climate change?  To answer these questions, this research (led by PhD student Jinshi Jian) examines these macroscale patterns using new a global scale, monthly time step database (MGRsD). Click here to for more information about the database and access to the data.  Click here to learn more and access the MGRsD.
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THE LAND COVER COMPOSITION AND CONFIGURATION OF US CITIES
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Cities are structurally very different from city to city.  How population density and land cover composition of cities differs with urban age and population size?  Does structure differ with political and physiographic boundaries? Do environmental characteristics and ecosystem services differ with land cover composition?

In a new paper, we answer these questions and present a new typology of urban structure based on land cover composition.


Click here to learn more.

Developed hydroscapes

The streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds of a region make up a hydroscape.  When developed for cities or agriculture, we drain, build, and modify these features.  What is the result? 

Click here to learn more.

Shifting Cation Chemistry

Think about sodium (Na - aka "salt").  Where is it in your life? Road salt, food, irrigation water, concrete?  Lots of places.  Are human activities changing the cation chemistry of the landscape?  What are the consequences for water quality and biogeochemical cycles?  

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