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J. Patrick Megonigal

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
74
Citations
23067
World Ranking
1106
National Ranking
415

J. Patrick Megonigal publication distribution in Ecology and Evolution in 2026

The chart shows the distribution of publications by all Research.com ranked scientists in the field of Ecology and Evolution in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where J. Patrick Megonigal sits on this spectrum.

37–41 publications: 2 scientists 42–46 publications: 9 scientists 47–51 publications: 10 scientists 52–56 publications: 31 scientists 57–61 publications: 56 scientists 62–66 publications: 91 scientists 67–71 publications: 92 scientists 72–76 publications: 127 scientists 77–81 publications: 173 scientists 82–86 publications: 236 scientists 87–91 publications: 227 scientists 92–96 publications: 240 scientists 97–101 publications: 333 scientists 102–106 publications: 280 scientists 107–111 publications: 300 scientists 112–116 publications: 285 scientists 117–121 publications: 305 scientists 122–126 publications: 287 scientists 127–131 publications: 278 scientists 132–136 publications: 289 scientists 137–141 publications: 273 scientists 142–146 publications: 262 scientists 147–151 publications: 246 scientists 152–156 publications: 235 scientists 157–161 publications: 205 scientists 162–166 publications: 199 scientists 167–171 publications: 174 scientists 172–176 publications: 164 scientists 177–181 publications: 173 scientists 182–186 publications: 189 scientists 187–191 publications: 170 scientists 192–196 publications: 139 scientists 197–201 publications: 128 scientists 202–206 publications: 117 scientists 207–211 publications: 115 scientists 212–216 publications: 107 scientists 217–221 publications: 124 scientists 222–226 publications: 81 scientists 227–231 publications: 82 scientists 232–236 publications: 85 scientists 237–241 publications: 75 scientists 242–246 publications: 66 scientists 247–251 publications: 81 scientists 252–256 publications: 69 scientists 257–261 publications: 70 scientists 262–266 publications: 55 scientists 267–271 publications: 64 scientists 272–276 publications: 49 scientists 277–281 publications: 48 scientists 282–286 publications: 44 scientists 287–291 publications: 45 scientists 292–296 publications: 36 scientists 297–301 publications: 39 scientists 302–306 publications: 38 scientists 307–311 publications: 30 scientists 312–316 publications: 34 scientists 317–321 publications: 25 scientists 322–326 publications: 22 scientists 327–331 publications: 28 scientists 332–336 publications: 30 scientists 337–341 publications: 22 scientists 342–346 publications: 30 scientists 347–351 publications: 26 scientists 352–356 publications: 22 scientists 357–361 publications: 29 scientists 362–366 publications: 21 scientists 367–371 publications: 12 scientists 372–376 publications: 18 scientists 377–381 publications: 17 scientists 382–386 publications: 13 scientists 387–391 publications: 21 scientists 392–396 publications: 13 scientists 397–401 publications: 10 scientists 402–406 publications: 15 scientists 407–411 publications: 8 scientists 412–416 publications: 9 scientists 417–421 publications: 8 scientists 422–426 publications: 4 scientists 427–431 publications: 10 scientists 432–436 publications: 10 scientists 437–441 publications: 5 scientists 442–446 publications: 4 scientists 447–451 publications: 10 scientists 452–456 publications: 2 scientists 457–461 publications: 4 scientists 462–466 publications: 7 scientists 467–471 publications: 7 scientists 472–476 publications: 6 scientists 477–481 publications: 6 scientists 482–486 publications: 3 scientists 487–491 publications: 3 scientists 492–496 publications: 4 scientists 497–501 publications: 4 scientists 502–506 publications: 8 scientists 507–511 publications: 5 scientists 512–516 publications: 4 scientists 517–521 publications: 5 scientists 522–526 publications: 4 scientists 527–530 publications: 5 scientists 531+ publications: 100 scientists
37 publications 531+

This scientist: 224 publications — 80th percentile

80% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 531 publications or more.

