Joseph Blankinship

Interests

Research

Soil biogeochemistry; microbial ecology; soil carbon sequestration, soil greenhouse gas production and consumption; soil aggregate stability; biocrusts; carbon-water-microbe interactions; plant-microbe interactions; ecosystem responses to climate change; biochar; sustainable and regenerative desert agriculture

Teaching

Soil Ecology of Sustainable Systems (ENVS 300); Nutrient Dynamics in Soils (ENVS 502); Scientific Writing (ENVS 408)

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

• Blankinship, J., & Hungate, B. (2006). Belowground food webs in a changing climate. In AGROECOSYSTEMS IN A CHANGING CLIMATE(pp 117-150). CRC Press.

Journals/Publications

• Heckman, K., Hicks Pries, C. E., Lawrence, C. R., Rasmussen, C., Crow, S. E., Hoyt, A. M., von Fromm, S. F., Shi, Z., Stoner, S., McGrath, C., Beem-Miller, J., Berhe, A. A., Blankinship, J. C., Keiluweit, M., Marín-Spiotta, E., Monroe, J. G., Plante, A. F., Schimel, J., Sierra, C. A., , Thompson, A., et al. (2022). Beyond bulk: Density fractions explain heterogeneity in global soil carbon abundance and persistence. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 28(3), 1178-1196.
  More info

