Dan Childers
- Senior Sustainability Scientist, Global Institute of Sustainability
- Teaching Faculty, School of Sustainability
- Professor, School of Sustainability
School of Sustainability
Arizona State University
PO Box 875502
Tempe, AZ 85287
Phone:
480-965-2320
Fax:
480-965-8087
Email:
dan.childers@asu.edu
Home Page:
http://weel.asu.edu/WEEL
Biography
Dr. Childers is a systems scientist, with special focus on urban ecosystems, wetland ecosystems, and sustainability science. His urban ecosystems research involves holistic, interdisciplinary approaches to understanding how human actions and decisions control the distribution of water, biogeochemical elements, and primary production in cities. Dan's wetland and aquatic ecosystem research has included both forested and herbaceous wetland ecosystems in many different freshwater and estuarine systems around the world. He was Director of the Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Program from its inception in 2000 until 2008. Dr. Childers teaches Sustainable Ecosystems, Sustainable World, and a number of specialty seminar courses.
Expertise
ecosystem ecology; wetland ecology; aquatic ecology; biogeochemical processes; systems science; urban ecology; ecohydrology; water; sustainability science;Courses
- SOS 110: Sustainable World
- SOS 535: Sustainable Ecosystems
Education
- Ph.D., Louisiana State University, 1989
- M.S., University of South Carolina, 1985
- B.A., University of Virginia, 1983
- Curriculum vita
Journal Articles
Babbitt, K. J., M. J. Baber, D. L. Childers and D. Hocking. 2009. Influence of agricultural upland habitat type on larval anuran assemblages in seasonally inundated wetlands. Wetlands 29:294-301. (link)
Bazante, J., G. Jacobi, H. M. Solo-Gabriele, D. Reed, S. Mitchell-Bruker, D. L. Childers, L. Leonard and M. Ross. 2006. Hydrologic measurements and implications for tree island formation within Everglades National Park. Journal of Hydrology 329:606-619. (link)
Childers, D. L. 2006. A synthesis of long-term research by the Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Program. Hydrobiologia 569:531-544. (link)
Childers, D. L., J. Corman, M. Edwards and J. J. Elser. 2011. Sustainability challenges of phosphorus and food: Solutions from closing the human phosphorus cycle. BioScience 61:117-124. (link)
Childers, D. L., D. Iwaniec, D. Rondeau, G. Rubio, E. Verdon and C. J. Madden. 2006. Responses of sawgrass and spikerush to variation in hydrologic drivers and salinity in southern Everglades marshes. Hydrobiologia 569:273-292. (link)
Collins, S. L., S. R. Carpenter, S. M. Swinton, D. E. Orenstein, D. L. Childers, T. L. Gragson, N. B. Grimm, J. M. Grove, S. L. Harlan, J. P. Kaye, A. K. Knapp, G. P. Kofinas, J. J. Magnuson, W. H. McDowell, J. M. Melack, L. A. Ogden, G. P. Robertson, M. D. Smith and A. C. Whitmer. 2011. An integrated conceptual framework for social-ecological research. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 9:351-357. (link)
Davis III, S. E. and D. L. Childers. 2007. Importance of water source in controlling leaf leaching losses in a dwarf red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle L.) wetland. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 71:194-201. (link)
Davis III, S. E., D. L. Childers and G. B. Noe. 2006. The contribution of leaching to the rapid release of nutrients and carbon in the early decay of wetland vegetation. Hydrobiologia 569:87-97. (link)
Davis, S. M., D. L. Childers, J. J. Lorenz, H. R. Wanless and T. E. Hopkins. 2005. A conceptual model of ecological interactions in the mangrove estuaries of the Florida Everglades. Wetlands 25:832-842. (link)
Deng, Y., H. M. Solo-Gabriele, M. Laas, L. Leonard, D. L. Childers, G. He and V. Engel. 2010. Impacts of hurricanes on surface water flow within a wetland. Journal of Hydrology 392:164-173. (link)
Ewe, S. M., E. E. Gaiser, D. L. Childers, D. Iwaniec, V. H. Rivera-Monroy and R. R. Twilley. 2006. Spatial and temporal patterns of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) along two freshwater-estuarine transects in the Florida Coastal Everglades. Hydrobiologia 569:459-474. (link)
He, G., V. Engel, L. Leonard, A. Croft, D. Childers, M. Laas, Y. Deng and H. M. Solo-Gabriele. 2010. Factors controlling surface water flow in a low-gradient subtropical wetland. Wetlands 30:275-286. (link)
Hornbach, D. J. and D. L. Childers. 1986. Life-history variation in a stream population of Musculium partumeium (Bivalvia: Pisidiidae). Journal of the North American Benthological Society 5. (link)
Iwaniec, D., D. Childers, D. Rondeau and C. Madden. 2006. Effects of hydrologic and water quality drivers on periphyton dynamics in the southern Everglades. Hydrobiologia 569:273. (link)