J. Patrick Megonigal D-index placement in Ecology and Evolution in 2026

The chart shows the D-index (discipline H-index) distribution of Ecology and Evolution scientists ranked by Research.com in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where J. Patrick Megonigal sits on this spectrum.

30 D-Index: 95 scientists 31 D-Index: 123 scientists 32 D-Index: 191 scientists 33 D-Index: 245 scientists 34 D-Index: 252 scientists 35 D-Index: 244 scientists 36 D-Index: 249 scientists 37 D-Index: 244 scientists 38 D-Index: 254 scientists 39 D-Index: 254 scientists 40 D-Index: 280 scientists 41 D-Index: 274 scientists 42 D-Index: 266 scientists 43 D-Index: 233 scientists 44 D-Index: 248 scientists 45 D-Index: 208 scientists 46 D-Index: 201 scientists 47 D-Index: 213 scientists 48 D-Index: 207 scientists 49 D-Index: 172 scientists 50 D-Index: 209 scientists 51 D-Index: 199 scientists 52 D-Index: 153 scientists 53 D-Index: 169 scientists 54 D-Index: 163 scientists 55 D-Index: 148 scientists 56 D-Index: 120 scientists 57 D-Index: 146 scientists 58 D-Index: 137 scientists 59 D-Index: 140 scientists 60 D-Index: 104 scientists 61 D-Index: 119 scientists 62 D-Index: 118 scientists 63 D-Index: 99 scientists 64 D-Index: 77 scientists 65 D-Index: 100 scientists 66 D-Index: 86 scientists 67 D-Index: 83 scientists 68 D-Index: 75 scientists 69 D-Index: 94 scientists 70 D-Index: 57 scientists 71 D-Index: 68 scientists 72 D-Index: 59 scientists 73 D-Index: 63 scientists 74 D-Index: 66 scientists 75 D-Index: 60 scientists 76 D-Index: 42 scientists 77 D-Index: 49 scientists 78 D-Index: 39 scientists 79 D-Index: 37 scientists 80 D-Index: 43 scientists 81 D-Index: 41 scientists 82 D-Index: 45 scientists 83 D-Index: 34 scientists 84 D-Index: 40 scientists 85 D-Index: 35 scientists 86 D-Index: 55 scientists 87 D-Index: 24 scientists 88 D-Index: 24 scientists 89 D-Index: 30 scientists 90 D-Index: 23 scientists 91 D-Index: 25 scientists 92 D-Index: 27 scientists 93 D-Index: 27 scientists 94 D-Index: 13 scientists 95 D-Index: 23 scientists 96 D-Index: 12 scientists 97 D-Index: 14 scientists 98 D-Index: 19 scientists 99 D-Index: 16 scientists 100 D-Index: 14 scientists 101 D-Index: 5 scientists 102 D-Index: 21 scientists 103 D-Index: 16 scientists 104 D-Index: 10 scientists 105 D-Index: 7 scientists 106 D-Index: 7 scientists 107 D-Index: 7 scientists 108 D-Index: 6 scientists 109 D-Index: 9 scientists 110 D-Index: 11 scientists 111 D-Index: 12 scientists 112 D-Index: 9 scientists 113 D-Index: 7 scientists 114 D-Index: 3 scientists 115 D-Index: 8 scientists 116 D-Index: 5 scientists 117 D-Index: 11 scientists 118 D-Index: 4 scientists 119 D-Index: 2 scientists 120 D-Index: 5 scientists 121+ D-Index: 100 scientists
30 D-Index 121+

This scientist: 74 D-Index — 87th percentile

87% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 121 D-Index or more.

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2012 - Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Overview

J. Patrick Megonigal is affiliated with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in the United States and has a prolific research record primarily in Environmental Science. Their work spans several interconnected subfields including Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Atmospheric Science, Plant Science, and Oceanography.

The scientist's research focuses extensively on coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics and peatlands and wetlands ecology, with additional attention to geology and paleoclimatology, fire effects on ecosystems, plant responses to water stress, plant water relations and carbon dynamics, and marine and coastal ecosystems.

