Grant Elliott

Grant Elliott
Associate Professor
Faculty
222 Stewart Hall
573-882-8370
Education

Ph.D., Geography, University of Minnesota

M.S., Geography, University of Wyoming

B.A., Geography, University of Missouri

Research Interests

Climate-vegetation interactions, the biogeographical manifestation of climate change in forest ecosystems, the role of bioclimatic thresholds in driving vegetation change, influence of climate on process-pattern interactions in vegetation communities

Bio

Emphasis: biogeography, macroecology, dendrochronology, climate change, forest dynamics, climatology, landscape ecology.

Dr. Elliott is interested in studying climate-vegetation interactions across multiple spatial and temporal scales. To date, his research has primarily been conducted across high-elevation treeline environments along the crown of the Rocky Mountains and this research is ongoing. To better understand how local oak-hickory forests are responding to climate change,, he is working with a  research team of undergraduate students collecting annual tree phenology data (spring and fall) to better understand how individual species are responding to climate variability and how this differs along urban gradients.

Courses Taught

7620/Biogeography: Global Patterns of Life

XXXX/Introduction to Physical Geography 

3610/Physical Geography of the United States

8820/Field Geography

Select Publications

*Bailey, S.N., Elliott, G.P., & Schliep, E.M., 2921. Seasonal temperature-moisture interactions limit seedling establishment at upper treeline in the Southern Rockies. Ecosphere. 12(6):e03568.

Elliott, G.P., *Bailey, S.N., & *Cardinal, S.J., 2021. Hotter drought as a disturbance at upper treeline in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 111: 756–770.

Elliott, G.P. & Petruccelli, C.A. 2018. Tree recruitment at the treeline across the Continental Divide in the Northern Rocky Mountains, USA: the role of spring snow and autumn climate. Plant Ecology & Diversityhttps://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2018.1487475

Elliott, G.P. 2017. Treeline ecotones. The International Encyclopedia of Geography. 1–10.

Elliott, G.P. & Cowell, C.M. 2015. Slope aspect mediates fine-scale tree establishment patterns at upper treeline during wet and dry periods of the 20th Century. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 47: 679–690. doi.org/10.1657/AAAR0014-025

Berland, Adam, and Grant P. Elliott. 2014. "Unexpected Connections between Residential Urban Forest Diversity and Vulnerability to Two Invasive Beetles." Landscape Ecology 29 (January 30, 2014): 141-152.

Elliott, G.P. 2012a. Extrinsic regime shifts drive abrupt changes in regeneration dynamics at upper treeline in the Rocky Mountains, USAEcology, 93: 1614–1625.

Elliott, G. P. 2012b. The role of thresholds and fine-scale processes in driving upper treeline dynamics in the Bighorn Mountains, WyomingPhysical Geography 33:129–145.

Elliott, G.P. and Kipfmueller, K.F. 2011. Multi-scale influences of climate on upper treeline dynamics in the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA: Evidence of intra-regional variability and bioclimatic thresholds in response to 20th century warmingAnnals of the Association of American Geographers 101: 1181-1203.

Elliott, G.P. 2011. Influences of 20th century warming at upper treeline contingent on local-scale interactions: evidence from a latitudinal gradient in the Rocky Mountains, USAGlobal Ecology and Biogeography 20: 46–57.

Kipfmueller, K.F., Elliott, G.P., Larson, E.R, and Salzer, M.W. 2010. An assessment of the dendroclimatic potential of three conifer species in northern Minnesota. Tree Ring Research 66: 113-126.

Elliott, G.P. and Kipfmueller, K.F. 2010. Multi-scale influences of slope aspect and spatial pattern on ecotonal dynamics at upper treeline in the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 42: 45-56.

Elliott, G.P. and Larson, E.R. 2009. Disturbance and successional dynamics in an old-growth white pine-mixed hardwood forest in the Great Lakes region of Minnesota. The Geographical Bulletin 50: 17–35.

Ziegler, S.S., Larson, E.R., Rauchfuss, J., and Elliott, G.P. 2008. Tree establishment during dry spells at an oak savanna in Minnesota. Tree-Ring Research 64: 53–60.

Elliott, G.P. and Baker, W.L. 2004. Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) at treeline: a century of change in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, U.S.A. Journal of Biogeography, 31: 733–745.