Koch, G. R., D. L. Childers, E. E. Gaiser and R. Price. 2012. Hydrological conditions control P loading and aquatic metabolism in an oligotrophic, subtropical estuary. Estuaries and Coasts 35:292-307. (link)
Koch, G. R., S. Hagerthey, D. L. Childers and E. Gaiser. 2013. Examing seasonally pulsed detrital transport in the coastal Everglades using a sediment tracing technique. Wetlands. (link)
Leonard, L., A. Croft, D. Childers, S. Mitchell-Bruker and H. Solo-Gabriele. 2006. Characteristics of surface-water flows in the ridge and slough landscape of Everglades National Park: Implications for particulate transport. Hydrobiologia 569:5-22. (link)
Maie, N., R. Jaffe, T. Miyoshi and D. L. Childers. 2006. Quantitative and qualitatuve aspects of dissolved organic carbon leached from senescent plants in an oligotrophic wetland. Biogeochemistry 78:285-314. (link)
Metson, G., D. L. Childers and R. Aggarwal. 2012. Efficiency through proximity: Changes in phosphorus cycling at the urban-agricultural interface of a rapidly urbanizing desert region. Journal of Industrial Ecology 16:914-927. (link)
Metson, G., R. L. Hale, D. I. Iwaniec, E. M. Cook, J. R. Gorman, C. Galletti and D. Childers. 2012. Phosphorus in Phoenix: A budget and spatial representation of phosphorus in an urban ecosystem. Ecological Applications 22:705-721. (link)
Noe, G. B. and D. L. Childers. 2007. Phosphorus budgets in Everglades wetland ecosystems: The effects of hydrology and nutrient enrichment. Wetlands Ecology and Management 15:189-205. (link)
Rivera-Monroy, V. H., R. R. Twilley, S. E. Davis III, D. L. Childers, M. Simard, R. Chambers, R. Jaffe, J. N. Boyer, D. T. Rudnick, K. Zhang, E. Castaneda-Moya, S. M. Ewe, R. M. Price, C. Coronado-Molina, M. Ross, T. J. Smith III, B. Michot, E. Meselher, W. Nuttle, T. G. Troxler and G. B. Noe. 2011. The role of the Everglades Mangrove Ecotone Region (EMER) in regulating nutrient cycling and wetland productivity in south Florida. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 41:633-669. (link)
Rubio, G. and D. L. Childers. 2006. Controls on herbaceous litter decomposition in the estuarine ecotones of the Florida Everglades. Estuaries and Coasts 29:257-268. (link)
Saunders, C. J., M. Gao, J. A. Lynch, R. Jaffe and D. L. Childers. 2006. Using soil profiles of seeds and molecular markers as proxies for sawgrass and wet prairie slough vegetation in Shark Slough, Everglades National Park. Hydrobiologia 569:475-492. (link)
Trexler, J., E. Gaiser and D. Childers. 2006. Interaction of hydrology and nutrients in controlling ecosystem function in oligotrophic coastal environments of South Florida. Hydrobiologia 569:1-2. (link)
Troxler, T. G. and D. L. Childers. 2010. Biogeochemical contributions of tree islands to Everglades wetland landscape nitrogen cycling during seasonal inundation. Ecosystems 13:75-89. (link)
Troxler, T. G. and D. L. Childers. 2009. Litter decomposition promotes differential feedbacks in an oligotrophic southern Everglades wetland. Plant Ecology 200:69-82. (link)
Troxler, T. G., M. Ikenaga, L. Scinto, J. N. Boyer, R. Condit, R. Perez, G. D. Gann and D. L. Childers. 2012. Patterns of soil bacteria and canopy community structure related to tropical peatland development. Wetlands 32:769-782. (link)
Turnbull, L., B. P. Wilcox, L. Belnap, S. Ravi, S. D Odorico, D. L. Childers, W. Gwenzi, G. Okin, J. Wainwright, K. Caylor and T. Sankey. 2012. Understanding the role of ecohydrological feedbacks in ecosystem-state change in drylands. Ecohydrology 5:174-183. (link)
Wetzel, P. R., A. G. van der Valk, S. Newman, C. A. Coronado, T. G. Troxler-Gann, D. L. Childers, W. H. Orem and F. H. Sklar. 2009. Heterogeneity of phosphorus distribution in a patterned landscape, the Florida Everglades. Plant Ecology 200:83-90. (link)
Wozniak, J. R., W. T. Anderson, D. L. Childers, E. E. Glaser, C. J. Madden and D. T. Rudnick. 2012. Potential N processing by southern Everglades freshwater marshes: Are Everglades marshes passive conduits for nitrogen?. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 96:60-68. (link)
Wozniak, J. R., D. L. Childers, W. T. Anderson, D. T. Rudnick and C. J. Madden. 2008. An in situ mesocosm method for quantifying nitrogen cycling rates in oligotrophic wetlands using 15N tracer techniques. Wetlands 28:502-512. (link)
Books and Book Chapters
Childers, D. L. 2012. Urban sustainability in the US desert SW: The story of Phoenix, AZ. Pp. 242-245 In: S. Beavis G., M. L. Dougherty and T. Gonzales. eds., The Americas and Oceania: Assessing Sustainability. Berkshire Publ.