J. Patrick Megonigal has contributed papers to a variety of academic venues. Among the most frequent publication outlets are the OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information), Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences, Global Change Biology, Estuaries and Coasts, and SSRN Electronic Journal.

Significant recent papers include the following:

  • "Representing the function and sensitivity of coastal interfaces in Earth system models," 2020, Nature Communications
  • "Total ecosystem carbon stocks of mangroves across broad global environmental and physical gradients," 2020, Ecological Monographs
  • "Operationalizing marketable blue carbon," 2022, One Earth
  • "Oxygen priming induced by elevated CO2 reduces carbon accumulation and methane emissions in coastal wetlands," 2023, Nature Geoscience
  • "Processes and mechanisms of coastal woody-plant mortality," 2022, Global Change Biology

The scientist frequently collaborates with several researchers, including Vanessa Bailey, Roy Rich, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Genevieve L. Noyce, and Nicholas Ward.

J. Patrick Megonigal was recognized as a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) in 2012.

Best Publications

  • Tidal wetland stability in the face of human impacts and sea-level rise

    Matthew L. Kirwan;J. Patrick Megonigal

  • Estimating Global “Blue Carbon” Emissions from Conversion and Degradation of Vegetated Coastal Ecosystems

    Linwood Pendleton;Daniel C. Donato;Brian C. Murray;Stephen Crooks

  • THE CARBON BALANCE OF NORTH AMERICAN WETLANDS

    Scott D. Bridgham;J. Patrick Megonigal;Jason K. Keller;Norman B. Bliss

  • The future of Blue Carbon science

    Peter I. Macreadie;Andrea Anton;John A. Raven;John A. Raven;John A. Raven;Nicola Beaumont

  • Salinity Influence on Methane Emissions from Tidal Marshes

    Hanna J. Poffenbarger;Brian A. Needelman;J. Patrick Megonigal

  • Natural climate solutions for the United States.

    Joseph E. Fargione;Steven Bassett;Timothy Boucher;Scott D. Bridgham

  • Moving Beyond Global Warming Potentials to Quantify the Climatic Role of Ecosystems

    Scott C. Neubauer;J. Patrick Megonigal

  • Below-ground process responses to elevated CO2 and temperature: a discussion of observations, measurement methods, and models

    Elise Pendall;Scott Bridgham;Paul J. Hanson;Bruce Hungate

  • Wetland carbon storage controlled by millennial-scale variation in relative sea-level rise

    Kerrylee Rogers;Jeffrey J. Kelleway;Neil Saintilan;J. Patrick Megonigal

  • Sap-flux-scaled transpiration responses to light, vapor pressure deficit, and leaf area reduction in a flooded Taxodium distichum forest.

    R. Oren;N. Phillips;B. E. Ewers;D. E. Pataki

  • Iron-oxidizing bacteria are associated with ferric hydroxide precipitates (Fe-plaque) on the roots of wetland plants

    David Emerson;David Emerson;Johanna V. Weiss;J. Patrick Megonigal

  • Elevated CO2 stimulates marsh elevation gain, counterbalancing sea-level rise

    J. Adam Langley;Karen L. McKee;Donald R. Cahoon;Julia A. Cherry

  • Contributions of Organic and Inorganic Matter to Sediment Volume and Accretion in Tidal Wetlands at Steady State

    James T. Morris;Donald C. Barber;John C. Callaway;Randy Chambers

  • Representing the function and sensitivity of coastal interfaces in Earth system models

    Nicholas D. Ward;Nicholas D. Ward;J. Patrick Megonigal;Ben Bond-Lamberty;Vanessa L. Bailey

  • Total ecosystem carbon stocks of mangroves across broad global environmental and physical gradients

    J. Boone Kauffman;Maria Fernanda Adame;Virni Budi Arifanti;Lisa M. Schile‐Beers

  • Aboveground Production in Southeastern Floodplain Forests: A Test of the Subsidy-Stress Hypothesis

    J. Patrick Megonigal;William H. Conner;Steven Kroeger;Rebecca R. Sharitz

  • Ecosystem response to elevated CO2 levels limited by nitrogen-induced plant species shift

