Wright Lab
Biodiversity & Ecosystem Function
Publications
Cited in the format used by the journal Ecology: full author list, year, sentence-case title, italicized journal, volume:pages. 2016–present author lists and volume/page data come from CrossRef (cross-checked against Justin's ORCID record for coverage); 2002–2015 is migrated from the previous site. Wright in bold marks Justin's authorship among long author lists. Reprint requests: jw67@duke.edu.
Ardón, M., P. Lazaro, R. E. Emanuel, J. A. Neville, S. M. Anderson, J. P. Wright, and E. S. Bernhardt. 2026. Surface Elevation Trends in Natural and Restored Coastal Forested Wetlands Reveal Vulnerability to Saltwater Intrusion and Sea Level Rise. Estuaries and Coasts 49(2):47.
Coughlin, A. O., A. L. Peralta, E. S. Bernhardt, R. P. Phillips, and J. P. Wright. 2026. Divergent plant and microbial community change in response to coastal salinization and sea level rise. Ecosphere 17(7):e70714.
Coughlin, A. O., and J. P. Wright. 2026. Microbial assemblages of coastal forested wetland soil promote growth of expanding shrub. Plant and Soil 524(2):1307-1325.
Keller, A. B., E. T. Borer, C. R. Buyarski, E. E. Cleland, A. Gill, A. S. MacDougall, J. L. Moore, J. W. Morgan, R. L. McCulley, A. C. Risch, E. W. Seabloom, J. Wright, and S. E. Hobbie. 2025. Effects of elevated nutrient supply on litter decomposition are robust to impacts of mammalian herbivores across diverse grasslands. Oecologia 207(10):157.
Simha, A., A. Coughlin, S. M. Anderson, D. DeLaMater, E. Thayer, R. J. Wong, and J. P. Wright. 2025. Form, physiology, and fire response explain key dimensions of litter flammability in fire‐adapted longleaf pine savanna. New Phytologist 247(5):2063-2073.
Simha, A., and J. P. Wright. 2025. Short‐term prescribed fire frequency manipulation alters community response to subsequent fires in a southeastern pine savanna. Journal of Ecology 113(3):701-712.
Ury, E. A., M. Ardón, J. P. Wright, and E. S. Bernhardt. 2023. Restored forested wetland surprisingly resistant to experimental salinization. PLOS ONE 18(12):e0296128.
Anderson, S. M., E. A. Ury, P. J. Taillie, E. A. Ungberg, C. E. Moorman, B. Poulter, M. Ardón, E. S. Bernhardt, and J. P. Wright. 2022. Salinity thresholds for understory plants in coastal wetlands. Plant Ecology 223(3):323-337.
Ury, E. A., J. P. Wright, M. Ardón, and E. S. Bernhardt. 2022. Saltwater intrusion in context: soil factors regulate impacts of salinity on soil carbon cycling. Biogeochemistry 157(2):215-226.
Mitchell, R. M., G. M. Ames, and J. P. Wright. 2021. Intraspecific trait variability shapes leaf trait response to altered fire regimes. Annals of Botany 127(4):543-552.
Ury, E. A., X. Yang, J. P. Wright, and E. S. Bernhardt. 2021. Rapid deforestation of a coastal landscape driven by sea‐level rise and extreme events. Ecological Applications 31(5):e02339.
Wright, J., D. DeLaMater, A. Simha, E. Ury, and C. Ficken. 2021. Changes in Prescribed Fire Frequency Alter Ecosystem Carbon Dynamics. Ecosystems 24(3):640-651.
Ames, G. M., W. A. Wall, M. G. Hohmann, and J. P. Wright. 2020. Functional trait similarity predicts survival in rare plant reintroductions. Ecological Applications 30(4):e02087.
Koltz, A. M., and J. P. Wright. 2020. Impacts of female body size on cannibalism and juvenile abundance in a dominant arctic spider. Journal of Animal Ecology 89(8):1788-1798.
Rocca, J. D., M. Simonin, E. S. Bernhardt, A. D. Washburne, and J. P. Wright. 2020. Rare microbial taxa emerge when communities collide: freshwater and marine microbiome responses to experimental mixing. Ecology 101(3):e02956.