Childers, D. L., C. Carlille-Marquet, D. Cordell, V. Gerhart, D. Iwaniec and S. White. In press. Future scenarios for the global sustainable use of phosphorus. In: K. Wyant A., J. Corman and J. Elser. eds., Phosphorus, Food, and Our Future. Oxford Press.
Grimm, N. B., C. L. Redman, C. G. Boone, D. L. Childers, S. Harlan and B. L. Turner. 2013. Viewing the urban socioecological system through a sustainability lens: Lessons and prospects from the Central Arizona–Phoenix LTER Program. Pp. 217-246 In: S. Singh J., H. Haberl, M. Chertow and M. Mirtl. eds., Long Term Socio-Ecological Research. Springer.
Knapp, A. K., J. M. Briggs, D. L. Childers and O. E. Sala. 2007. Estimating aboveground net primary production in grassland- and herbaceous-dominated ecosystems. Pp. 27-48 In: T. Fahey J. and A. K. Knapp. eds., Principles and Standards for Measuring Primary Production (Long-Term Ecological Research Network). Oxford University Press.
Metson, G. S., K. A. Wyant and D. L. Childers. In press. Introduction to phosphorus sustainability. In: K. Wyant A., J. Corman and J. Elser. eds., Phosphorus, Food, and Our Future. Oxford Press.
Posters/Presentations
Childers, D. 2009. Everglades environmental history: Integrating ecological and historical approaches. Presentation at the World Congress on Environmental History.
Childers, D. 2012. Ecosystem services and educational opportunities provided by an aridland wetland urban treatment wetland in Phoenix AZ. Invited presentation at the 3-8 June 2012, 9th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference: Wetlands in a Complex World, Orlando, FL.
Childers, D. 2012. Is phosphorus the Rodney Dangerfield of sustainability challenges?. Plenary presentation at the 15-16 February 2012 3rd University of Florida Water Institute Symposium, Gainesville, FL.
Childers, D. 2009. Indirect ecosystem services of water in aridland cities. Invited presentation at the Ecological Society of America Millenium Conference.
Childers, D. 2009. How internal processes affect resilience to state change in high-disturbance wetland ecosystems. Presentation at the International Conference on Flood Pulsed Wetlands.
Childers, D. L., S. Earl, N. B. Grimm, B. Ruddell, L. Turnbull and E. Vivoni. 2011. The dynamics of water in arid cities, Part I: Overview of the Central Arizona-Phoenix (CAP) LTER research at the water-climate nexus. Presentation at th 7-12 August 2011 96th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Austin, TX.
Childers, D. L., N. B. Grimm and B. Ruddell. 2012. Sustainability water demands to urban ecosystems in the southwestern United States. Symposium organizers, 9 August 2012, 97th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR.
Childers, D. L., L. Turnbull, S. Earl and N. Grimm. 2011. Multi-scalar effects of urban stormwater infrastructure in a semi-arid urban catchment: Hydrologic responses. Presentation at the 2011 Meeting of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, San Juan, PR.
Collins, S. L., G. P. Robertson, D. R. Foster and D. L. Childers. 2011. Emergence and future role of long-term socio-ecological research for earth stewardship. Presentation at the SYMP 8 - Thirty Years of Earth Stewardship Research: Long-Term Matters at the 7-12 August 2011 96th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Austin, TX.
Grimm, N. B., D. L. Childers, S. Earl, R. L. Hale and L. Turnbull. 2011. The dynamics of water in arid cities, Part III: Stormwater-mediated transport and retention of dissolved nutrients in urban catchments: Effects of infrastructure design, catchment size, and storm characteristics. Poster presented at the 7-12 August 2011 96th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Austin, TX.
Grove, M., N. Grimm, P. Groffman, L. Band, S. Gregory, S. Pickett, D. Childers and M. Pons. 2009. Metrology for aquatic urban systems: Comparisons of the French and US approach. Working group organizer report presented at 14-16 September 2009 LTER All Scientist Meeting, Integrating Science and Society in a World of Constant Change.