    J. Adam Langley;J. Patrick Megonigal

  • Life at the Energetic Edge: Kinetics of Circumneutral Iron Oxidation by Lithotrophic Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria Isolated from the Wetland-Plant Rhizosphere

    Scott C. Neubauer;David Emerson;J. Patrick Megonigal

  • Enumeration of Fe(II)-oxidizing and Fe(III)-reducing bacteria in the root zone of wetland plants: Implications for a rhizosphere iron cycle

    Johanna V. Weiss;David Emerson;Stephanie M. Backer;J. Patrick Megonigal

  • Global change effects on plant communities are magnified by time and the number of global change factors imposed

    Kimberly J. Komatsu;Meghan L. Avolio;Nathan P. Lemoine;Forest Isbell

  • SEASONAL PATTERNS AND PLANT‐MEDIATED CONTROLS OF SUBSURFACE WETLAND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY

    Scott C. Neubauer;Scott C. Neubauer;Kim Givler;SarahKeith Valentine;SarahKeith Valentine;J. Patrick Megonigal

  • Geochemical control of microbial Fe(III) reduction potential in wetlands: comparison of the rhizosphere to non-rhizosphere soil

    Johanna V. Weiss;David Emerson;J.Patrick Megonigal

Frequent Co-Authors

Bert G. Drake
Bert G. Drake Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Bruce A. Hungate
Bruce A. Hungate Northern Arizona University
David Emerson
David Emerson Bigelow Laboratory For Ocean Sciences
Ariana E. Sutton-Grier
Ariana E. Sutton-Grier United States Geological Survey
James W. Fourqurean
James W. Fourqurean Florida International University
Nate G. McDowell
Nate G. McDowell Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Matthew L. Kirwan
Matthew L. Kirwan Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Pere Masqué
Pere Masqué Edith Cowan University
Paul Dijkstra
Paul Dijkstra Northern Arizona University
John A. Raven
John A. Raven University of Dundee

External Links

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Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

Exploring Ecology and Evolution opens doors to diverse scientific and applied careers. For those interested in broadening their opportunities or pursuing interdisciplinary fields, several related online programs are available. Many students find that combining ecological studies with psychology or counseling can help them contribute to conservation, education, or health initiatives.

For example, a 1 year master's in psychology online can enhance your understanding of human behaviors related to environmental issues. If you’re passionate about mental health in the context of nature or community, an online masters mental health counseling could be a practical choice.

Environmental justice and legal aspects are also crucial in this field. Positions requiring expertise in law and science, such as forensic psychology, have growing relevance. You might be interested in learning how much does a forensic psychologist make before choosing a specialized path.

Additionally, working with young people to foster ecological awareness or well-being can be a rewarding niche. Check out the masters in child psychology online for affordable options to gain the skills necessary for this career track.

Best Scientists Citing J. Patrick Megonigal

Jizhong Zhou

Jizhong Zhou

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Peter I. Macreadie

Peter I. Macreadie

Deakin University

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Catherine E. Lovelock

Catherine E. Lovelock

University of Queensland

Publications: 50

Pere Masqué

Pere Masqué

Edith Cowan University

Publications: 46

Ken W. Krauss

Ken W. Krauss

United States Geological Survey

Publications: 46

Peter B. Reich

Peter B. Reich

University of Minnesota

Publications: 45

Carlos M. Duarte

Carlos M. Duarte

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Publications: 43

Matthew L. Kirwan

Matthew L. Kirwan

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Publications: 42

Elise Pendall

Elise Pendall

Western Sydney University

Publications: 39

Yiqi Luo

Yiqi Luo

Cornell University

Publications: 37

Bruce A. Hungate

Bruce A. Hungate

Northern Arizona University

Publications: 33

William H. Conner

William H. Conner

Clemson University

Publications: 33

Jianwu Tang

Jianwu Tang

East China Normal University

Publications: 29

Christopher Craft

Christopher Craft

Indiana University

Publications: 29

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William J. Mitsch

Florida Gulf Coast University

Publications: 28

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Andreas Kappler

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