Dr. Zak Ratajczak

Name:

Dr. Zak Ratajczak

Role:

Faculty Associate

Address:

116 Ackert Hall, Division of Biology, Kansas State University

Manhattan, KS 66506

United States

Email:

Phone:

ORCID:

0000-0002-4675-5738

URL:

https://zaratajczak.wixsite.com/zak-ratajczak

Publication List:

Tooley EG, Nippert JB, Ratajczak Z. Evaluating methods for measuring the leaf area index of encroaching shrubs in grasslands: From leaves to optical methods, 3-D scanning, and airborne observation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology [Internet]. 2024;349. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0168192324000790

Sutton AO, Ratajczak Z, Louthan AM. High among‐species variability in the context dependence of herbivory across disturbance, weather and topoedaphic gradients. Journal of Ecology [Internet]. 2024;112(10):2237-2248. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.14390

Noble S. North American megafauna, friend or foe to woody encroachment across the Great Plains? Further exploring the American bison’s ecological role on plant communities [Internet]. Department of Biology. [Manhattan, KS]: Kansas State University; 2024. https://krex.k-state.edu/items/2d3c8fa7-ad50-475d-a753-216ebeef5b0b

Dodds WK, Ratajczak Z, Keen RM, Nippert JB, Grudzinski B, Veach A, et al.. Trajectories and state changes of a grassland stream and riparian zone after a decade of woody vegetation removal. Ecological Applications [Internet]. 2023;33(4):e2830. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.2830

Keen RM, Nippert JB, Sullivan PL, Ratajczak Z, Ritchey B, O’Keefe K, et al.. Impacts of riparian and non-riparian woody encroachment on tallgrass prairie ecohydrology. Ecosystems [Internet]. 2023;26(2):290-301. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10021-022-00756-7

Noble B. Early detection of wildfire risk in the Great Plains: merging machine learning, landscape metrics, and rich data sources [Internet]. Department of Biology. [Manhattan, KS]: Kansas State University; 2023. https://krex.k-state.edu/bitstream/handle/2097/43444/BrynnNoble2023.pdf?sequence=3

Collins SL, Nippert JB, Blair JM, Briggs JM, Blackmore P, Ratajczak Z. Fire frequency, state change and hysteresis in tallgrass prairie. Ecology Letters [Internet]. 2021;24(4):636-647. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13676

Ratajczak Z, Ladwig L. Will climate change push grasslands past critical thresholds?. In: Gibson D, Newman J. Grasslands and Climate Change [Internet]. Cambridge, UK.: British Ecological Society and Cambridge University Press; 2019. pp. 98 - 114. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/grasslands-and-climate-change/will-climate-change-push-grasslands-past-critical-thresholds/368C9316D9C5A8A3C6B6881779BA5EB5

Ratajczak Z, Churchill AC, Ladwig LM, Taylor JH, Collins SL. The combined effects of an extreme heatwave and wildfire on tallgrass prairie vegetation. Journal of Vegetation Science [Internet]. 2019;30(4):687 - 697. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jvs.12750

Brunsell N, van Vleck ES, Nosshi M, Ratajczak Z, Nippert JB. Assessing the roles of fire frequency and precipitation in determining woody plant expansion in central U.S. grasslands. Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences [Internet]. 2017;122(10):2683–2698. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/2017JG004046

Ratajczak Z, D'Odorico P, Collins SL, Bestelmeyer BT, Isbell FL, Nippert JB. The interactive effects of press/pulse intensity and duration on regime shifts at multiple scales. Ecological Monographs [Internet]. 2017;87(2):198-218. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ecm.1249

Ratajczak Z, D’Odorico PD, Nippert JB, Collins SL, Brunsell N, Ravi S. Changes in spatial variance during a grassland to shrubland state transition. Journal Ecology [Internet]. 2017;105(3):750-760. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2745.12696

Ladwig L, Ratajczak Z, Ocheltree TW, Hafich KA, Churchill AC, Frey SJK, et al.. Beyond arctic and alpine: the influence of winter climate on temperate ecosystems. Ecology [Internet]. 2016;97(2):372 - 382. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/15-0153.1

Ratajczak Z, Briggs JM, Goodin DG, Mohler R, Nippert JB, Obermeyer BK. Assessing the potential for transitions from tallgrass prairie to woodlands: are we operating beyond critical transitions?. Rangeland Ecology & Management [Internet]. 2016;69(4):280–287. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550742416300021?via%3Dihub

