Dr. Mark R. Fulton
Phone: (218) 755-2787 E-mail: mfulton@bemidjistate.edu
Mailing address: Department of Biology, Bemidji State University, 1500 Birchmont Drive NE, Bemidji, MN 56601-2699
Education
Uppsala University, Ph.D., 1991, Ecological Botany
University of Wisconsin-Madison, M.S., 1987, Botany
University of Wisconsin-Madison, B.S., 1982, Botany & Geology
Positions Held
Professor 9/2006 – present
Associate Professor 9/2002 – 8/2006
Assistant Professor 9/1998 – 8/2002 (tenure: 5/2002)
Department of Biology, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota.
Teaching courses in General Biology, Ecology, and various aspects of Botany. Pursuing research in forest population and community ecology. Advising undergraduate research projects, and graduate students. Upgrading and maintaining BSU herbarium collection. Committee service and University Marshal.
Huxley Fellow 9/1995 – 8/1998
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas.
Taught a general ecology course for undergraduates, co-taught a general botany course and a field ecology laboratory for undergraduates. Helped advise undergraduate research projects. Used existing and new data to parameterize a spatially explicit model of forest dynamics. Characterized spatial patterns of trees along a topographic moisture gradient.
Postdoctoral Research Associate 9/1994 – 9/1995
Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA Forestry Building, Ridgeway Rd., Norris, Tennessee.
Used a physiologically detailed model of tree growth to assess potential ozone effects on some tree species found in the eastern Tennessee river valley and adjacent areas. Developed protocols to parameterize model for a representative set of sites from available soil and climate data.
Postdoctoral Research Associate 3/1992 – 8/1994
Center for Biosystems Modelling, Department of Industrial Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
Organized and supervised a field study of photosynthetic rate in relation to water and energy balance in a post oak and red cedar landscape. Team taught a course in modelling plant growth and development.
Doctorand 11/1987-12/1991
Institute for Ecological Botany, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Pursued a Ph.D. in Ecological Botany, testing the sufficiency of hypotheses about the nature of environmental gradients in Swedish forests using a unique simulation model based on the interaction of height cohorts of trees. Thesis title: Simulation modelling of some forested landscapes in Sweden. Disputation opponent: M.O. Hill. Thesis advisor: I.C. Prentice.
Scientist 6/1989-8/1989
Young Scientists Summer Program, Biosphere Dynamics Project, International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria.
Developed a general purpose stand simulator capable of efficient simulation of vegetation with a mixture of plant sizes and physiognomy.
Teaching Assistant 9/1986-5/1987
Botany Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Taught labs and discussion sections in Introductory Botany and Plant/Human Coevolution. Completed thesis: The vegetation and development of young islands in the Lower Wisconsin River. Thesis advisor: T.F.H. Allen.
Graduate Fellow 9/1985-8/1986
Botany Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Pursued M.S. degree with research on the scale dependence of vegetation patterns on young islands in the Wisconsin River.
Journeyman Bicycle Mechanic 2/1979-9/1980, 4/1981-8/1985
Madison, WI.
Assisted customers in repair and retail. Instructor in bicycle maintenance for U. of Wisconsin Student Union, 2/1984-12/1984.
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
Olson, B., Windels, S.K., Fulton, M., and R. Moen. 2014. Fine-scale temperature patterns in the southern Boreal forest: Implications for the cold-adapted moose. Alces 50:105–120.
Fulton, M., J. Kamman, and M. Coyle. 2014. Hydraulic limitation on maximum height of Pinus strobus trees in northern Minnesota, USA. Trees 28(3): 841-848. DOI: 10.1007/s00468-014-0996-z
Matthew M. Bischof, M.A. Hanson, M.R. Fulton, R.K. Kolka, S.D. Sebestyen, M.G. Butler. 2013. Invertebrate Community Patterns in Seasonal Ponds in Minnesota, USA: Response to Hydrologic and Environmental Variability. Wetlands (published online 15-January-2013)
Kathryn Amatangelo, M.R. Fulton, D.A. Rogers, D.M. Waller. 2011. Converging forest community composition along an edaphic gradient threatens landscape-level diversity. Diversity and Distributions 17: 201-213.
Shalene Jha, P.A. Harcombe, M.R. Fulton, & I.S. Elsik. 2004. Potential Causes of American Beech decline in Wier Woods, TX. Texas Journal of Science 56(4): 285-298.
Lin, Jie, P.A. Harcombe, M.R. Fulton , and R.W. Hall. 2004. Comparative analysis of growth and mortality among saplings in a dry Oak-Pine forest in southeast Texas. Texas Journal of Science 56(4): 299-318.