Craig, M. E., N. Lovko, S. L. Flory, J. P. Wright, and R. P. Phillips. 2019. Impacts of an invasive grass on soil organic matter pools vary across a tree-mycorrhizal gradient. Biogeochemistry 144(2):149-164.
Ficken, C. D., and J. P. Wright. 2019. Nitrogen uptake and biomass resprouting show contrasting relationships with resource acquisitive and conservative plant traits. Journal of Vegetation Science 30(1):65-74.
Ury, E. A., S. M. Anderson, R. K. Peet, E. S. Bernhardt, and J. P. Wright. 2019. Succession, regression and loss: does evidence of saltwater exposure explain recent changes in the tree communities of North Carolina’s Coastal Plain? Annals of Botany.
Bhattachan, A., R. E. Emanuel, M. Ardón, E. S. Bernhardt, S. M. Anderson, M. G. Stillwagon, E. A. Ury, T. K. BenDor, and J. P. Wright. 2018. Evaluating the effects of land-use change and future climate change on vulnerability of coastal landscapes to saltwater intrusion. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 6:62.
Fridley, J. D., and J. P. Wright. 2018. Temperature accelerates the rate fields become forests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(18):4702-4706.
Hassett, B. A., E. B. Sudduth, K. A. Somers, D. L. Urban, C. R. Violin, S. Y. Wang, J. P. Wright, R. M. Cory, and E. S. Bernhardt. 2018. Pulling apart the urbanization axis: patterns of physiochemical degradation and biological response across stream ecosystems. Freshwater Science 37(3):653-672.
Koltz, A. M., A. T. Classen, and J. P. Wright. 2018. Warming reverses top-down effects of predators on belowground ecosystem function in Arctic tundra. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(32).
Lee, M. R., S. L. Flory, R. P. Phillips, and J. P. Wright. 2018. Site conditions are more important than abundance for explaining plant invasion impacts on soil nitrogen cycling. Ecosphere 9(10):e02454.
Mitchell, R. M., J. P. Wright, and G. M. Ames. 2018. Species’ traits do not converge on optimum values in preferred habitats. Oecologia 186(3):719-729.
Reese, A. T., K. Lulow, L. A. David, and J. P. Wright. 2018. Plant community and soil conditions individually affect soil microbial community assembly in experimental mesocosms. Ecology and Evolution 8(2):1196-1205.
Ames, G. M., S. M. Anderson, E. A. Ungberg, and J. P. Wright. 2017. Functional traits of the understory plant community of a pyrogenic longleaf pine forest across environmental gradients. Ecology 98(8):2225-2225.
Ames, G. M., W. A. Wall, M. G. Hohmann, and J. P. Wright. 2017. Trait space of rare plants in a fire‐dependent ecosystem. Conservation Biology 31(4):903-911.
Ficken, C. D., and J. P. Wright. 2017. Effects of fire frequency on litter decomposition as mediated by changes to litter chemistry and soil environmental conditions. PLOS ONE 12(10):e0186292.
Funk, J. L., J. E. Larson, G. M. Ames, B. J. Butterfield, J. Cavender‐Bares, J. Firn, D. C. Laughlin, A. E. Sutton‐Grier, L. Williams, and J. Wright. 2017. Revisiting the Holy Grail: using plant functional traits to understand ecological processes. Biological Reviews 92(2):1156-1173.
Lee, M. R., E. S. Bernhardt, P. M. van Bodegom, J. H. C. Cornelissen, J. Kattge, D. C. Laughlin, Ü. Niinemets, J. Peñuelas, P. B. Reich, B. Yguel, and J. P. Wright. 2017. Invasive species’ leaf traits and dissimilarity from natives shape their impact on nitrogen cycling: a meta‐analysis. New Phytologist 213(1):128-139.
Lind, E. M., K. J. La Pierre, E. W. Seabloom, J. Alberti, O. Iribarne, J. Firn, D. S. Gruner, A. D. Kay, J. Pascal, J. P. Wright, L. Yang, and E. T. Borer. 2017. Increased grassland arthropod production with mammalian herbivory and eutrophication: a test of mediation pathways. Ecology 98(12):3022-3033.
Mitchell, R. M., J. P. Wright, and G. M. Ames. 2017. Intraspecific variability improves environmental matching, but does not increase ecological breadth along a wet‐to‐dry ecotone. Oikos 126(7):988-995.
