William A. Hoffmann
Address
Department of Plant Biology
Campus Box 7612
North CarolinaStateUniversity
Raleigh, NC27695-7612
Phone:919-513-7668
Fax: 919-515-3436
Email:
Education
Ph.D.June 1996BiologyHarvardUniversity
A.M.June 1992BiologyHarvardUniversity
B.S.June 1990Animal EcologyIowaStateUniversity
Positions Held
01/04 to present. Assistant Professor, Botany Department, North Carolina State University.
03/00 to 12/03. Visiting Professor, Forestry Department, University of Brasília, Brazil.
10/98 to 03/00. Associate Researcher, Botany Department, University of Brasília, Brazil. This position was funded by an NSF postdoctoral fellowship. Supervisor: Augusto C. Franco.
04/97 to 09/98. Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Botany, University of Texas at Austin. Supervisor: Robert B. Jackson.
07/96 to 03/97. Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, HarvardUniversity. Supervisor: F.A. Bazzaz.
09/90 to 06/96. Graduate Student, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, HarvardUniversity. Advisor: Otto T. Solbrig.
1990, 1994, 1995, 1996. Teaching Fellow, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, HarvardUniversity.
02/89 to 08/89. Research Assistant for the TropicalForest Dynamics Project, Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Supervisors: S. Hubbell and R. Foster
05/88 to 08/88. Summer intern, Department of Zoology, Iowa State Univ. Supervisor: Drena Larson.
Journal Articles
Lahoreau, G., S. Barot, J. Gignoux, W.A. Hoffmann, S.A. Setterfield, and P. R. Williams. 2006. Positive effect of seed size on seedling survival in fire-prone savannas of Australia, Brazil and West Africa. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 22:719-722 .
Hoffmann, W.A., Silva, E.R., Machado, G.C., Bucci, S.J., Scholz, F.G., Goldstein, G., Meinzer, F.C. 2005.Seasonal leaf dynamics across a tree density gradient in aBrazilian savanna. Oecologia, 145: 307-316.
Goldstein, G., F.C. Meinzer, S.J. Bucci, F.G. Scholz, A.C. Franco, W.A.Hoffmann (in review). Water economy of Neotropical savanna trees: some paradigms revisited. Submitted to Journal of Biogeography.
Hoffmann, W.A., Franco, A.C., Moreira, M.Z., Haridasan, M. 2005. Specific leaf area explains differences in leaf traitsbetween congeneric savanna and forest trees.Functional Ecology 19: 932-940.
Sternberg, L.S.L., Bucci, S., Franco, A.C., Goldstein, G., Hoffmann, W.A., Moreira, M.Z., Scholz, F. 2005. Long range lateral root activity by Neo-tropical savanna trees. Plant and Soil, 270:169-178.
Hoffmann, W.A., Orthen, B. and Franco, A.C. 2004. Constraints to seedling success of savanna and forest trees across the savanna-forest boundary. Oecologia140:252-260.
Hoffmann, W.A., Lucatelli, V. M. P. C., Silva, F. J., Azeuedo, I. N. C., Marinho, M. da S., Albuquerque, A. M. S., Lopes, A. de O., Moreira, S. P. 2004.Impact of the invasive grass Melinis minutiflora at the savanna-forest ecotone in the Brazilian Cerrado. Diversity and Distributions, 10: 99-103.
Bucci S.J., Scholz F.G., Goldstein G., Meinzer F.C , Hinojosa J.A., Hoffmann W.A., and Franco, A.C. 2004. Processes preventing nocturnal equilibrium between leaf and soil water potential in tropical savanna woody species, Tree Physiology, 24: 1119-1127.
Hoffmann, W.A., B. Orthen, and P.K.V. Nascimento. 2003. Comparative fire ecology of tropical savanna and forest trees. Functional Ecology, 17: 720-726
Hoffmann, W.A., W. Schroeder and R.B. Jackson. 2003. Regional feedbacks among climate, fire, and tropical deforestation. Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, 108, DOI: 2003JD003494.