Lin, Jie, P.A. Harcombe, M. Fulton, and R.B.W. Hall. 2004. Sapling growth and survivorship as affected by light and flooding in a river floodplain forest. Oecologia 139(3): 399-407.
Harcombe, P.A., C.J. Bill, J.S. Glitzenstein, M. Fulton, P.L. Marks, and I.S. Elsik. 2002. Stand dynamics over 18 years in a southern mixed hardwood forest, Texas, USA. Journal of Ecology 90(6): 947-957.
Lin, Jie, P.A. Harcombe, M. Fulton, and R.B.W. Hall. 2002. Sapling growth and survivorship as a function of light in a mesic forest of southeast Texas, USA. Oecologia 132: 428-435.
Fulton, M.R. and P.A. Harcombe. 2002. Fine-scale predictability in forest stand dynamics. Ecology 83(5):1204-1208. PDF Abstract
Jie Lin, P.A. Harcombe and M. Fulton. 2001. Characterizing shade tolerance by the relationship between mortality and growth in tree saplings in southeastern Texas forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 31: 345-349.
Fulton, M. 1999. Patterns in height diameter relationships for selected tree species and sites in eastern Texas. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 29: 1445-1448.
Fulton, M. & I.C. Prentice. 1997. Edaphic controls on the boreonemoral forest mosaic. Oikos 78: 291-298.
Fulton, M. 1996. An application of fuzzy set ordination to determine tree habitat suitability of sites from a regional data set. Journal of Vegetation Science 7(5): 739-746.
Fulton, M. 1991. A computationally efficient forest succession model: design and initial tests. Forest Ecology and Management 42: 23-34.
Fulton, M. 1991. Adult recruitment as a function of juvenile growth rate in size-structured plant populations. Oikos 62(1): 102-105.
Fulton, M. 1991. Simulation modeling of the effects of site conditions and disturbance history on a boreal forest landscape. Journal of Vegetation Science 2(5): 603-612.
Other Publications
Fulton, M. 2010. Why don’t trees grow taller? Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, Jan/Feb. (Popular article)
[Multiple Authors] Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Pine Island Bog Horticultural Peat Development (submitted to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, spring 2001).
Harcombe, P.A., R.B. Hall, J.S. Glitzenstein, E.S. Cook, P. Krusic, M.R. Fulton, & D.R. Streng. 1998. sensitivity of Gulf Coast Forests to Climate Change. In: Guntenspergen, G.R. & B.A. Vairin (eds.) Vulnerability of coastal wetlands in the Southeastern United States: climate change research results, 1992-1997. U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division Biological Science Report USGS/BRD/BSR-1998-0002. 101 pp.
Fulton, M. 1996. The digital stopwatch as a source of random numbers. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 77(4): 217-218.
Fulton, M. 1993. A rapid simulation model for vegetation stand dynamics including mixed life forms. In: A. Solomon & H.H. Shugart (eds.) Vegetation Dynamics and Global Change. New York. Chapman & Hall.
Fulton, M. 1991. Simulation modelling of some forested landscapes in Sweden. PhD dissertation, Department of Ecological Botany, Uppsala University (Sweden). ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS Comprehensive summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science 359. Uppsala. ISBN 91-554-2844-4.
Fulton, M. 1987. The vegetation and development of young island surfaces in the lower Wisconsin River. M.S. Thesis, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Presentations
Loss of wildfire – a 55 year sample of forest change in north-central Minnesota. M. Fulton and B. Marty. Ecological Society of America, annual meeting, August 2023, Montreal, Canada AND Natural Areas Association, annual meeting, September 2023, Duluth, Minnesota.
Disentangling community selection from drift in fine-scale forest dynamics. Poster. M. Fulton (presenter). International Association for Vegetation Science, 64th annual symposium, Madrid, Spain, 28-July-2023.
Assessing post-fire oak and pine regeneration in Shenandoah National Park. Contributed talk. Ellen Frondorf (presenter), M. Fulton. International Association for Vegetation Science, 61st Annual Symposium, Bozeman Montana, 26-July-2018.
Zooplankton and regimen dynamics in shallow Minnesota lakes: Are they related? Contributed talk. C. Kuettel (presenter), M. Hanson, B. Herwig, K. Zimmer, and M. Fulton. Minnesota Wildlife Society Meeting, Walker MN, February 2013. Also presented at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Minneapolis, MN, August 2013.
