I was a postdoctoral researcher at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) working with Dr. Beverly Collins. My work at SREL was primarily at Ft Benning, Georgia coordinating a research project examining thresholds of disturbance and land management effects on vegetation and nitrogen dynamics. My interests are principally ecosystem ecology with an emphasis on plant and soil carbon and nitrogen cycling. At Ft Benning we examined vegetation change resulting from disturbance and land management influences, including soil nitrogen inputs and losses in forests managed via prescribed burning and soil carbon efflux in these mixed pine forests. I also worked with Dr. Rebecca Sharitz investigating the effects of land use and land management on threatened sandhills communities. The influence of elevated atmospheric CO2 on soil processes, ecosystem and adaptive management, and soil nutrient cycling and mechanisms of litter isotopic discrimination are also areas of interest.

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Lajeunesse, S. D., J. J. Dilustro, R. R. Sharitz, and B. S. Collins. 2006. Ground layer carbon and nitrogen cycling and legume nitrogen inputs following fire in mixed pine forests. Am. J. Bot. 2006 93: 84-93.

Dilustro, J., B. Collins, L. Duncan and C. Crawford. 2005. Moisture and soil texture effects on soil C0₂ efflux components in southeastern mixed pine forests. Forest Ecology and Management 204:85-95.

Drake, S. J. J. Dilustro, R. R. Sharitz, and B. S. Collins. 2004. Ground layer carbon and nitrogen cycling and legume nitrogen inputs in a frequently burned mixed pine forest. American Journal of Botany. Submitted.

Dilustro, J.J., B. Collins, and L. Duncan. 2004. Soil Nitrogen Availability in Fall Line Mixed Pine Forests. Southeastern Naturalist. Submitted, in revision.

Day, F.P., D. Stover, A.L. Pagel, B.T. Herbert, J.J. Dilustro, B. Drake and C.R. Hinkle. 2004. Effects of seven years of exposure to elevated atmospheric CO2 on fine root abundance in an oak-scrub ecosystem in central Florida, USA. Global Change Biology. Submitted.

Duncan, L.K., J.J. Dilustro and B.S. Collins. 2004. Avian response to forest management and military training activities at Ft. Benning, GA. Georgia Journal of Science. 62(2): 95-103.

Dilustro, J.J., F.P. Day, C.R. Hinkle and B. G. Drake. 2002. Abundance, production and mortality of fine roots under elevated atmospheric CO2 in an oak-scrub ecosystem. Environmental and Experimental Botany 48(2):149-159.

Dilustro J.J., B. Collins, L. Duncan and R. Sharitz. 2002. Soil texture, land use intensity, and vegetation of Fort Benning upland forest sites. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 129(4): 289-297.

Dilustro, J.J., F. P. Day and B. G. Drake. 2001. Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on root decomposition in a scrub oak ecosystem. Global Change Biology 7(5):581-591.

Day, F.P., E. Crawford, and J.J. Dilustro. 2001. Plant biomass change along a coastal barrier island dune chronosequence over a six-year period. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 128:197-207.

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

Dilustro, J., B. Collins, and L. Duncan. 2004. Soil Nitrogen Availability in Mixed Pine Forests of Varying Management, Military Use and Soil Texture. Soil Science Society of America meeting. Seattle Washington. (Invited)

Dilustro, J.J., Sharitz, R.R., S. Harper, D. Imm, B. Collins, K. Madden, T. Tuberville. 2004. Effects of Land Management and Military Training Activities on Threatened and Endangered Species in the Southeastern Fall Line Sandhills Community. Soil Science Society of America meeting. Seattle Washington. (Invited)

Dilustro, J., B. Collins, L. Duncan, and C. Crawford. 2004. Soil respiration, microbial biomass and fine root production in forests of varying soil texture. ESA Meeting. Portland, Oregon.

Sharitz, R.R., S. Harper, D. Imm, B. Collins, K. Madden, T. Tuberville, J. Dilustro, J. Westervelt. 2004. Effects of Military Training Activities and Land Management on Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive Species in the Southeastern Fall Line/Sandhills Community. Department of Defense Conservation Conference, Integrating Natural and Cultural Resources with Readiness, Savannah, GA. (Invited)

Drake, S., J. Dilustro, B. Collins and R. Sharitz. 2004. Groundcover carbon and nitrogen cycling in a frequently burned mixed pine forest. ESA Meeting. Portland, Oregon.

Dilustro, J., B. Collins, L. Duncan, and C. Crawford. 2004. Soil respiration and fine root production in southeastern mixed pine forests of varying soil texture. (Southeastern Biology 51:170).

Dale, V.H., A Peacock, A. Wolfe, J. Fehmi, R. Addington, B. Collins, J. Dilustro, C. Garten, T. Green, A Krzysik, R. Larimore, M. Mulligan, J. Prenger and P. Swiderek. 2003. Integration of ecological indicators. SERDP Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium and Workshop. Washington, D.C.

Sharitz, R.R., S. Harper, D. Imm, B. Collins, K. Madden, T. Tuberville, J. Dilustro, J. Westervelt. 2003. Effects of military training and land management on threatened and endangered species in the southeastern fall line/sandhills community. SERDP Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium and Workshop. Washington, D.C.

Collins, B., J.J. Dilustro, L. Duncan and R. Sharitz. 2003. Prescribed fire and land use effects on soil nitrogen cycling in upland forests at Fort Benning. SERDP Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium and Workshop. Washington, D.C.

Dilustro, J., B. Collins, and L. Duncan. 2003. Soil nitrogen cycling in mixed forests of varying soil texture on Fort Benning, Georgia. ESA Meeting. Savannah, Georgia.

Drake, S., R. Sharitz, J. Dilustro and B. Collins. 2003. A model for predicting C and N transformations under differing burn frequencies in a southeastern mixed pine-hardwood forest. ESA Meeting. Savannah, Georgia.

Crawford, C., J. Dilustro, B. Collins, and L. Duncan. 2003. Soil response to prescribed fire in mixed pine-hardwood forests at Ft. Benning, Georgia. ESA Meeting. Savannah, Georgia.

Stover, D.B., F.P. Day, J.J. Dilustro, and B.G. Drake. 2003. Effects of elevated CO2 on root turnover and mortality in a Florida oak-scrub ecosystem. ESA Meeting. Savannah, Georgia.

Duncan, L.K., J.J. Dilustro and B.S. Collins. 2003. Avian response, land use, and prescribed burning at Ft. Benning, GA. ESA Meeting. Savannah, Georgia.

Dilustro, J., B. Collins, and L. Duncan. 2003. Short-term response of soil to prescribed fire in mixed pine forests on Ft. Benning Georgia. (Southeastern Biology 50:191).

Collins, B., J. Dilustro, and L. Duncan. 2003. Thresholds of disturbance and dynamics of mixed pine-hardwood forests at Fort Benning, Ga. (Southeastern Biology 49:150).

Drake, S., R. Sharitz, J. Dilustro and B. Collins. 2003. Aboveground peak biomass of groundcover plants in a mixed pine forest on sites with differing soil textures and burn frequencies. (Southeastern Biology 49:191-192).

Dilustro, J. J. 2003. Land Management Effects on Vegetation and Nitrogen Dynamics. Columbus State University, Columbus, Georgia.