Hoffmann, W.A. and O.T. Solbrig. 2003. The role of topkill in the differential response of savanna woody species to fire. Forest Ecology and Management, 180:273-286.
Hoffmann, W.A. and A.C. Franco. 2003. Comparative growth analysis of tropical savanna and forest trees using phylogenetically-independent contrasts. Journal of Ecology, 91: 475-484.
Hoffmann, W. A., W. Schroeder, and R. B. Jackson. 2002. Positive feedbacks of fire, climate, and vegetation change and the conversion of tropical savannas. Geophysical Research Letters, 15: doi: 10.1029/2002GL015424
Dickinson, R.E., J.A. Berry, G.B. Bonan, G.J. Collatz, C.B. Field, I.Y. Fung, M. Goulden, W.A. Hoffmann, R. Jackson, R. Myneni, P. Sellers, M. Shaikh. 2002. Nitrogen controls on climate model evapotranspiration. Journal of Climate, 15:278-295.
Hoffmann, W.A. and H. Poorter. 2002. Avoiding bias in calculations of relative growth rate. Annals of Botany 80:37-42 .
Hoffmann, W.A. 2002. Direct and indirect effects of fire on radial growth of cerrado savanna trees. Journal of Tropical Ecology18:137-142.
Silva, G.F., R.L.C. Ferreira, W.A. Hoffmann, N.C. Fiedler, G. Janin. 2002. Optimization applied to management of natural forests. ETFRN News 36: 26-27.
Hoffmann, W.A., F.A. Bazzaz, N.J. Chatterton, P. Harrison, and R.B. Jackson. 2000. Elevated CO2 enhances resprouting of a tropical savanna tree. Oecologia, 123(3) 312-317.
Hoffmann, W. A. and R.B. Jackson. 2000. Vegetation-climate feedbacks in the conversion of tropical savanna to grassland. Journal of Climate 13:1593-1602.
Hoffmann, W. A. 2000. Post-establishment seedling success of savanna and forest species in the Brazilian Cerrado. Biotropica, 32(1):62-69
Jackson R.B., L. A Moore, W. A. Hoffmann, W. T. Pockman, and C. R. Linder. 1999. Ecosystem rooting depth determined with caves and DNA. Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Science 96:11387-11392.
Hoffmann, W. A. 1999. Fire and population dynamics of woody plants in a Neotropical savanna: matrix model predictions. Ecology 80:1354-1369.
Hoffmann, W. A. 1998. Post-burn reproduction of woody plants in a Neotropical savanna: the relative importance of sexual and vegetative reproduction. Journal of Applied Ecology 35:422-433.
Hoffmann, W. A. 1996. The effects of cover and fire on seedling establishment in a neotropical savanna. Journal of Ecology. 84:383-393
Book Chapters
Jackson, R.B., Farley, K.A., Hoffmann, W.A., Jobbagy, E.G., McCulley, R.L. Vegetation change and carbon and water dynamics. In J. Canadell, D. Pataki, L. Pitelka (eds.) Terrestrial Ecosystems in a Changing World, in press.
Hoffmann, W.A. 2005. Ecologia comparativa de espécies lenhosas de cerrado e de mata (Comparative ecology of savanna and forest woody plants). In A. Scariot, J. M. Felfili, and J. C. Sousa-Silva (eds.) Ecologia e Biodiversidade do Cerrado, in press.
Hoffmann, W.A. and Moreira, A.G. 2002 The Role of Fire in Population Dynamics of Woody Plants, Pp. 159-177 in P.S. Oliveira and R.J. Marquis (eds.) The Cerrados of Brazil: Ecology and Natural History of a Neotropical Savanna, ColumbiaUniversity Press, New York.
Jackson, R. B., W. T. Pockman, and W. A. Hoffmann. 1999. Structure and function of root systems. Pp 195-220 in: F. I. Pugnaire and F. Valladeres (eds). Handbook of Plant Functional Ecology, Marcel Dekker, Inc.