Characteristics of the thermal landscape for moose at Voyageurs National Park. Contributed talk. B. Olson (presenter), S. Windels, M. Fulton, R. Moen. Minnesota Wildlife Society Meeting, Walker MN, February 2013. Also presented at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Minneapolis, MN, August 2013.
Predictability of fine-scale dynamics in a mixed forest stand: The effect of abundance measures. Poster. M.R. Fulton. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, August 2012.
Physiological and environmental differences between the top and bottom of a Pinus strobus canopy during cold hardening. Poster. T.K. Little and Mark R. Fulton. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, August 2012.
How much does the forest canopy control the understory? Poster. Mark Fulton (presenter), K.L. Amatangelo, D.A. Rogers, D. Waller. Western Great Lakes Research Conference, March 16-17, 2010.
Decoupling of overstory and understory dynamics in northern Wisconsin. Contributed talk. Mark Fulton (presenter), with: K. L. Amatangelo, D.A. Rogers, and D. Waller. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, August 2009.
Uneven forest mesification along an edaphic gradient in northern Wisconsin. Contributed talk. With: K.L. Amatangelo (presenter), D.A. Rogers, and D. Waller. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, August 2009.
Multivariate analysis of ecological change. Invited talk. Math and Statistics Department, Winona State University, Winona, MN. October 2008.
Dynamics of the forest. Invited talk. 2008 Tree Climbing Rendezvous, Norcross, Georgia, 25-29 September 2008.
Mantel tests are not the only way to examine relationships between dissimilarity matrices: a regression and cross-validation alternative. Poster. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 2008.
Hydraulic constraints on maximum height in Pinus strobus trees in northern Minnesota. With John Kamman (presenter), and Matthew Coyle. Poster. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 2008.
Monitoring the use of prescribed fire for oak savanna restoration at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge in central Minnesota. With Gary Swanson (presenter). Poster. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 2008.
Hurricane effects on the understory light environment of three forest plots in east Texas. Poster. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, California, August 2007.
Revenge of the Trickster: Unpredictability in Modern Science. Public lecture (sponsored by Bemidji State University Honors Program). Bemidji State University, January 31, 2007.
Mortality responses of trees to growth and size for two sites in southeast Texas. Poster. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Memphis, Tennessee, August 2006. (with P.A. Harcombe)
Interpreting Monitoring Data. Invited Talk. Workshop on Vegetation Monitoring for Land Managers (organized by Minnesota DNR). March 22-23, 2006, Concordia Language Villages, Bemidji, MN.
Predictability of vegetation dynamics: From quadrats to landscapes, from years to decades. ORGANIZED ORAL SESSION (OOS #51) at Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Montreal, Canada. August 2005.
It matters how you slice it: space and time axes in the analysis of forest stand dynamics. Talk at organized oral session. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Montreal, Canada. August 2005. (with P.A. Harcombe)
Fine-Scale Predictability of Forest Community Change: Varying the Spatial and Temporal Windows Poster. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Portland, Oregon. August 2004. (with P.A. Harcombe)
All models are wrong but some are useful: Ecological modeling in science and natural resource management. Invited talk. Center for Research and Innovation, Bemidji, MN. March 2004.
Concisely characterizing forest dynamics with change vectors. Poster. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Savannah, Georgia. August 2003. (with P.A. Harcombe)
Are growth, mortality, and recruitment predictable in forest community dynamics? Talk. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin. 2001. (with P.A. Harcombe)
Spatial analysis of a Maple/Basswood plot: fine scale regularity and large scale clustering. Poster. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin. 2001. (with BSU undergraduate B. Arenz (presenter))
Fine-scale predictability of forest community dynamics. Talk. Third North American Forest Ecology Workshop. Duluth, Minnesota. 2001. (with P.A. Harcombe)
Size and growth rate as predictors of mortality in some East Texas trees. Poster. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Snowbird, Utah. 2000. (with P.A. Harcombe)
Growth in high light vs. survival in low light as a key tradeoff that determines shade tolerance: A test in a mesic forest in southeast Texas. Talk. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Snowbird, Utah. 2000. (with P.A. Harcombe, R.W. Hall, Jie Lin (presenting))
Chance and fine-scale predictability in forest stand dynamics. Talk. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Baltimore, MD. 1998. (with P.A. Harcombe)
Simulation of red oak responses to ozone across a region. Invited talk. Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative, Ozone Assessment Workshop, Asheville, NC. 1996.
The sensitivity of Quercus rubra to ozone: Simulation as a tool to scale from individual level experiments to regional responses. Talk. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Providence, RI. 1996.