  Understanding the controls on the amount and persistence of soil organic carbon (C) is essential for predicting its sensitivity to global change. The response may depend on whether C is unprotected, isolated within aggregates, or protected from decomposition by mineral associations. Here, we present a global synthesis of the relative influence of environmental factors on soil organic C partitioning among pools, abundance in each pool (mg C g  soil), and persistence (as approximated by radiocarbon abundance) in relatively unprotected particulate and protected mineral-bound pools. We show that C within particulate and mineral-associated pools consistently differed from one another in degree of persistence and relationship to environmental factors. Soil depth was the best predictor of C abundance and persistence, though it accounted for more variance in persistence. Persistence of all C pools decreased with increasing mean annual temperature (MAT) throughout the soil profile, whereas persistence increased with increasing wetness index (MAP/PET) in subsurface soils (30-176 cm). The relationship of C abundance (mg C g  soil) to climate varied among pools and with depth. Mineral-associated C in surface soils (
• Lawrence, C., Beem-Miller, J., Hoyt, A., Monroe, G., Sierra, C., Stoner, S., Heckman, K., Blankinship, J., Crow, S., McNicol, G., Trumbore, S., Levine, P., Vinduskova, O., Todd-Brown, K., Rasmussen, C., Hicks Pries, C., Schadel, C., McFarlane, K., Doetterl, S., & Hatte, C. (2020). An open-source database for the synthesis of soil radiocarbon data: International Soil Radiocarbon Database (ISRaD) version 1.0. EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA, 12, 61-76.
• Blankinship, J. C., Berhe, A. A., Crow, S. E., Druhan, J. L., Heckman, K. A., Keiluweit, M., Lawrence, C. R., Marin-Spiotta, E., Plante, A. F., Rasmussen, C., Schimel, J. P., Sierra, C. A., Schaedel, C., Thompson, A., Wagai, R., & Wieder, W. R. (2018). Improving understanding of soil organic matter dynamics by triangulating theories, measurements, and models. BIOGEOCHEMISTRY, 140, 1-13. doi:10.1007/s10533-018-0478-2
• Blankinship, J. C., McCorkle, E. P., Meadows, M. W., & Hart, S. C. (2018). Quantifying the legacy of snowmelt timing on soil greenhouse gas emissions in a seasonally dry montane forest. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 24, 5933-5947.
• Blankinship, J., & Schimel, J. (2018). Biotic versus abiotic controls on bioavailable soil organic carbon. SOIL SYSTEMS, 2, 10. doi:10.3390/soilsystems2010010
• Harden, J. W., Hugelius, G., Ahlstrom, A., Blankinship, J. C., Bond-Lamberty, B., Lawrence, C. R., Loisel, J., Malhotra, A., Jackson, R. B., Ogle, S., Phillips, C., Ryals, R., Todd-Brown, K., Vargas, R., Vergara, S. E., Cotrufo, F., Keiluweit, M., Heckman, K. A., Crow, S. E., , Silver, W. L., et al. (2018). Networking our science to characterize the state, vulnerabilities, and management opportunities of soil organic matter. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 24, e705-e718.
• Homyak, P. M., Blankinship, J. C., Slessarev, E. W., Schaeffer, S. M., Manzoni, S., & Schimel, J. P. (2018). Effects of altered dry season length and plant inputs on soluble soil carbon. ECOLOGY, 99, 2348-2362.
• Marchus, K. A., Blankinship, J. C., & Schimel, J. P. (2018). Environmental controls on extracellular polysaccharide accumulation in a California grassland soil. SOIL BIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY, 125, 86-92.
• Rasmussen, C., Heckman, K., Wieder, W. R., Keiluweit, M., Lawrence, C. R., Berhe, A. A., Blankinship, J. C., Crow, S. E., Druhan, J. L., Hicks-Pries, C. E., Marin-Spiotta, E., Plante, A. F., Schaedel, C., Schimel, J. P., Sierra, C. A., Thompson, A., & Wagai, R. (2018). Beyond clay: towards an improved set of variables for predicting soil organic matter content. BIOGEOCHEMISTRY, 137, 297-306.
• Carey, C. J., Blankinship, J. C., Eviner, V. T., Malmstrom, C. M., & Hart, S. C. (2017). Invasive plants decrease microbial capacity to nitrify and denitrify compared to native California grassland communities. BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS, 19(10), 2941-2957.
• Harden, J., Hugelius, G., Ahlstrom, A., Blankinship, J., Bond-Lamberty, B., Lawrence, C., Loisel, J., Malhotra, A., Jackson, R., Ogle, S., Phillips, C., Ryals, R., Todd-Brown, K., Vargas, R., Vergara, S., Cotrufo, F., Keiluweit, M., Heckman, K., Crow, S., , Silver, W., et al. (2017). Networking our science to characterize the state, vulnerabilities, and management opportunities of soil organic matter. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY. doi:10.1111/gcb.13896