Strayer, D. L., C. M. D'Antonio, F. Essl, M. S. Fowler, J. Geist, S. Hilt, I. Jarić, K. Jöhnk, C. G. Jones, X. Lambin, A. W. Latzka, J. Pergl, P. Pyšek, P. Robertson, M. von Schmalensee, R. A. Stefansson, J. Wright, and J. M. Jeschke. 2017. Boom‐bust dynamics in biological invasions: towards an improved application of the concept. Ecology Letters 20(10):1337-1350.
Heckman, R. W., J. P. Wright, and C. E. Mitchell. 2016. Joint effects of nutrient addition and enemy exclusion on exotic plant success. Ecology 97(12):3337-3345.
Heinze, J., M. Sitte, A. Schindhelm, J. Wright, and J. Joshi. 2016. Plant-soil feedbacks: a comparative study on the relative importance of soil feedbacks in the greenhouse versus the field. Oecologia 181(2):559-569.
Wright, J. P., G. M. Ames, and R. M. Mitchell. 2016. The more things change, the more they stay the same? When is trait variability important for stability of ecosystem function in a changing environment. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 371(1694):20150272.
Ames, G. M., and J. P. Wright. 2015. Multiple environmental drivers structure plant traits at the community level in a pyrogenic ecosystem. Functional Ecology 29(7):933-943.
Seabloom, E. W., E. T. Borer, Y. M. Buckley, E. E. Cleland, K. F. Davies, J. Firn, et al., and J. P. Wright. 2015. Plant species' origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands. Nature Communications 6:7710.
Ames, G. M., D. L. Vineyard, S. M. Anderson, and J. P. Wright. 2015. Annual growth in longleaf (Pinus palustris) and pond pine (P. serotina) in the Sandhills of North Carolina is driven by interactions between fire and climate. Forest Ecology and Management 340:1-8.
Borer, E. T., E. W. Seabloom, D. S. Gruner, W. S. Harpole, H. Hillebrand, et al., J. P. Wright, and L. H. Yang. 2015. Herbivores and nutrients control grassland plant diversity via light limitation. Nature 508:517-520.
Wang, S., E. S. Bernhardt, and J. P. Wright. 2014. Microbial diversity is linked to higher functional resistance. Hydrobiologia 726:13-23.
Seabloom, E. W., E. T. Borer, Y. M. Buckley, E. E. Cleland, K. F. Davies, et al., J. Wright, and L. H. Yang. 2014. Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness? Global Change Biology 19:3677-3687.
Coleman, B. P., C. Arnaout, S. Anciaux, C. Gunsch, M. F. Hochella Jr., B. Kim, G. V. Lowry, B. McGill, B. Reinsch, C. J. Richardson, J. Unrine, J. P. Wright, L. Yin, and E. S. Bernhardt. 2013. Low concentrations of silver nanoparticles in biosolids cause adverse ecosystem responses under realistic field scenario. PLoS One 8:e57189.
Sutton-Grier, A. E., J. P. Wright, and C. J. Richardson. 2013. Different plant traits affect two pathways of riparian nitrogen removal in a restored freshwater wetland. Plant and Soil 365(1-2):41-57.
Wright, J. P., and A. Sutton-Grier. 2012. Does the leaf economic spectrum hold within local species pools across varying environmental conditions? Functional Ecology 26:1390-1398.
Yin, L., E. S. Bernhardt, B. Colman, B. McGill, and J. P. Wright. 2012. Effects of silver nanoparticle exposure on germination and early growth of eleven wetland plants. PLoS One 7:e47674.
Fridley, J. D., and J. P. Wright. 2012. Climatic versus edaphic drivers of secondary succession rates across temperate latitudes of the Eastern U.S. Oecologia 168:1069-1077.
Adler, P. B., E. W. Seabloom, E. T. Borer, H. Hillebrand, Y. Hautier, et al., and J. P. Wright. 2011. Productivity is a poor predictor of plant species richness. Science 333:1750-1754.
Wang, S., E. B. Sudduth, M. D. Wallenstein, J. P. Wright, and E. S. Bernhardt. 2011. Watershed urbanization alters the composition and function of stream bacterial communities. PLoS ONE 6(8):e22972.
Sutton-Grier, A. E., J. P. Wright, B. M. McGill, and C. Richardson. 2011. Environmental conditions influence the plant functional diversity effect on potential denitrification. PLoS ONE 6(2):e16584.
