I conduct research on how trees and forests respond to environmental changes and, conversely, how they can be managed to moderate environmental changes. My research draws on physiological and ecosystem ecology to explore how tree and forest-scale water and carbon cycle processes respond to global change factors, including changes in water availability, woody plant encroachment, extreme weather events, and urbanization.
Ansley RJ, Rivera-Monroy VH, Griffis-Kyle K, Hoagland B, Emert A, Fagin T, Loss SR, McCarthy HR, Smith NG, Waring EF. (2023). Assessing impacts of climate change on selected foundation species and ecosystem services in the South-Central USA. Ecosphere, 14, doi:10.1002/ecs2.4412.
Zhang Y, Xiao X, Zhou S, Ciais P, McCarthy HR, Luo Y. (2016). Canopy and physiological control of GPP during drought and heatwave. Geophysical Research Letters, 43, 3325-3333,
Medlyn BE, Zaehle S, De Kauwe MG, Walker AP, Dietze MC, Hanson P, Hickler T, Jain A, Luo Y, Parton W, Prentice IC, Thornton P, Wang S, Wang Y-P, Weng E, Iversen CM, McCarthy HR, Warren JM, Oren R, Norby RJ. (2015). Using ecosystem experiments to improve vegetation models. Nature Climate Change, 5, 528-534.
McCarthy HR*, Pataki, DE, Jenerette GD. (2011). Plant water use efficiency as a metric of urban ecosystem services. Ecological Applications, 21, 3115-312, doi.org/10.1890/11-0048.1.
cCarthy HR*, Oren R, Johnsen KH, Gallet-Budynek A, Pritchard SG, Cook CW, LaDeau SL, Jackson RB, Finzi AC (2010). Reassessment of plant carbon dynamics at the Duke free air CO2 enrichment site: interactions of atmospheric [CO2] with nitrogen and water availability over stand development. New Phytologist, 185, 514-528,