• Leitner, S., Homyak, P. M., Blankinship, J. C., Eberwein, J., Jenerette, G. D., Zechmeister-Boltenstern, S., & Schimel, J. P. (2017). Linking NO and N2O emission pulses with the mobilization of mineral and organic N upon rewetting dry soils. SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY, 115, 461-466.
• Schimel, J., Becerra, C. A., & Blankinship, J. (2017). Estimating decay dynamics for enzyme activities in soils from different ecosystems. SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY, 114, 5-11.
• Blankinship, J. C., Fonte, S. J., Six, J., & Schimel, J. P. (2016). Plant versus microbial controls on soil aggregate stability in a seasonally dry ecosystem. GEODERMA, 272, 39-50.
• Homyak, P. M., Blankinship, J. C., Marchus, K., Lucero, D. M., Sickman, J. O., & Schimel, J. P. (2016). Aridity and plant uptake interact to make dryland soils hotspots for nitric oxide (NO) emissions. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 113(19), E2608-E2616.
• Duval, B. D., Blankinship, J. C., Dijkstra, P., & Hungate, B. A. (2015). CO2 effects on plant nutrient concentration depend on plant functional group and available nitrogen: a meta-analysis (Retraction of vol 213, pg 505, 2012). PLANT ECOLOGY, 216(12), 1675-1675.
• Blankinship, J. C., & Hart, S. C. (2014). Hydrological control of greenhouse gas fluxes in a Sierra Nevada subalpine meadow. ARCTIC ANTARCTIC AND ALPINE RESEARCH, 46(2), 355-364.
• Blankinship, J. C., Becerra, C. A., Schaeffer, S. M., & Schimel, J. P. (2014). Separating cellular metabolism from exoenzyme activity in soil organic matter decomposition. SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY, 71, 68-75.
• Blankinship, J. C., Meadows, M. W., Lucas, R. G., & Hart, S. C. (2014). Snowmelt timing alters shallow but not deep soil moisture in the Sierra Nevada. WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, 50(2), 1448-1456.
• Blankinship, J. C., & Hart, S. C. (2012). Consequences of manipulated snow cover on soil gaseous emission and N retention in the growing season: a meta-analysis. ECOSPHERE, 3(1).
• Brown, J. R., Blankinship, J. C., Niboyet, A., van, G., Dijkstra, P., Le, R. X., Leadley, P. W., & Hungate, B. A. (2012). Effects of multiple global change treatments on soil N2O fluxes. BIOGEOCHEMISTRY, 109(1-3), 85-100.
• Duval, B. D., Blankinship, J. C., Dijkstra, P., & Hungate, B. A. (2012). CO2 effects on plant nutrient concentration depend on plant functional group and available nitrogen: a meta-analysis (Retracted article. See vol. 216, pg. 1675, 2015). PLANT ECOLOGY, 213(3), 505-521.
• Blankinship, J. C., Niklaus, P. A., & Hungate, B. A. (2011). A meta-analysis of responses of soil biota to global change. OECOLOGIA, 165(3), 553-565.
• Dijkstra, P., Blankinship, J. C., Selmants, P. C., Hart, S. C., Koch, G. W., Schwartz, E., & Hungate, B. A. (2011). Probing carbon flux patterns through soil microbial metabolic networks using parallel position-specific tracer labeling. SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY, 43(1), 126-132.
• Niboyet, A., Brown, J. R., Dijkstra, P., Blankinship, J. C., Leadley, P. W., Le, R. X., Barthes, L., Barnard, R. L., Field, C. B., & Hungate, B. A. (2011). Global change could amplify fire effects on soil greenhouse gas emissions. PLOS ONE, 6(6).
• Niboyet, A., Le Roux, X., Dijkstra, P., Hungate, B., Barthes, L., Blankinship, J., Brown, J., Field, C., & Leadley, P. (2011). Testing interactive effects of global environmental changes on soil nitrogen cycling. ECOSPHERE, 2, art56. doi:10.1890/ES10-00148.1
• Blankinship, J. C., Brown, J. R., Dijkstra, P., & Hungate, B. A. (2010). Effects of interactive global changes on methane uptake in an annual grassland. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES, 115.
• Blankinship, J. C., Brown, J. R., Dijkstra, P., Allwright, M. C., & Hungate, B. A. (2010). Response of terrestrial CH4 uptake to interactive changes in precipitation and temperature along a climatic gradient. ECOSYSTEMS, 13(8), 1157-1170.
• Blankinship, J. C., Riveros-Iregui, D. A., & Desai, A. R. (2008). NCAR Advanced Study Program students "method hop" their way to regional biogeochemistry. BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, 89(10), 1571-1573.
• Barnard, R., Blankinship, J., Le Roux, X., Hungate, B., Cleland, E., Barthes, L., & Paul, L. (2006). Several components of global change alter nitrifying and denitrifying activities in an annual grassland. FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, 20, 557-564.