Spatial pattern of tree stems in three forests along a topographic moisture gradient in the Big Thicket. Talk. Big Thicket Science Conference, Beaumont, TX. 1996.
Life before self thinning; implications of the growth-survivorship equation. Talk. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Knoxville, TN. 1994. (with Hsin-i Wu)
Dissection and growth analysis of a post oak savanna stand. Poster. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Knoxville, TN. 1994. (with S. Cowin)
Cluster-Phase dynamics in vegetation. Talk. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Madison, WI. 1993. (with E.J. Rykiel (presenter) & S.R. Archer)
Simulation of growth of trees in complex vegetation using a 3-dimensional model of light extinction. Poster. 8th Annual U.S. Landscape Ecology Symposium, Oak Ridge, TN. 1993. (with Hsin-i Wu & R.S. Stahl)
Simulation modelling of a boreal forest landscape: The effects of autogenic processes, site conditions and disturbance history. Talk. Symposium of the International Association for Vegetation Science, Eger, Hungary. 1991.
Efficient landscape-scale vegetation modelling. Talk. Cooperative Holocene Mapping (COHMAP) workshop, Sigtuna, Sweden. 1990.
Hierarchical structure of vegetation-environment relationships on islands in the Lower Wisconsin River. Poster. Symposium of the International Association for Vegetation Science, Vienna, Austria. 1988.
A forest simulation model based on size cohorts. Talk. Workshop on forest simulation modelling in Europe, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 1988.
Graduate Students (M.S.)
Completed
Ellen Frondorf: Assessing post-fire oak and pine regeneration in Shenandoah National Park (May 2023).
Kayla Snell: Statistical modeling of tree mortality in Weir Woods SE Texas, USA. (Spring 2022).
Trista Montgomery: An investigation of seasonal environmental stressors in two Pinus strobus canopies (Spring 2019).
Jaime Thibodeaux: Modeling vegetation dynamics on permanent plots in Itasca State Park, Minnesota. Fall 2017.
Bryce Olson: Measurement and Modeling of Thermal Landscape for Moose at Voyageurs National Park. Fall 2013.
Matt Coyle: Anatomical analysis of hydraulic contraints on tree height in Pinus strobus. Spring 2013.
John Kamman: Physiological Analysis of Hydraulic Constraints on Tree Height in Pinus strobus. Summer 2008.
Gary Swanson: Monitoring the effects of prescribed fire in the restoration of native plant communities at Sherburne N.W.R. Spring 2008.
John Snyder: Landscape simulation modeling of upland forests in Voyageur’s National Park. Spring 2005.
Robert Shoemaker: The effects of a prescribed burn in a reestablished prairie on a monarch butterfly population. Fall 2003.
Ongoing
Fiona Clark: Changes in soils over 55+ years at upland forested plots in Itasca State Park, Minnesota.
Spencer DeMars: Needle photosynthetic characteristics as affected by light and drought stress in Pinus strobus.
Daniel DeVault: Restoring indigenous land management uses of fire on the lands of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
Mindy Phillips: Lichen communities on white pine in north central Minnesota.
Courses Taught
Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota.
Introductory Biology, (majors). Fall 2000-annually. Lecture and lab section.
General Ecology. Fall 2000-annually. Lecture.
Advanced projects. Fall 2000-annually. Senior research projects.
Lab and Field Ecology. Spring 2001-annually. Lab.
Plant Form & Function (anatomy and physiology). Spring 2001-annually. Lecture and lab.
Computer Applications in Statistics (graduate, co-taught w. Andrew Hafs). Spring 2016 – annually.
Plant Diversity (taxonomy). Spring 1999, Fall 2000-biennially. Lecture and lab.
Forest Ecology. Spring 2002-biennially. Lecture/lab.
Honors Seminar. Spring & Fall 2003. Spring 2006. Fall 2009.
Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data. Spring 2005, 2007, 2010 (graduate course).
Applied Statistics (Graduate). Co-taught with A. Hafs, Spring 2015.
Aquatic Plants. Fall 2001. Lecture and lab.
Advanced Ecology. Spring 2000, 2001. Lecture.
Plant Physiology. Spring 1999, 2000. Lecture and lab.
Co-instructor: General Biology (non-majors). Fall 1998, 1999. Lecture.
Introductory Biology Lab. Fall 1999. Lab.
Plant Anatomy. Fall 1998. Lecture and lab.
Rice University, Houston, Texas.
Instructor: General ecology. Fall 1995 (co-instructor), 1996, 1997. Lecture.
