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Ecology and Evolution
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
105
Citations
49671
World Ranking
211
National Ranking
88

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in United States Leader Award
  • 2017 - Fellow of American Geophysical Union (AGU)
  • 2009 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Overview

Alan K. Knapp is affiliated with Colorado State University in the United States and conducts research primarily within Environmental Science. Their work spans various subfields including Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Ecology, Atmospheric Science, and Plant Science.

Their research focuses on topics such as Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics, Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Tree-ring Climate Responses, Remote Sensing in Agriculture, Pasture and Agricultural Systems, Climate Variability and Models, and Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics.

Knapp has contributed publications to frequently used venues including Global Change Biology, Oecologia, Journal of Ecology, Functional Ecology, and Ecology.

Recent papers authored or co-authored by Knapp with notable citation counts include:

  • Dominant role of soil moisture in mediating carbon and water fluxes in dryland ecosystems (2024) published in Nature Geoscience
  • Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally (2024) published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Precipitation-productivity relationships and the duration of precipitation anomalies: An underappreciated dimension of climate change (2020) published in Global Change Biology
  • Decoupling of greenness and gross primary productivity as aridity decreases (2022) published in Remote Sensing of Environment
  • Resolving the Dust Bowl paradox of grassland responses to extreme drought (2020) published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Frequent collaborators in Knapp's work include Melinda D. Smith, Scott L. Collins, Qiang Yu, Robert J. Griffin-Nolan, and Wentao Luo, reflecting ongoing collaborative efforts across their research projects.

Knapp has been recognized with professional distinctions such as Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) awarded in 2017 and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2009.

Best Publications

  • Variation Among Biomes in Temporal Dynamics of Aboveground Primary Production

    Alan K. Knapp;Melinda D. Smith

  • The Importance of Land-Use Legacies to Ecology and Conservation

    David Foster;Frederick Swanson;John Aber;Ingrid Burke

  • Convergence across biomes to a common rain-use efficiency

    Travis E. Huxman;Melinda D. Smith;Melinda D. Smith;Philip A. Fay;Alan K. Knapp

  • Rainfall variability, carbon cycling, and plant species diversity in a mesic grassland

    Alan K. Knapp;Philip A. Fay;John M. Blair;Scott L. Collins;Scott L. Collins

  • Consequences of More Extreme Precipitation Regimes for Terrestrial Ecosystems

    Alan K. Knapp;Claus Beier;David D. Briske;Aimée T. Classen

  • Modulation of Diversity by Grazing and Mowing in Native Tallgrass Prairie

    Scott L. Collins;Scott L. Collins;Scott L. Collins;Alan K. Knapp;Alan K. Knapp;Alan K. Knapp;John M. Briggs;John M. Briggs;John M. Briggs;John M. Blair;John M. Blair;John M. Blair

  • Leaf optical properties in higher plants: linking spectral characteristics to stress and chlorophyll concentration

    Gregory A. Carter;Alan K. Knapp

  • The Origins of C4 Grasslands: Integrating Evolutionary and Ecosystem Science

    Erika J. Edwards;Colin P. Osborne;Caroline A.E. Strömberg;Stephen A. Smith

  • Assessing the Response of Terrestrial Ecosystems to Potential Changes in Precipitation

    Jake F. Weltzin;Michael E. Loik;Susanne Schwinning;David G. Williams

  • The Keystone Role of Bison in North American Tallgrass Prairie

    Alan K. Knapp;John M. Blair;John M. Briggs;Scott L. Collins

  • The Keystone Role of Bison in North American Tallgrass Prairie Bison increase habitat heterogeneity and alter a broad array of plant, community, and ecosystem processes

    A. K. Knapp;J. M. Blair;J. M. Briggs;S. L. Collins;S. L. Collins

  • An Ecosystem in Transition: Causes and Consequences of the Conversion of Mesic Grassland to Shrubland

    John M. Briggs;Alan K. Knapp;John M. Blair;Jana L. Heisler

  • Dominant species maintain ecosystem function with non‐random species loss

    Melinda D. Smith;Alan K. Knapp

  • An integrated conceptual framework for long‐term social–ecological research

    Scott L Collins;Stephen R Carpenter;Scott M Swinton;Daniel E Orenstein

  • Detritus Accumulation Limits Productivity of Tallgrass PrairieThe effects of its plant litter on ecosystem function make the tallgrass prairie unique among North American biomes

    Unknown

  • Resistance and resilience of a grassland ecosystem to climate extremes

    David L. Hoover;Alan K. Knapp;Melinda D. Smith

  • A framework for assessing ecosystem dynamics in response to chronic resource alterations induced by global change

    Melinda D. Smith;Alan K. Knapp;Scott L. Collins

  • Shrub encroachment in North American grasslands: shifts in growth form dominance rapidly alters control of ecosystem carbon inputs

    Alan K. Knapp;John M. Briggs;Scott L. Collins;Steven R. Archer

  • Interannual variability in primary production in tallgrass prairie: climate, soil moisture, topographic position, and fire as determinants of aboveground biomass

    John M. Briggs;Alan K. Knapp

  • Tracking the rhythm of the seasons in the face of global change: phenological research in the 21st century.

    Jeffrey T Morisette;Andrew D Richardson;Alan K Knapp;Jeremy I Fisher

  • Grassland dynamics : long-term ecological research in tallgrass prairie

    Alan K. Knapp

  • Climate change and precipitation – Consequences of more extreme precipitation regimes for terrestrial ecosystems

    Claus Beier;A Knapp;D Briske

Frequent Co-Authors

Melinda D. Smith
Melinda D. Smith Colorado State University
Scott L. Collins
Scott L. Collins University of New Mexico
John M. Blair
John M. Blair Kansas State University
Kevin R. Wilcox
Kevin R. Wilcox University of North Carolina at Greensboro
John M. Briggs
John M. Briggs Kansas State University
Philip A. Fay
Philip A. Fay Agricultural Research Service
Yiqi Luo
Yiqi Luo Cornell University
Deron E. Burkepile
Deron E. Burkepile University of California, Santa Barbara
Sally E. Koerner
Sally E. Koerner University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Kevin P. Kirkman
Kevin P. Kirkman University of KwaZulu-Natal

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