Presentations

• Ball, K., & Blankinship, J. (2021). Hung out to dry: How the reliance on metrics developed for soil health assessment in temperate systems may leas to erroneous management advice in arid systems. National Cooperative Soil Survey National Conference.
• Blankinship, J. (2021). Assessing and enhancing soil health to mitigate dust, rehabilitate rangelands, and sustain croplands. ENVS Colloquium.
• Blankinship, J. (2021). Benefits and limitations of Biological Soil Amendments of Animal Origin (BSAAO) for desert soil health. FDA Biological Soil Amendments of Animal Origin (BSAAO) Workshop. Estralla Community College.
• Blankinship, J. (2021). Linking soil health to dust prediction and mitigation: Project updates from University of Arizona research team. Arizona Annual Dust WorkshopNational Weather Service.
• Blankinship, J. (2021). Roles and opportunties of organic matter and microorganisms for arid soil health. Southwest Agricultural Summit. Yuma.
• Blankinship, J. (2021). Soil health research in desert cropping systems. Yuma Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture (YCEDA) Donors Meeting.
• Blankinship, J., Ball, K., Muscarella, C., & Rathke, S. (2021). The dry side of soil health: Developing a new framework for measuring and enhancing soil health in arid agroecosystems. NRCS Dynamic Soil Properties for Soil Health (DSP4SH) Annual Meeting.
• Blankinship, J., Rathke, S., Babst-Kostecka, A., Gornish, E., Barberan, A., Field, J., Saez, A. E., Rasmussen, C., & Tfaily, M. (2021). Mitigating dust pollution for climate-resilient development in arid regions. Symposium on Resilience Research for Global Development ChallengesArizona Institutes for Environment.
• Blankinship, J., Rathke, S., Rasmussen, C., Field, J. P., & Saez, A. E. (2021). Deadly dust on Arizona highways: Developing an improved dust risk index based on soil stabilization mechanisms and Ecological Site Descriptions. National Cooperative Soil Survey National Conference.
• Muscarella, C., Ball, K., & Blankinship, J. (2021). Are extracellular enzyme activities a useful indicator of nutrient availability in semi-arid soils?. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.
• Blankinship, J. (2020, February). Evaluating and nurturing soil health in desert agriculture. 2020 Southwest Ag Summit. Yuma, AZ.
• Blankinship, J. (2020, January). Evaluating landscape-scale soil health interventions and their ecosystem services. Altar Valley Soil Health Workshop.
• Blankinship, J. (2020, July). Soil organic matter as a holistic indicator of desert soil health. Desert Southwest Soil Health Webinar.
• Blankinship, J. (2020, June). Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) Project Proposal to Yuma Lettuce Industry. Yuma Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture.
• Blankinship, J. (2020, March). Adding organic materials to accelerate soil stabilization and dust mitigation. 2020 Arizona Dust Workshop. Coolidge, AZ: NOAA, ADEQ, and ADOT.
• Blankinship, J. (2020, September). Assessing and enhancing soil health to mitigate dust, rehabilitate rangelands, and sustain croplands. Northern Arizona University Foresty Departmental Seminar.
• Blankinship, J. (2019, April). Launchging the Arizona Carbon Project: Soil carbon accounting and sequestration in the Sonoran Desert. CALS Deans Research Advisory Committee (DRAC) Meeting. University of Arizona Main Campus.
• Blankinship, J. (2019, April). Soil aggregates in the desert: Where did they go and how do we get them back?. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Socorro, NM: Biology Departmental Seminar.
• Blankinship, J. (2019, December). Predicting and mitigating dust emissions from barren lands. Arizona State Dust Group Fall Meeting. Phoenix, AZ: Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
• Blankinship, J. (2019, January). Soils! The world beneath your feet. Envirothon. University of Arizona Main Campus.
• Blankinship, J. (2019, March). Testing carbon- and microbial-based strategies for soil stabilization and dust mitigation in barren lands of the Sonoran Desert. 2019 Arizona Dust Storm Workshop. Central Arizona College: National Weather Service.
• Blankinship, J. (2019, November). Advancing the science of soil health in dryland restoration. Society for Ecological Restoration Southwest Chapter Annual Meeting. University of Arizona Main Campus.
• Blankinship, J., Perno, S., Leger, A., & Rathke, S. (2019, January). Manifesting drought in the Desert Southwest: Soil biogeochemical signals and opportunities for mitigation. Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA.
• Leger, A., Rathke, S., & Blankinship, J. (2019, January). Rangeland compost application. Stakeholder outreach meeting with Emily Rockey from Tank's Green Stuff. University of Arizona Main Campus.
• Leger, A., Rathke, S., & Blankinship, J. (2019, March). Soil health and soil organic matter in southern Arizona. UA Earth Week Plneary Session Lightning Talks. University of Arizona Main Campus.
• Leger, A., Rathke, S., & Blankinship, J. (2019, November). Mulch and compost for semi-arid grassland restoration: Influences on soil health and vegetation. Society for Ecological Restoration Southwest Chapter Annual Meeting. University of Arizona Main Campus.
• Trumbore, S., Hoyt, A., Lawrence, C., Monroe, G., Heckman, K., Sierra, C., Blankinship, J., Beem-Miller, J., Stoner, S., & McNichol, G. (2019, April). ISRaD: the International Soil Radiocarbon Database. European Geophysical Union Annual Meeting. Vienna, Austria.
• Blankinship, J. (2018, August). Improving soil health in low-productivity rangelands. Discussion with Arizona State Land Department. Phoenix, AZ.
• Blankinship, J. (2018, August). Increasing soil value: quantifying organic matter and its benefits for soil health and agricultural sustainability in Arizona. Arizona Pecan Growers Association Annual Meeting. Desert Diamond Hotel, Tucson, AZ.
• Blankinship, J. (2018, August). Potential for mitigating wind erosion in the Sonoran Desert using organic amendments and microbes to build soil aggregates. Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM.
• Blankinship, J. (2018, July). Nurturing soil health in degraded arid rangelands. Altar Valley Conservation Alliance Science Advisory Board Meeting. Tucson.
• Blankinship, J. (2018, May). Micro-niche formation in arid systems. Biosphere 2 Workshop: Eco-Engineering of Life in Arid Landscapes. Biosphere 2: University of Arizona RDI.
• Blankinship, J., Leger, A., Perno, S., & Rathke, S. (2019, January). Manifesting drought in the Desert Southwest: soil biogeochemical signals and opportunities for mitigation. Soiil Science Society of America Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA.
• Hart, S., & Blankinship, J. (2018, June). Consequences of warming and altered snowmelt timing on greenhouse gas fluxes and soil N cycling in the Sierra Nevada rain-snow transition zone. North American Forest Soils Conference International Symposium on Forest Soils. Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
• Homyak, P., Blankinship, J., Slessarev, E., Schaeffer, S., Manzoni, S., & Schimel, J. (2018, August). Mechanisms governing soluble soil carbon in drying soils: exoenzymes vs. physics. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA.
• Lawrence, C., Beem-Miller, J., Blankinship, J., Crow, S., Hatte, C., Heckman, K., He, Y., Hoyt, A., Keiluweit, M., Monroe, G., Sierra, C., Stoner, S., Treat, C., & Trumbore, S. (2018, December). The International Soil Radiocarbon Database (ISRaD): a new resource for the synthesis of soil radiocarbon data across scales. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. Washington, D.C..
• Blankinship, J. (2017, May). What lies below? Improving understanding and quantification of soil carbon storage. United States Geological Survey Powell Center Seminar Series. Fort Collins, CO.
• Blankinship, J. (2017, October). Building soil aggregates to improve soil health and accelerate restoration of degraded arid ecosystems. Altar Valley Conservation Alliance Board of Directors Meeting.
• Blankinship, J., & Lawrence, C. (2017, June). Nurturing a mechanistic view of soil health. Ecology of Soil Health Summit.
• Blankinship, J., Morse, H., Marchus, K., & Schimel, J. (2017, June). Using extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from bacteria to make soils more drought-adapted. Soil Ecology Society Biennial Meeting.