Co-instructor: Plant Diversity. Spring 1996. Lecture and lab.
Co-instructor: Field Ecology Lab (undergraduate research projects). Fall 1995, 1996, 1997. Lab.
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
Co-instructor: Graduate course, plant growth modeling. Fall 1993. Lecture.
U. of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
Teaching assistant. General Botany and plant-human coevolution,. Fall 1986 – Spring 1987.
MacFarland High School, MacFarland, Wisconsin.
Student teaching. 8th grade Earth Science and 10th grade Biology, Spring 1983. Lecture and lab.
Service
Bemidji State University:
University Marshall Fall 2010 – current.
Graduate Coordinator for Biology Department Fall 2010 – 2016.
Committee service since 1998: Faculty Senate, Honors Council, Liberal Education, Graduate Studies, Curriculum (Chair 2002-2003), Bookstore, Library Services.
Committees of >30 MS students at BSU (in addition to my own students listed above).
Professional organizations:
Vice-chair of the North American section of the IAVS (International Association of Vegetation Science) 2013-2015.
Chair of the Vegetation Section of ESA (Ecological Society of America), summer 2007-2009. Vice-Chair summer 2005-2007.
Webmaster for Traditional Ecological Knowledge section of ESA 2004-2010.
Co-organizer and webmaster for workshops held at Bemidji State University:
– Floating and submersed aquatic plants of Minnesota, 3-4 August 2005.
– Grasses of Minnesota, 12-13 August 2003.
– Carex of Minnesota, 6-7 August 2002.
Manuscript and proposal reviews:
Associate Editor for American Midland Naturalist 2018-current.
Technical reviewer: Minnesota Forest Ecosystem Vulnerability Assessment (published 2014).
Ad hoc reviewer for National Science Foundation 1997-2010.
Ad hoc referee for Journals: Journal of Vegetation Science, Ecology, Global Ecology and Biogeography, Landscape Ecology, OIKOS, PLOS One, New Phytologist, Conservation Biology, Applied Vegetation Science, Annals of Forest Science, American Midland Naturalist, Restoration Ecology, Ecological Modelling, Methods in Ecology and Evolution, and EcoScience.
Symposium and session proposals for Ecological Society meetings (as a member of the ESA council, 2005-2007).
Reviewer for Choice (Current Reviews for Academic Libraries) 2000-2003.
Coordinated paper judging for the NE Minnesota Regional Science Fair: 1999 – 2002.
Edited abstracts volume for the conference on forest ecology hosted by the International Association of Vegetation Science at Uppsala, Sweden, 1989.
Other academic:
Served on committees of two Ph.D. students at Texas A&M University, two masters students at Rice University, one masters student at North Dakota State University.
Adjunct faculty, Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota – St. Paul.
Bemidji Community:
Board member for Bemidji Community Theater.
Ad-hoc mechanic for Shifting Gears (a local bicycle charity).
Support
Shenandoah National Park Trust Research Grant, 2017. (co-PI; PI is BSU graduate student Ellen Frondorf) for research on the effect of fire on pine and oak regeneration in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. $15,000
Internal (Bemidji State University):
Professional Improvement Grants for travel to meetings (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012).
Faculty Mini-Grant (with Angela Hahn) for research on porcupine intestinal microflora and its possible relationship to winter diet. 2014.
National Science Foundation #9816493, 9/1998-2/2002, collaborative grant (with P.A. Harcombe) Testing shade tolerance as a central element of forest dynamics theory using a forest dynamics simulator and long-term high-resolution data. $53,000
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 10/1999-5/2000, contract to upgrade Bemidji State University herbarium collection: update identifications; discard unusable and redundant collections; and create computer inventory. $5000
Tennessee Valley Authority, 6/96-9/97, subcontract to simulate responses of red oak and tulip poplar to ozone exposure.
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Postdoctoral Fellowship, 9/94-9/95, for work at the Tennessee Valley Authority, Norris, Tennessee.
Doktorandtjänst (doctoral candidate salary), 10/87-12/91, from the Swedish Natural Science Research Council (NFR).
Davis Fund Grant, University of Wisconsin Botany, 5/86 for research on early succession on islands in the Lower Wisconsin River.
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation fellowship, 9/85-8/86, complete support for the first year of graduate study.
Personal
Married (Wendy A. Greenberg). Daughter (Lily) born 25-July-1997. Son (Joshua) born 30-June-1999.
Hobbies: folk dance, music, reading, natural history, rope-assisted tree climbing.