Rebecca Ostertag

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Rebecca Ostertag Associate Professor, Department of Biology,
University of Hawaii at Hilo

Education

Ph.D. in Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
B.A. in Biology, Carleton College, Northfield, MN.

Current Research

As tropical forest ecologist, my research interests revolve around understanding how tropical forests are structured and how tropical ecosystems function. I have been fortunate to work in both Latin America and Hawai`i.

Current research projects include:

  • Significance of foliar N and P accumulation in tropical forests
  • Multiple species invasions and their effects on microbial and invertebrate controls of litter decomposition
  • Implications of woody invasive species removal on Hawaiian lowland forests
  • Hawaiian forest dynamics using long-term permanent plots (see HIPPNET project)

Our lab group works on a variety of ecological studies.

 

Recent Publications

Ostertag, R., E. Marín-Spiotta, W. L. Silver, and J.R. Schulten. 2008. Litterfall and decomposition in relation to soil carbon pools along a secondary forest chronosequence in Puerto Rico. Ecosystems 11: 701-714. PDF file

Ostertag, R., C.P. Giardina, and S. Cordell. 2008. Understory colonization of Eucalyptus plantations in Hawaii in relation to light and nutrient Levels. Restoration Ecology 16: 475-485.

Marín-Spiotta, E., D.F. Cusack, R. Ostertag, and W. L. Silver. 2008. Trends in above and belowground carbon with forest regrowth after agricultural abandonment in the Neotropics. Pages 22-72 in R.W. Myster, editor. Post-Agricultural Succession in the Neotropics. Springer, New York. PDF file

Zimmerman, N., R.F. Hughes, S. Cordell, P. Hart, H.K. Chang, D. Perez, R.K. Like, and R. Ostertag. 2008. Patterns of primary succession of native and introduced plants in lowland wet forests in Eastern Hawaii. Biotropica 40: 277-284. PDF file

Carlson, K.M., G.P. Asner, R. Flint Hughes, R. Ostertag, and R.E. Martin. 2007. Hyperspectral remote sensing of canopy biodiversity in Hawaiian lowland rainforests. Ecosystems 10: 536-549.PDF file

Marin-Spiotta, E., R. Ostertag, and W.L. Silver.  2007.   Long-term patterns in reforestation of tropical pastures: plant community composition and aboveground biomass accumulation.   Ecological Applications 1:828-839.  PDF file

Ostertag, R., W.L. Silver, and A.E. Lugo.   2005.   Factors affecting mortality and resistance to damage following hurricanes in a rehabilitated subtropical moist forest. Biotropica 37: 16-23.  PDF file

Van Bloem, S. J., P.G. Murphy, A.E. Lugo, R. Ostertag, M. Rivera Costa, I. Ruiz Bernard, S. Molina Colón, and M. Canals Mora. 2005.   The influence of hurricane winds on Caribbean dry forest structure and nutrient pools.   Biotropica 37: 571-583.

Silver, W.L., L.M. Kueppers, A.E. Lugo, R. Ostertag, and V. Matzek.   2004.   Carbon sequestration and plant community dynamics following reforestation of tropical pasture.   Ecological Applications 14: 1115-1127.  PDF file

Ostertag, R., F.N. Scatena, and W.L. Silver.  2003.  Forest floor decomposition following hurricane litter inputs in several Puerto Rican forests.  Ecosystems 6: 261-273.  PDF file

Ostertag, R. and J.H. Verville.  2002.  Effects of N and P fertilization on invasion by non-native species in Hawaiian montane forests.  Plant Ecology 162: 77-90.  PDF file 

Ostertag, R. 2001. The effects of nitrogen and phosphorus availability on fine root dynamics in Hawaiian montane forests. Ecology 82: 485-499.  PDF file 

Guariguata, M.R. and R. Ostertag. 2001. Neotropical secondary succession: changes in structural and functional characteristics. Forest Ecology and Management 148: 185-206.  PDF file  

Silver, W.L., R. Ostertag, and A.E. Lugo. 2000. The potential for carbon sequestration through reforestation of abandoned tropical agricultural and pasture lands. Restoration Ecology 8: 394-407. 

Ostertag, R. and S.E. Hobbie. 1999. Early stages of root and leaf decomposition in Hawaiian forests: effects of nutrient availability. Oecologia 121: 564-573.  PDF file 

Ostertag, R. 1998. Belowground effects of canopy gaps in a lowland tropical wet forest. Ecology 79: 1294-1304.  PDF file 

 

Grants

  • NSF Ecosystem Studies, “CAREER: Significance of Foliar Nitrogen and Phosphorus Accumulation in Tropical Forests”, $500,000, PI.  August 2006-July 2011.
  • NSF Ecosystem Studies, “Effects of Multiple Species Invasions: Albizia Tree and Coqui Frog Colonization of Hawai`i”, $300,000, co-PI.  July 2005-August 2008.
  • NSF Ecosystem Studies, "Controls on the Storage and Loss of Soil Organic Carbon with Reforestation of Abandoned Pastures", $370,000 total (through UC-Berkeley), $34,044 subcontract to UHH as Senior Personnel, March 2002-Feb 2005.
  • NSF TCUP Program, “Hawaiian Values, Science, and Technology: Advancing a New Paradigm for STEM Education”, $2,413,120.   Sept. 2002-2007.  Senior Personnel.
  • NASA/Earth System Science Education, “Teaching Global Environmental Change from Mountain to Ocean: The `Ahupua`a Way”, $70,000, 2003-2005, Co-PI.
  • UHH Seed Grant, “Nitrogen and Phosphorus Limitation of Hawaiian Forest Communities”, $14,948, May 2002-June 2003, PI. 
  • UHH EPSCoR REAP Grant, “Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Aluminum Relationships in Hawaiian Forest Communities”, $9,433, 2003-2004, PI.
  • UHH REAP EPSCoR grant entitled “The Impact of Non-Native Species on Resource Availability and Community Structure in a Hawaiian Lowland Wet Forest”, $15,550.

 

Teaching

  • Natural History & Conservation of Hawaiian Islands (Biology/Marine Science 156 and 156L)
  • General Ecology (Biology 281)
  • General Ecology Laboratory (Biology 281L) 
  • Theory and Methods in Ecology and Evolution (Biology 481) 
  • Ecology and Evolution Research Methods (Biology 481L) 
  • Biology Seminar (Biology 495) 

I currently teach ecology courses at both lower and upper levels. In lower level courses, the emphasis is on developing a solid foundation based on ecological theory and to understand how that theory can be applied to present environmental issues, particularly related to global change. In upper level courses, the focus is on learning about the "art" of science, including reading primary literature, discussion of new analytical tools, and development of independent hypotheses and research proposals. All laboratory courses that I teach are field based, and take advantage of the extraordinary landscape diversity of the Big Island of Hawai`i. 

 

Career Resources for UH Hilo Students

I am involved in an NSF grant (DEB, Ecosystem Studies, # 0546868) in which I am developing career resources for students interested in the environmental sciences.

Check out our website: www.environmentalcareerresources.uhh.hawaii.edu

 

Workshop 1
How to Find a Summer Opportunity in the Environmental Sciences

Click on these links for handouts and helpful information. 

Workshop 2
For Science Students: How to Write a Personal Statement