Poster Presentations

• Ball, K., Crow, S., Brien, C., Berhe, A., Rathke, S., & Blankinship, J. (2021). Inorganic carbon mediates tillage legacy effects on soil organic carbon stocks in arid agricultural soils. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. New Orleans, LA.
• Hart, S., & Blankinship, J. (2021). Transferring forest soil to a lower altitude enhances greenhouse gas fluxes and nitrogen transformations in a Mediterranean-type climate. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.
• Hoglund, S., Rathke, S., & Blankinship, J. (2019, July). Increasing soil carbon for desert agriculture. United States Biochar Initiative (USBI) Annual Meeting. Fort Collins, CO.
• Hoglund, S., Rathke, S., & Blankinship, J. (2019, March). Increasing soil carbon for future water solutions and desert agricultural sustainability. ALVSCE Poster Forum. University of Arizona Main Campus.
• Hoglund, S., Rathke, S., & Blankinship, J. (2019, March). Increasing soil carbon for future water solutions and desert agricultural sustainability. SWESx Poster Fourm. University of Arizona Main Campus.
• Leger, A., Rathke, S., & Blankinship, J. (2019, March). Soil amendments and soil organic matter to improve soil health. SWESx Poster Session. University of Arizona Main Campus.
• Beem-Miller, J., Lawrence, C., Blankinship, J., Hoyt, A., Stoner, S., Sierra, C., Monroe, G., McNicol, G., He, Y., Hatte, C., Treat, C., Crow, S., Heckman, K., Keiluweit, M., & Trumbore, S. (2018, June). From fractions to fluxes: the International Soil Radiocarbon Database. International Radiocarbon Annual Conference. Trondheim, Norway.
• Jones, J., & Blankinship, J. (2018, April). Biochar as a potential means for climate change mitigation and adaptation in dryland soils. SWESx. Tucson, AZ: UA Earth Week.
• Leger, A., & Blankinship, J. (2018, April). Challenges and opportunities for carbon sequestration in dryland ecosystems. SWESx. Tucson, AZ: UA Earth Week.
• Perno, S., & Blankinship, J. (2018, April). The effects of wet-dry cycles on greenhouse gas emissions from southern Arizona compost sources. SWESx. Tucson, AZ: UA Earth Week.
• Gebhardt, M., Espinosa, N., Blankinship, J., & Gallery, R. E. (2017, Dec). B14B-02: A meta-analysis of soil exoenzyme responses to simulated climate change. American Geophysical Union (AGU). New Orleans, LA: AGU.
• Perno, S., & Blankinship, J. (2018, January). The effects of wet-dry cycles on greenhouse gas emissions from southern Arizona compost sources. Undergraduate Biology Research Program Annual Conference.

Others

• Blankinship, J., Hungate, B., & Schwartz, E. (2015, October). Soil methanotrophic communities after simulated climate change along an elevation gradient. KNOWLEDGE NETWORK FOR BIOCOMPLEXITY.