TOP | Educational Leadership | Patrick Bohlen | University of Central Florida

Patrick J. Bohlen

Professor of Biology

Director, Arboretum and Natural Resources

University of Central Florida

Biography

I am a broadly trained ecologist with an interest in how we can better manage human-dominated environments to benefit biodiversity, natural ecosystems, and sustainability. I received my bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Michigan, after which I spent a year in the graduate program in Entomology at the University of California Berkeley. I received my Master's degree in Zoology at Miami University, and my PhD in Entomology from Ohio State University. After my PhD, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, in Millbrook, New York. In 1998, I became research biologist and director of the agroecology program at Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida. The research program I lead there is now part of the USDA's long-term agricultural research network. In 2010, I became a Professor of Biology and Director of Landscape and Natural Resources and Arboretum at the University of Central Florida. My doctoral and postdoctoral training were in soil and ecosystem ecology. My current interests are in ecology and conservation of biodiversity in urban systems, urban agriculture and community gardens, conservation design, sustainable landscaping, and understanding the benefits of biodiversity to environmental and human well-being.

EXPERIENCE

2010-present

Professor

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

Department of Biology

2010-2022

Director

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

Arboretum

Work closely with the College of Sciences and Facilities to develop the Arboretum as an important university-wide asset that serves the campus community.
Advance hands-on, experience-based education in plant science, ecology and conservation.
Promote a sense of community and human well-being by creating a major hub for volunteering on campus and providing widespread opportunities for human connection to nature.
Promote, develop and track research and educational use of the UCF campus as an outdoor living laboratory.
Provide horticultural and landscape design oversight to help create a more ecologically sustainable outdoor environment.
Partner with natural resource agencies and non-profit organisations to demonstrate and promote excellence in conservation, ecological restoration, and natural resource management.
Establish and build a philanthropic giving program to support Arboretum programs.
Implement leadership programs that enable students to participate in coordinating and creating Arboretum programs.
Develop facilities and site planning of Arboretum sites and program areas.

2010-2022

Director

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

Landscape and Natural Resources

Develop and maintain an outdoor environment that contributes to a sense of place, advances learning and reflects a commitment to stewardship of human, financial and natural resources.
Oversee 65-70 employees and combined annual operating budgets of about $4.4 million.
Help oversee planning, design and construction of $500-$700K annually of landscape installations projects.
Manage landscape and grounds, natural areas, and green infrastructure for the entire 1,400-acre main campus, including the built environment, natural lands, and conservation easements.
Help guide master planning of the UCF main campus.
Implement university sustainability practices and goals into campus landscape operations.
Develop standards and specifications for campus landscape design and construction practices, and operations.
Administer the campus National Pollution Discharge and Elimination system stormwater permit.

1998-2010

Director of Research

AGROECOLOGY RESEARCH PROGRAM

Archbold Biological Station

Directed a nationally recognized research program in agroecology and sustainable agriculture, based on multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary collaborations and diverse funding sources.

EDUCATION

Doctor of Philosophy

1989-1993

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Columbus, Ohio

Entomology

Master of Science

1987-1989

MIAMI UNIVERSITY

Oxford, Ohio

Zoology

Bachelor of Science

1979-1993

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Biology

PUBLICATIONS

Publications

Selected from among 120 total publications

Guo, Y., E. H. Boughton, S. Bohlman, C. Bernacchi, P. J. Bohlen. R. Boughton, E. DeLucia, J. Fauth, N. Gomez-Casanovas, D. G. Jenkins, G. Lollis, R. S. Miller, P. F. Quintana-Ascencio, G. Sonnier, J. Sparks, H. Swain, and J. Qui. 2023. Grassland intensification effects cascade to alter multifunctionality of wetlands within metaecosystems. Nature Communications 14 Article number: 8267. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44104-2.

Skovira, L. and P. J. Bohlen. 2023. Nutrient status and management intensity of stormwater ponds in different urban land-uses. Urban Ecosystems 26: 867-879. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-023-01335-x.

McDonnell, MJ, STA Pickett, P Groffman, P Bohlen, RV Pouyat, WC Zipperer, RW Parmelee, MM Carreiro, J Medley. 1997. Ecosystem Processes along urban-to-rural gradients. Urban Ecosystems 1: 21-36. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014359024275.

Lomeu, A., A. Shukla, S. Shukla, G. Kiker, C.-L. Wu, G. S. Hendricks, E. H. Boughton, R. Sishodia, A. C. Guzha, H. M. Swain, P. J. Bohlen, D. G. Jenkins and J. E. Fauth. 2022. Using biodiversity response for prioritizing participants and service provisions in a payment-for-water-storage program in the Everglades basin. Journal of Hydrology 609: 127618 (15 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.127618.

Huber, A. and P. J. Bohlen. 2021. Hydro-ecological controls on soil carbon storage in subtropical freshwater depressional wetlands. Wetlands 41:66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-021-01453-2.

Bohlen, PJ, RW Parmelee, DA McCartney and CA Edwards. 1997. Earthworm effects on the carbon and nitrogen dynamics of surface litter in corn agroecosystems. Ecological Applications 7:1341-1349.

Bohlen, PJ, PM Groffman, CT Driscoll, TJ Fahey and TG Siccama. 2001. Plant-soil-microbial interactions in a northern hardwood forest. Ecology 82: 965-978.

Bohlen, PJ, S Scheu, CM Hale, MA McLean, S Migge, PM Groffman and D Parkinson. 2004. Non-native earthworms as agents of change in northern hardwood forests. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2: 427-435. https://doi.org/10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002[0427:NIEAAO]2.0.CO;2

Bohlen, PJ, PM Groffman, TJ Fahey, MC fisk, E Suarez, DM Pelletier and RT Fahey. 2004. Ecosystem consequences of exotic earthworm invasion in north temperate forests. Ecosystems 7:1-12.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-003-0126-z.

Bohlen, PJ and SM Gathumbi. 2007. Nitrogen cycling in seasonal wetlands in subtropical cattle pastures. Soil Science Society of America Journal 71: 1058-1065.

Bohlen, PJ, S Lynch, L. Shabman, M Clark, S Shukla and H Swain. 2009. Paying for ecosystem services on agricultural lands: an example from the Northern Everglades. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7: 46-55. . https://doi.org/10.1890/080107.

Bohlen, P. J. and G. J. House (eds.). 2009. Sustainable agroecosystem management: integrating, ecology, economics and society. CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group, Advances in Agroecology Series, Boca Raton, FL, 301 pp.

Bohlen, PJ and R Villapando. 2011. Differential effects of water retention on nutrient runoff from subtropical pastures. Journal of Environmental Quality 40: 989-998 https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2010.0127..

Boughton, E, PJ Bohlen and C Steele. 2013. Season of fire and nutrient addition differentially affect functional group richness and species cover in subtropical grassland. Biological Conservation 158: 239-247.

Fahey, TF, JB Yavitt, RE Sherman, JC Maerz, PM Groffman, MC Fisk and PJ Bohlen. 2013. Earthworm effects on the incorporation of litter C and N into soil organic matter in a sugar maple forest. Ecological Applications 23: 1185-1201.

Boughton, EH, PF Quintana-Ascencio, DG Jenkins, PJ Bohlen, JE Fauth, A Engel, S Shukla, G Kiker, G Hendicks and HM Swain. 2019. Tradeoffs and synergies in a payment-for-ecosystem services program on ranchlands in the Everglades headwaters. Ecosphere 10(5): e02728.