Loza Morales, D. E., D. L. Childers, A. Evans, A. Evans, C. A. Sanchez and N. Weller. 2013. Macropyte decomposition rates in the Tres Rios constructed treatment wetland: Preliminary results. Poster presented at the 11 January 2013, 15th Annual CAP LTER Poster Symposium and All Scientist Meeting 2013, Skysong, Scottsdale, AZ. (link)
Ramos, J., E. J. Chapman, N. A. Weller and D. L. Childers. 2013. Trace gas fluxes from the Tres Rios wetllands project in Phoenix, AZ. Poster presented at the 11 January 2013, 15th Annual CAP LTER Poster Symposium and All Scientist Meeting 2013, Skysong, Scottsdale, AZ. (link)
Robertson, G. P., D. R. Foster, C. Boone, D. L. Childers and S. E. Hobbie. 2011. SYMP 8 -- Thirty years of earth stewardship research: Long-term matters. Symposium organized at the 7-12 August 2011 96th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Austin, TX.
Sanchez, C. A., D. L. Childers and L. Turnbull. 2011. The contribution of evapotranspiration and evaporation to the water budget of a treatment wetland in Phoenix, AZ, USA. Poster presented at the 7-12 August 2011 96th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Austin, TX.
Sanchez, C., D. Childers, L. Turnbull, B. Warner and N. Weller. 2012. The contribution of evapotranspiration to the water budget of an aridland urban treatment wetland. Presentation at the 7 June 2012 INTECOL International Wetlands Conference, Orlando, FL.
Sanchez, C. A., D. Childers, L. Turnbull, B. Warner and N. Weller. 2012. The contribution of evapotranspiration and evaporation to the water budget of a treatment wetland in Phoenix, AZ, USA. Poster presented at 13 January 2012 CAP LTER 14th Annual Poster Symposium and All Scientist Meeting, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. (link)
Sanchez, C. A., D. L. Childers, L. J. Turnbull and N. A. Weller. 2013. The contribution of evapotranspiration to the annual water budget of an aridland urban wastewater treatment wetland. Poster presented at the 11 January 2013, 15th Annual CAP LTER Poster Symposium and All Scientist Meeting 2013, Skysong, Scottsdale, AZ. (link)
Turnbull, L. and D. Childers. 2009. Arid urban ecohydrology over multiple spatial scales. Poster presented at 14-16 September 20009 LTER All Scientists Meeting, Integrating Science and Society in a World of Constant Change.
Turnbull, L. and D. Childers. 2009. A theoretical approach to urban ecohydrology: Incorporating the role of humans as engineers of ecosystem change. Presentation at the 4-8 October 2009 AGU Chapman Conference on Examining Ecohydrological Feedbacks of Landscape Change Along Elevation Gradients in Semiarid Regions, Boise and Sun Valley, Idaho, USA.
Turnbull, L., D. L. Childers, S. Earl, N. B. Grimm and R. L. Hale. 2011. The dynamics of water in arid cities, Part II: Effects of stormwater infrastructure on dissolved and particle-bound nutrient transport across multiple spatial scales. Presentation at the 7-12 August 2011 96th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Austin, TX.
Turnbull, L., D. L. Childers, R. Hale and N. B. Grimm. 2010. Conceptualizing urban ecohydrological interactions and feedbacks. Poster presented at the January 14, 2010 12th Annual Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Poster Symposium, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
Turnbull, L., D. L. Childers, R. Hale, E. Vivoni, S. Earl and N. B. Grimm. 2011. Ecosystem structure and hydrologic function of urban deserts. Poster presented at the 12-13 January 2011 CAP LTER 13th Annual Poster Symposium and All Scientist Meeting, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. (link)
Turnbull, L., R. L. Hale, S. Earl, N. B. Grimm and D. L. Childers. 2011. Effects of urban stormwater infrastructure on frequency, magnitude and scale characteristics of runoff, and their implications for the transport of particulate material in arid catchments. Presentation at the 2011 Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA.
Warner, B., D. Childers and L. Turnbull. 2011. Hydrology versus ecology: The effectiveness of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment in a semi-arid climate. Poster presented at the 12-13 January 2011 CAP LTER 13th Annual Poster Symposium and All Scientist Meeting, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University.
Weller, N., D. L. Childers and L. Turnbull. 2013. Plant community changes and related nutrient retention within an aridland constructed wastewater treatment wetland. Poster presented at the 11 January 2013, 15th Annual CAP LTER Poster Symposium and All Scientist Meeting 2013, Skysong, Scottsdale, AZ. (link)
Weller, N., L. Turnbull and D. L. Childers. 2012. The influence of storm characteristics and catchment structure on particulate organic matter transport in an arid city. Poster presented at 13 January 2012 CAP LTER 14th Annual Poster Symposium and All Scientist Meeting, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. (link)
Weller, N. A., L. Turnbull and D. L. Childers. 2011. The influence of storm characteristics and catchment structure on particulate organic matter transport in an arid city. Poster presented at the 7-12 August 2011 96th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Austin, TX.