Archer, S., M. Coughenour, C. Dall'Aglio, C. W. Fernandez, J. Hay, W. Hoffmann, C. Klink, J. F. Silva, and O. T. Solbrig. 1996. Savanna biodiversity and ecosystem properties. Pp 207-215 in O. T. Solbrig, E. Medina, J. F. Silva (eds), Biodiversity and Savanna Ecosystem Properties. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Conference proceedings
Hoffmann, W. A. 1994. Demographic effects of fire on woody plants of the cerrado savanna of central Brazil. Pp 205-212 in J. S. Fralish, R. C. Anderson, J. E. Ebinger, and R. Szafoni (editors) Proceedings of the North American Conference on Barrens and Savannas. EPA.
Hoffmann, W.A. 2000. The relative importance of sexual and vegetative reproduction in cerrado woody plants. Pp. 231-234 in T.B. Cavalcanti and B.M.T. Walter (eds.) Tópicos Atuais em Botânica. EMBRAPA, Brasília.
Contributed Presentations
2005 American Geophysical Union
2005 Ecological Society of America
2002 Ecological Society of America
2001 Brazilian Botanical Congress
2000 Brazilian Botanical Congress
1999 Ecological Society of America
1999 VII Brazilian Congress on Plant Physiology
1999 International Conference on Environmental Physics
1998 Ecological Society of America
1997 Ecological Society of America
1996 Ecological Society of America
1994 North American Savanna and Barrens Conference
Invited Lectures
2005. ShawUniversity. “Causes and Consequences of Land-Use Change in the Tropics”
2004 Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation symposium entitled “Frontiers in Tropical Ecosystem Disturbance Dynamics: Perspectives on Fire – Past, Present, and Future.”
2004 Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation symposium entitled “ Evolutionary Constraints on Life History and Physiological Traits in Tropical Plants”
2004 UNC Curriculum in Ecology Seminar Series
2004 Biology Department, University of Miami
2003 Botany Department, North Carolina State University
2003 Desert Research Institute
2002 Fire as an Earth System Process Workshop, This meeting was a part of the Global Analysis, Integration and Modelling (GAIM) task force of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France
2002 Biology Department, SouthwestTexasStateUniversity
2001 Roundtable Discussion,'Ecology of the Cerrado,' at the Brazilian Ecological Congress, Porto Alegre, Brazil
2001 University of Texas, Austin
2001 USFS, Honolulu, Hawaii
2001 Green Meeting of the Americas, Brasília, Brazil
2001 Department of Geography, UC Santa Barbara
2001 Department of Botany, University of Florida
2001 Tall Timbers Research Station
2000 Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Goiânia, Brazil
2000 Roundtable Discussion: "Modes of Reproduction in Plants" at the Brazilian Botanical Congress.
2000 Symposium: "Patterns of Structure and Functioning of Cerrado Ecosystems" at the Brazilian Botanical Congress.
2000 Biology Department, San DiegoStateUniversity.
1999 Division of Biology, KansasStateUniversity
1999 Dept. Ecology, University of Brasilia
1999 Dept. Forestry, University of Brasilia
1998 NCAR Common Surface Model Working Group
1998 Dept. Botany, University of Texas
1997 Dept.Range Ecology and Mangement, TexasA&MUniversity
1996 Dept. Botany, University of Vermont
1996 Second Accidental International Symposium on Matrix Population Models and Their Applications. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
1996 Boston Tropical Botany Meeting
1996 PennStateUniversity
1994 Ecology Dept, University of Brasilia
Teaching Experience
Undergraduate Classes Taught
Seeds and Nurseries. Forestry Department, University of Brasília, Semesters taught: 2000SF, 2001SF, 2002SF
Silvicultural Methods. Forestry Department, University of Brasília. Semesters taught: 2000S 2001S
Graduate Classes Taught
Global Change and Brazilian Ecosystems. Forestry Department, University of Brasília. Semesters taught: 2000F 2001F, 2002F
Rehabilitation of Degraded Areas. Forestry Department, University of Brasília. Semesters taught: 2000S 2002S
Field Ecology (Team taught with other professors). Ecology Department, University of Brasília, August 1999
Undergraduate Classes Taught as Teaching Assistant
Statistics for Biological Problems. HarvardUniversity. Duties included preparing and leading a weekly recitation section in introductory statistics and occasionally lecturing when the professor was absent. Supervisor: Prof. Richard C. Lewontin. Semesters taught: 1994F, 1995F, 1996F.