Klodd AE, Nippert JB, Ratajczak Z, Waring H, Phoenix GK. Tight coupling of leaf area index to canopy nitrogen and phosphorus across heterogeneous tallgrass prairie communities. Oecologia [Internet]. 2016;182(3):889 - 898. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00442-016-3713-3

Ratajczak Z, Nippert JB, Ocheltree TW. Abrupt transition of mesic grassland to shrubland: evidence for thresholds, alternative attractors, and regime shifts. Ecology [Internet]. 2014;95:2633 -2645. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/13-1369.1

Ratajczak Z, Nippert JB, Briggs JM, Blair JM. Fire dynamics distinguish grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands as alternative attractors in the Central Great Plains of North America. Journal of Ecology [Internet]. 2014;102:1374 -1385. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2745.12311

Ratajczak Z. Ecological thresholds and abrupt transitions of tallgrass prairie to shrublands and woodlands [Internet]. [Manhattan, KS]: Kansas State University; 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/17661

Nippert JB, Ocheltree TW, Orozco GL, Ratajczak Z, Ling B, Skibbe AM. Evidence of physiological decoupling from grassland ecosystem drivers by an encroaching woody shrub. PLoS ONE [Internet]. 2013;8:81630 -. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0081630

Ratajczak Z, Nippert JB. Comment on "Global Resilience of Tropical Forest and Savanna to Critical Transitions". Science [Internet]. 2012;336:541 -. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/336/6081/541.3

Ratajczak Z, Nippert JB, Collins SL. Woody encroachment decreases diversity across North American grasslands and savannas. Ecology [Internet]. 2012;93:697 -703. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/11-1199.1

Ratajczak Z, Nippert JB, Hartman JC, Ocheltree TW. Positive feedbacks amplify rates of woody encroachment in mesic tallgrass prairie. Ecosphere [Internet]. 2011;2:121 -. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/ES11-00212.1

Datasets

Datasets for Dr. Zak Ratajczak

PVC01 Plant species composition on selected watersheds at Konza Prairie

PVC02 Plant species composition on selected watersheds at Konza Prairie

PWV01 Cover of woody vegetation at Konza Prairie

GIS20 GIS Coverages Defining Konza Elevations

GIS00 GIS Coverages Defining the Site Boundary of Konza Prairie (1977-present)

GIS01 GIS Coverages Defining Internal Boundaries of Konza Prairie (1977-present)

GIS02 GIS Coverages Defining the Konza Prairie Experimental Watershed Treatments

GIS05 GIS Coverages Defining Konza Prairie Burn History (1977-present)

GIS21 GIS Coverages Defining Water Bodies on Konza Prairie (1972-present)

GIS22 GIS Coverage Defining Soils (SSURGO) on Konza Prairie (1982-present)

GIS10 GIS Coverage Defining Roads in and around Konza Prairie (1977-present)

GIS11 A GIS Coverage Defining Nature Trails on Konza Prairie (1982-present)

GIS13 GIS Coverages Defining Konza Wildfire and Supplementary Burn History (1977-present)

GIS19 A GIS Coverage Defining Permanent Structures on Konza Prairie (1977-present)

GIS30 GIS Coverages Defining Sample Locations for Abiotic Datasets on Konza Prairie (1972-present)

GIS35 GIS Coverages Defining Sample Locations for Belowground Datasets on Konza Prairie (1982-present)

GIS40 GIS Coverages Defining the Sample Locations of Konza Consumer Data (1982-present)

GIS45 GIS Coverages Defining the Konza Nutrient Data Sample Locations (1982-present)

GIS60 GIS Coverages Defining Other Konza Sample and Research Areas (1982-present)

GIS50 Coverages Defining the Konza Producer Data Sample Locations (1982-present)

GIS55 GIS Coverages Defining the Konza HQ Irrigation System (1982-present)

GIS68 GIS Coverages of Konza Prairie Research Experiments in 2020

GIS70 Konza Prairie Woody Plant Mapping in Core Watersheds (1D, 20B, and 4B) in 2019

RIV06 Remote sensing in and around riparian zones at Konza Prairie

WPE01 Assessing the value added of NEON for using machine learning to quantify vegetation mosaics and woody plant encroachment at Konza Prairie

JST01 Juniperus virginiana seedling trial with and without bison at Konza Prairie