Warren, R. J., J. P. Wright, and M. A. Bradford. 2011. The putative niche requirements and landscape dynamics of Microstegium vimineum: an invasive Asian grass. Biological Invasions 13:471-483.
McGill, B. M., A. E. Sutton-Grier, and J. P. Wright. 2010. Plant trait diversity buffers variability in denitrification potential over changes in season and soil conditions. PLoS ONE 5:e116118.
Wright, J. P., and J. Fridley. 2010. Biogeographic synthesis of secondary succession rates in Eastern North America. Journal of Biogeography 37:1584-1596.
Bartel, R. A., N. M. Haddad, and J. P. Wright. 2010. Ecosystem engineers maintain a rare species of butterfly and increase plant diversity. Oikos 119:883-890.
Reinhardt, L., D. Jerolmack, B. Cardinale, V. Vanacker, and J. P. Wright. 2010. Dynamic interactions of life and its landscape: feedbacks at the interface of geomorphology and ecology. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 35:78-101.
Cardinale, B., D. Srivastava, J. Duffy, J. Wright, A. Downing, M. Sankaran, C. Jouseau, M. Cadotte, I. Carroll, J. Weis, A. Hector, and M. Loreau. 2009. Effects of biodiversity on the functioning of ecosystems: a summary of 164 experimental manipulations of species richness. Ecology 90:854.
Srivastava, D., B. Cardinale, A. Downing, J. E. Duffy, C. Jouseau, M. Sankaran, and J. P. Wright. 2009. Diversity has stronger top-down than bottom-up effects on decomposition. Ecology 90:1073-1083.
Wright, J. P. 2009. Linking populations to landscapes: richness scenarios resulting from changes in the dynamics of an ecosystem engineer. Ecology 90(12):3418-3429.
Cardinale, B., J. P. Wright, M. Cadotte, I. Carroll, A. Hector, D. Srivastava, M. Loreau, and J. Weis. 2007. Impacts of plant diversity on biomass production increase through time because of species complementarity. PNAS 104:18123-18128.
Badano, E. I., C. G. Jones, L. A. Cavieres, and J. P. Wright. 2006. Assessing impacts of ecosystem engineers on community organization: effects of the high-Andean cushion plant Azorella monantha. Oikos 115(2):369-385.
Cardinale, B., D. Srivastava, E. Duffy, J. Wright, A. Downing, M. Sankaran, and C. Jouseau. 2006. Consistent effects of biodiversity on the functioning of trophic groups and ecosystems. Nature 443(7114):989-992.
Wright, J. P., and C. G. Jones. 2006. The concept of organisms as ecosystem engineers ten years on: progress, limitations, and challenges. BioScience 56:203-209.
Wright, J. P., C. G. Jones, B. Boeken, and M. Shachak. 2006. Predictability of ecosystem engineering effects on species richness across environmental variability and spatial scales. Journal of Ecology 94:815-824.
Wright, J. P., S. Naeem, A. Hector, C. Lehman, P. Reich, B. Schmid, and D. Tilman. 2006. Conventional functional classification schemes underestimate the relationship with ecosystem functioning. Ecology Letters 9(2):111-120.
Wright, J. P., W. S. C. Gurney, and C. G. Jones. 2004. Patch dynamics in an engineered landscape. Oikos 105(2):336-348.
Wright, J. P., and A. S. Flecker. 2004. Deforesting the riverscape: the effects of wood on fish diversity in a Venezuelan piedmont stream. Biological Conservation 120(3):439-447.
Wright, J. P., and C. G. Jones. 2004. Predicting effects of ecosystem engineers on patch-scale richness from primary productivity. Ecology 85(8):2071-2081.
Naeem, S., and J. P. Wright. 2003. Disentangling biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning: deriving solutions to a seemingly insurmountable problem. Ecology Letters 6(6):567-579.
Wright, J. P., A. S. Flecker, and C. G. Jones. 2003. Local versus landscape controls on plant species richness in beaver meadows. Ecology 84(12):3162-3173.
Wright, J. P., C. G. Jones, and A. S. Flecker. 2002. An ecosystem engineer, the beaver, increases species richness at the landscape scale. Oecologia 132(1):96-101.