Biology of Trees and Forests. HarvardUniversity. Duties included preparing and leading a weekly laboratory section. Supervisor: Prof. Donald Pfister. Semester taught: 1997S
Evolution.HarvardUniversity. Duties included leading two weekly recitation/discussion sections. Supervisor: Prof. E.O. Wilson. Semester taught: 1996F
PopulationBiology:Ecology.HarvardUniversity. Duties included organizing field trips, and leading a weekly discussion section. In this course, each section is led by a teaching fellow, who chooses a theme to be developed through the semester. The topic of my section was 'Management of Populations. Supervisors: Prof. William Bossert and Prof. Peter Ashton. Semester taught: 1995S
Introductory Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. Duties included leading a weekly laboratory section. Supervisor: Prof. Karel Liem. Semester taught: 1990F
Fellowships and Grants
2006-2008. Evolutionary and ecological feedbacks as determinants of savanna-forest dynamics. National Science Foundation ($400,000).
2005-2008 The role of species traits in biogeochemical cycles at savanna-forest boundaries. A.W. Mellon Foundation ($300,000)
2001-2004. Water Economy of Neotropical Savanna Ecosystems: The impact of Hydraulic Lift, Partitioning of Soil Water and Changes in Land Use. NSF grant to Co-PIs Guillermo Goldstein and Rick Meinzer. I was the Brazilian coordinator of this project (Total project: ~$500,000; my part $70,000)
1998–2000. Comparative Ecophysiology of Savanna and Forest Trees as a Key to Understanding the Dynamics of the Savanna-Forest BoundaryNational Science Foundation International Research Fellowship for project ($85,761)
1991-1994. National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship ($43,000)
1991. Department of Energy Fellowship for Global Change (Declined to accept NSF fellowship)
Honors and Awards
1997 Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, HarvardUniversity, awarded for performance as a teaching fellow for Bio 153. Statistics for Biological Problems.
1990 Graduated with distinction from IowaStateUniversity
1990 IowaStateUniversity High Scholarship Student
1990 Highest Graduating Senior in Animal Ecology, IowaStateUniversity
1989 Iowa State University Gertrude Herr Adamson Award for excellence in mathematics
1988 Baumgartner Scholarship from the DubuqueCounty Conservation Society ($500)
1987 Macbride Scholarship, Iowa Lakeside Laboratory field courses ($618)
1986-1990 Iowa State University Biotechnology Scholarship (Full undergraduate tuition paid)
1986-1990 Member of IowaStateUniversity Honors Program
1986-1990 On the Dean's List every semester of undergraduate study
1986 State of Iowa Scholar
1986 Iowa Math and Science Grant ($500)
Journal Reviews
Acta Botanica Brasilica (2), Acta Oecologica (2), Australian Journal of Botany(2), Biotropica (7), Boletim do Hérbario Ezechias Paulo Heringer (2), Climatic Change, Diversity and Distributions, Ecological Applications (2), Ecological Modelling, Environmental and Experimental Botany, Ecology (4), Functional Ecology (3), Global Change Biology, International Journal of Climatology, International Journal of Wildland Fire, Journal of Applied Ecology, Journal of Ecology(4), Journal of Theoretical Biology, Journal of Tropical Ecology (6), New Phytologist, Oecologia (3), Plant Biology, Plant Ecology, Revista Brasileira de Fisiologia Vegetal.