Professor Hart's research explores the controls of biogeochemical processes and productivity in managed and wildland terrestrial ecosystems using methods such as:
Ecological genetics to isotopic analyses
Computer simulation modeling
Elucidate the biotic and abiotic factors that regulate terrestrial ecosystem structure and function
His research group is currently investigating:
Biological and geochemical controls on ecosystem development along a three million year, semi-arid soil chronosequence
Influence of the genetics of dominant plants on ecosystem processes
Effects of forest restoration treatments (e.g., thinning with or without prescribed fire) and wildfire on ecosystem carbon and water balance, soil microbial communities, and belowground processes
Efficacy of insect communities as indicators of forest ecosystem health
Utility of the 15N natural abundance signature of soil microbes as an integrator of nitrogen cycling processes
Impact of climatic change on soil-plant-atmosphere interactions; and the effects of water diversion on riparian forest